The 2026 Keystone Awards
Celebrating excellence and innovation in global education
About the Keystone Awards
The Keystone Awards celebrate the remarkable contributions of students, educators, and institutions shaping the global education landscape. Hosted annually by Keystone Education Group, the awards highlight innovation, inclusion, academic achievement, and initiatives that drive meaningful student impact.
For 2026, we’ve expanded our categories to recognize even more individuals, teams, and organizations across higher education and professional training. Whether you’re a student leader, research innovator, athlete, educator, or institution making a difference, these awards are an opportunity to share your story and be recognised globally.
Institution & Organization Categories
These categories celebrate institutions and teams driving innovation, improving outcomes, and elevating the student experience.
Higher Education Institution of the Year
This award recognizes a university or higher education institution that has demonstrated exceptional success, innovation, and positive impact across the 2024–25 academic year. It celebrates institutions that have excelled in growth, community engagement, curriculum development, and the student experience – showcasing leadership and excellence across significant areas of higher education.
Judges will look for:
- Evidence of significant growth in student recruitment and enrollment and effective strategic planning.
- Measurable impact on their local or wider community through outreach, engagement, or widening participation initiatives.
- Meaningful innovations in curriculum, teaching, or institutional operations to respond to evolving learner and market needs.
- A strong commitment to improving the overall student experience through investment, partnership, or policy.
Why nominate?
If your institution has strengthened its academic offering, enhanced student support, delivered impactful new programs, or raised standards across the board, this is your opportunity to showcase your achievements on a global stage.
Outstanding Education Marketing & Recruitment Campaign
Sponsored by:
This award celebrates a creative, data-driven, and effective higher education marketing or recruitment campaign that significantly increased engagement, awareness, or enrollments. Nominees could include any individual, team, or project that has successfully promoted a programme, course, or institution to prospective students or stakeholders.
Judges will look for:
- Clear objectives and strong campaign strategy.
- Evidence of meaningful results or ROI, including metrics such as engagement, reach, leads or conversions.
- Innovative channel use, creative messaging, or audience engagement.
- A tangible impact on the institution’s reputation, brand, or recruitment success.
If your team delivered a standout campaign—big or small—that moved the needle, improved conversion, or demonstrated fresh thinking, this category is your platform to shine.
Outstanding Student Experience Initiative or Project
Sponsored by:
This award honors initiatives or projects that have significantly enriched the student experience, whether academically, socially, or through wellbeing or mobility programs.
Judges will look for:
- Evidence of addressing a specific need, challenge, or opportunity to improve the student experience.
- Demonstrate measurable positive outcomes and impact on student engagement, satisfaction and participation.
- Inclusivity and accessibility, including the use of creative or innovative approaches to drive engagement with students.
- Sustainability beyond a single cohort and evidence of lasting impact.
If your institution has delivered a project that changed student lives for the better, this recognition celebrates those efforts and the people behind them.
Outstanding Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative or Project
This award recognizes initiatives or projects that have made a meaningful difference in promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion within the higher education community. Nominees could include individuals, projects, or programmes that have created a more inclusive environment, supported underrepresented groups, or addressed inequalities affecting students.
Judges will look for:
- Initiatives that clearly addresses a specific issue, need, or underrepresented community.
- Evidence-based positive outcomes and impact on the community.
- Evidence of sustainable and meaningful change.
- Innovation, creativity and community involvement in its design and delivery.
Why nominate?
If your institution is committed to creating a more inclusive learning environment, this award acknowledges your leadership in shaping a fairer future.
Outstanding Teaching & Mentorship
This award honors individual educators who demonstrate exceptional teaching, guidance, and support within the higher education community. Nominees could include lecturers, teachers, Masters course instructors, PhD supervisors, or anyone who has made a significant contribution to helping students learn, develop, and succeed.
Judges will look for:
- Inspirational teaching practices that engage students through innovative teaching methods or mentoring approaches.
- Strong student outcomes that demonstrate measurable positive impact on student learning, development, or wellbeing.
- Mentorship that has made a measurable difference and contributes to the student community, going above and beyond typical expectations.
- Previous recognition, awards, or other achievements that highlight their excellence in teaching or mentorship.
Why nominate?
If you or your colleague, supervisor or tutor consistently goes above and beyond for students, this recognition highlights the vital impact of dedicated educators.
Training Provider of the Year
Sponsored by:
This award celebrates training providers or courses that demonstrate excellence in delivering learning experiences within professional development. Nominees could include individual courses, programs, or training provider companies that deliver high-quality professional-level learning.
Judges will look for:
- Clearly defined learning objectives that meet the needs of their target audience.
- Delivery of content effectively using innovative platforms, tools, or methods.
- Measurable outcomes, such as participant engagement, completion rates, or learning improvements.
- Demonstration of creativity, originality, or innovative approaches in course design, delivery, or assessment.
- Have a tangible impact on learners’ skills, knowledge, or development.
Why nominate?
If your institution delivered strong results, employer impact, or innovative training models, this award showcases your contributions to professional learning.
Student Categories
Recognizing exceptional students who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, creativity, or athletic achievement.
Student of the Year (Undergraduate & Masters)
Sponsored by:
This award recognizes an exceptional student who has made an outstanding contribution to their institution or wider community. Open to undergraduate and Masters students, this award celebrates individuals who go above and beyond in their studies, leadership, and impact.
Judges will look for students who:
- Excel academically and demonstrate commitment to their studies.
- Contribute to their community through leadership, volunteering, or extracurricular involvement.
- Make a meaningful difference to others through positive influence, collaboration, or advocacy.
- Show initiative, creativity, or resilience that sets them apart.
Why nominate?
If you (or a student you know), have made a difference on campus, achieved strong results, or led initiatives that uplift others, your story deserves to be recognized. We’re looking for someone who not only achieves academically but also brings something special and a distinctive quality that sets them apart.
International Student of the Year
Sponsored by:
This award recognizes an outstanding international student, defined as someone who is studying outside of their home country, who has made a significant contribution to their institution and/or wider community. Nominees could be undergraduate, postgraduate, or doctoral students who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, engagement, or positive impact on campus life.
Judges will look for students who:
- Are completing their studies outside of their home country
- Excel academically and demonstrate dedication to their studies.
- Contribute to the student community or wider society through volunteering, leadership, or initiatives.
- Act as ambassadors for international student engagement, fostering inclusivity and cross-cultural understanding.
- Show resilience, initiative, or achievements that go beyond typical expectations.
Why nominate?
If you (or a student you know), has shown resilience, leadership, or academic excellence while studying abroad, this award celebrates their inspirational story.
Research Student of the Year (PhD)
Sponsored by:
This award recognizes an exceptional research student who has made a significant contribution through their academic work, innovation, and engagement within the research community. Nominees will typically be PhD or doctoral candidates who demonstrate excellence in research, leadership, and impact within and beyond their institution.
Judges will look for students who:
- Demonstrate outstanding research quality, innovation, or originality.
- Contribute to their academic or professional community through collaboration, outreach, or leadership.
- Show commitment, resilience, and integrity in their research journey.
- Make a positive difference through research that informs practice, influences policy, or benefits society.
Why nominate?
If your research (or the research of someone you know), is advancing understanding in your field or addressing real-world challenges, this award amplifies your work to a global audience.
Student Athlete of the Year
Sponsored by:
This award recognizes a student who has demonstrated exceptional sporting ability, commitment, and contribution to their institution or community through sport. Nominees could be undergraduate or postgraduate students who combine sporting excellence with leadership, teamwork, and personal development.
Judges will look for students who:
- Excel in their sport(s) and demonstrate dedication and achievement at any level.
- Contribute positively to their team, peers, or wider student community through leadership, mentoring, or volunteering.
- Demonstrate resilience, discipline, and personal growth, overcoming challenges where relevant.
- Serve as positive role models through sporting excellence, character, and engagement.
Why nominate?
If you (or a student athlete you know), have demonstrated dedication, discipline, teamwork, or outstanding performance in competition, this category highlights your achievements both on and off the field.
Why Nominate?
🎉 Celebrate Excellence 🎉
Highlight the achievements of your institution, team, peers or yourself, and celebrate the contribution you are making to global education.
🌏 Global Recognition 🌏
Winners and finalists are showcased across Keystone's international platforms, and announced to the international education community during a virtual online ceremony, and related press exposure. Furthermore, student award winners will receive a €500 retailer voucher, while institution award winners will receive a physical award trophy.
💡 Inspire Others 💡
Your initiative, research and achievements will be shared on Keystone Education Group's social and website channels, so that your stories can motivate other educators and students worldwide.
✅ Easy and Free Nomination Process ✅
- Nominations are free and easy to submit via an online nomination form
- Open to students, staff and organizations
- Self-nominations are encouraged
- Student Award Categories encourage creative submissions - you can submit a video, presentation, webpage, or any other creative format that helps bring the nomination, achievements and impact to life.
More than 100 million students trust Keystone to help them pursue higher education every year. In turn, Keystone helps over 5,500 education institutions reach, recruit, and enroll prospective students in more than 190 countries. Keystone also operates a range of global student recruitment services including UniQuest, FindAUniversity, Beyond Abroad, Edunation, and Keystone Sports.
Established in 2013 in the UK, UniQuest are world leaders in student engagement, admissions and conversion.
Tech-enabled, people-driven and process-powered, UniQuest partners with Higher Education Institutions to deliver 360 personalized student engagement strategies.
To date, UniQuest has engaged over 1.2 million students and managed over 60 million student communications, processing over 300,000 student applications.
Educations.com is the leading online platform to help inspire, inform and empower students to find their perfect study abroad opportunity. Since 2001, educations.com has provided an intuitive platform that helps over 40 million students across 250 countries find their dream study programs and universities every year.
Launched in 2004, FindAMasters.com has grown to attract more than 780,000 monthly visitors and currently lists over 23,261 Masters and MBA programmes. FindAMasters is owned by FindAUniversity - experts in everything postgraduate – who partner with higher education institutions to help them meet their postgraduate student recruitment targets.
Launched in 2001, FindAPhD.com attracts more than 400,000 monthly visitors and currently lists over 6,478 research projects and programmes. FindAPhD is owned by FindAUniversity – experts in everything postgraduate – who partner with higher education institutions to help them meet their postgraduate and PhD student recruitment targets.
findcourses.com is more than a website—it’s a marketplace for professional development and lifelong learning. Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills, explore a new field, or support your team’s growth, findcourses connects you with trusted training providers across a wide range of industries. In turn, findcourses partners with professional training providers to help match learners, HR and L&D Managers with professional training solutions for their organizations.
Beyond Abroad is a leading study abroad agency, focused on helping students grow through transformative global experiences, while supporting institutions in expanding their international reach. Beyond Abroad, launched in 2025, brings together three of Europe’s most trusted international student recruitment agencies – SONOR, Blueberry and Asia Exchange into one unified agency. Beyond Abroad makes international collaboration simpler, smarter, and more impactful, empowering institutions to reach a bigger student audience than ever before.
What are the Entry Guidelines?
- The Keystone Awards recognize achievements in higher education (i.e., post-secondary education), including professional-level education sectors also.
- We do not accept nominations for primary or secondary education (K-12) entries.
- Nominations entries are open to all.
- Entries are free of charge.
- Entries can only be made online by submitting information through the designated online nomination form, or for student award entries, you can either complete the online form, OR get creative with your nomination and submit it in one of the following formats:
- PDF, DOC, DOCX, PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF files are supported
- A webpage or Blog
- Entries should provide as much information as possible, demonstrate compelling narratives, and be backed up by supporting evidence.
- We will collect information about the person submitting the entry and some information such as the name and institution of the person they are nominating.
- The deadline for submitting entries is 23:59 CET on Tuesday 31st March 2026 . Nominations submitted after this time will not be included in judging.
- Entries are limited to one entry per category per institution/student.
- Institutions can vote for themselves or their peers. They can also vote in student categories.
- Students can also vote for themselves and their peers as well as in institution categories.
- Should you experience any technical issues when submitting your entry, please contact awards@keg.com, and a member of our team will help you.
Who can be nominated?
Nominations are open for staff and current students who are either working or studying in the higher education, post-secondary, or professional education sectors.
Students must either be actively enrolled and studying or have graduated in the class of 2024-25.
Nominations can be made from any institution or student from anywhere in the world.
Please provide the student or staff email address associated with your institution / organization on the nomination form for verification purposes.
Can I nominate myself?
Yes, we do accept self-nominations. If you are nominating yourself, please only submit ONE nomination per category – duplicate nominations will be discarded.
Instead, why not let people around you know that you want to be nominated? You can share details of any awards and commendations you’ve received with them, and point them in the direction of things you’d like them to include. This could be a fellow student or your supervisor for example.
Can I nominate in more than 1 award category?
Yes! We encourage you to nominate in more than one award category, if you have an appropriate nominee.
You cannot however, nominate multiple times the same category – we are seeking quality, over quantity of nominations. Instead, encourage your friends and colleagues to nominate by sharing the awards webpage with them.
Institutions can nominate in both Institution and Student award categories, and students can also submit nominations in both Student and Institution categories if they wish.
What information is required to submit a nomination?
Everything relating to your nomination is completed online, via an online nomination form.
Each award category includes a set of questions you are required to answer, responses are set up as free text, aim to submit no more than 200 words in response to each question.
In addition, we will typically ask for the following information as part of the nomination:
- Nominee details (the person or institution you are nominating), such as full name, location, their email address, the institution they are studying at, the program they are enrolled on, and possibly their nationality.
- Your details: your name, your email address (work or student email), your phone number (should we need to contact you).
- Information about your nomination: We require responses to a few questions about why you are nominating
- Supporting information: You will have the option to upload additional documentation or evidence to support your nomination if you have it available to you.
For student categories, you will have the option to either submit the online nomination form OR instead, upload a creative nomination – see the next question for details about submitting a creative nomination.
I want to submit a creative nomination for my Student Award nomination, what formats do you accept?
Get creative with your nomination!
We’d love to see your nominee’s story in a fresh and engaging way. You can submit a video, presentation, webpage, or any other creative format that helps bring their achievements and impact to life. Just make sure to cover all the nomination criteria so our judges can fairly assess your submission. Think about ways to show their personality, passion, and influence. This is your chance to make their story really stand out.
We accept the following formats:
- Document that includes a link to a video / URL to YouTube video
- Webpage – URL link to a webpage, or blog post.
Do I need to provide supporting information/evidence to support my nomination?
While this is optional, we strongly encourage you to upload supporting information.
Strong supporting evidence makes your nomination stand out. Last year, we received many outstanding nominations, so submitting relevant materials is essential.
You can include:
- Testimonials (from students, peers, or faculty).
- Press coverage or media mentions.
- Links to videos, blog posts, or social media pages showcasing work.
- Photos of academic or extra-curricular achievements.
DO NOT submit CVs or full research papers – they will be discarded.
What type of supporting information should I provide?
Our judges want to see supporting materials such as testimonials from peers, students, teachers, press coverage, links to YouTube videos, photos of academic or extra-curricular work, publications, awards, and links to blog posts or social media pages. Don’t go crazy on the evidence though, we don’t want this to be a massive job for you (or our judges).
There is room to upload additional evidence such as photos, campaign creatives, an event poster, campaign video link, etc.
What file formats are accepted as Supporting Information?
There is an upload option at the end of the nomination form where we encourage you to upload 1 file, ideally which has either links or images embedded within the document that relates to your supporting information.
The following file formats are accepted:
- DOC
- DOCX
- PNG
- JPG
- JPEG
- GIF
Please note, if you are linking to a video, upload a document with the URL web address linked to from the document.
I’m not sure what to include in my nomination, can I find any sample nominations to guide me?
Yes! You can see some sample nominations here, to give you a better idea of the information and the level of detail our judges will be looking for when evaluating nominations:
Can I work on my nomination, save it and come back to it later?
Yes. When you access the nomination form, you can change your answers until you submit the form.
Once your nomination form has been submitted, you will NOT be able to make any further changes.
I’m having issues submitting my nominations, who can I contact?
Should you experience any technical issues when submitting your entry, please contact awards@keg.com with details about your issue, and a member of our team will help you.
I submitted my nomination but haven’t had a confirmation you’ve received it, what should I do?
If you see the success message at the end of the nomination form, then please consider your nomination submitted.
If you submitted your nomination but haven't received an email confirmation within 3 working days, please check your email Spam/Junk folder – automatic emails sometimes appear here.
If the issue persists, get in touch with the Awards Team at awards@keg.com.
When do nominations close?
Nominations will close on 31st March 2026, at 23:59 CET.
Nominations submitted after this time will NOT be accepted.
How will the entries be judged?
- All entries will first be verified to ensure the nomination is genuine and not duplicated.
- Each entry will then be assessed using pre-determined scoring criteria, whereby points will be allocated based on the strength of the responses to questions and supporting information received.
- Entries with the highest scores will be shortlisted.
- The shortlisted entries will then go before a judging panel consisting of Keystone Education Group Staff and a jury of representatives from the international education community. The panel will assess and score the shortlisted finalists on the merit of their nomination against a pre-determined set of judging criteria.
How will the shortlisted entries be contacted?
- We will endeavour to contact the person who submitted the nomination form via email in the first instance to let them know their nomination has been shortlisted.
- If we don't receive a response via email, we will contact you by telephone (that is why we ask for your phone number on the nomination form).
- You will have the option to select your contact preferences when submitting the nomination form, so you can choose if only you, or, you and the shortlisted nominee are contacted.
When will the winners be announced?
The winners will be announced in June 2026.
This will be during an online awards ceremony.
More details on the award winner ceremony will be communicated soon.
Are there prizes for award winners?
Yes!
Each student award category will have a prize for the winner of that category.
The prize is a voucher worth €500 (or equivalent currency) for an online voucher – such as Apple, Amazon or an airline flight voucher.
For the Institutions Awards, the winners of each category will receive an award trophy which will be shipped to their business address after the winner’s ceremony takes place.
Runner’s Up in each award category will also receive a digital certificate.
Where can I find out about last year’s Keystone Award Winners?
You can see the list of the 2025 winners and categories in our press release, here: https://www.keg.com/press/keystone-award-winners-2025-announced