Deadline: October 21, 2024
Applications for the British Council Study UK Alumni Awards 2025 are now open. Raise your international profile, build your professional networks and business connections, and win a trip to the UK: just some of the benefits of winning a prestigious Alumni Award.
The Alumni Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of alumni and showcase the impact and value of a UK higher education. Award winners and finalists are leaders in their fields who have used their experience of studying at a UK university to make a positive contribution to their communities, professions and countries.
Categories
There are four award categories:
- Science and Sustainability Award – Recognising alumni who have distinguished themselves through their career and achievements in the world of science and sustainability, and who can demonstrate the impact and scale of their achievements in their profession, and beyond.
- Areas of work could include, but are not limited to: climate action, clean energy, medicine, sustainable cities and communities, engineering, industry and construction.
- Culture and Creativity Award – Recognising alumni who have carved a career for themselves in arts and culture. They are looking for individuals who can demonstrate their artistic ingenuity, influence and creativity.
- Areas of work could include, but are not limited to: arts, design, humanities, traditional media, music, video, TV, sports and online content and audiovisual media creation (e.g blogging, vlogging including for YouTube and social media).
- Social Action Award – Recognising alumni who have made an exceptional contribution and commitment to creating positive social change and improving the lives of others.
- Areas of work could include, but are not limited to: education, peace and justice and reducing inequality, poverty and hunger and broader humanitarian work or work for social good.
- Business and Innovation Award – Recognising alumni who are active in initiating and contributing to innovative or creative new ideas, solutions or business opportunities, that have the potential for growth.
- Areas of work could include, but are not limited to: entrepreneurship, business, technology and finance.
Benefits
- Opportunities to connect with people of influence at award ceremonies, and afterwards: Alumni Award winners in India met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Queen’s birthday party celebrations in Delhi.
- Press and PR opportunities and increased national/regional/global profile: Alumni Award winners have been featured in national newspapers of participating countries, for example the Jakarta Post in Indonesia, and the Daily Graphic in Ghana.
- Professional contacts and connections.
- Reconnecting with UK university and the UK.
- Having a platform to be able to share experiences of UK education/career with others (particularly young people).
Eligibility
- Open to alumni living outside of the UK only (restrictions may apply to British passport holders);
- Alumni must have studied:
- within the last 15 years (i.e. 2009 – 2024).
- enrolled at an officially recognised body or received a recognised award from a UK higher education institution.
- at degree level or above (degree level is defined as band 9 and above on the UK ENIC band framework)
- either at a UK university in the UK, for a minimum of one term or semester, OR awarded a full UK degree level qualification (or higher), awarded by a recognised UK HEI, in their home country (Transnational Education – TNE/long distance).
- Professional short courses: alumni are only eligible if the course they studied was at degree level (or above), offered by a recognised UK institution in the UK (and they fulfil the rest of the criteria).
- Post-doc researchers are ineligible.
- All applicants, except global award winners, from the Alumni Awards in previous years may re-apply if they meet this year’s eligibility criteria. Winners from previous national level awards will be considered for global awards only.
- Applicants must not be currently employed by the British Council or Gradcore. Applicants must disclose if they are an immediate family member of a British Council or Gradcore employee. (In this case immediate family member is defined as one’s spouse, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings and immediate in-laws (mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law). Adopted children and stepchildren are also counted as immediate family members.
Judging Criteria
All eligible applications will be assessed on the extent to which they meet the following five criteria:
- Impact: evidence of tangible impact, and scale of impact, of your work (inspired by your UK education) in your profession/community/society.
- UK Influence: evidence of how your UK education has played a key influence in your success and impact.
- Media Traction: Extent to which your success story is likely to resonate with local/regional/national media in your country of entry, or beyond (global media).
- Potential to Influence and Inspire: Extent to which (including capacity and willingness) you and your story are likely to influence and inspire the next generation of prospective internationally mobile students in your country of entry to choose the UK as their study destination.
- Quality of Application
Application
For more information, visit Study UK Alumni Awards.
