This award recognises strategic and innovative approaches to delivering apprenticeships, and the work being done to access new groups of potential apprentices and support them as they start their careers. This award is open to all apprenticeship providers in the UK including employer providers.

In your entry:

• Describe any new ways you’ve developed working with employers, or in case of employer providers, the main workforce
• Provide evidence of how your programme meets the standards and the employers’ requirements. Show how it’s responsive to employer and employee needs
• Explain how you’ve developed the route into your programme, including how diversity has been addressed
• Explain the positive impacts of your provision on the businesses you work with 

This award recognises a team or teams that have launched exceptional ideas to improve the quality of teaching or learning. The initiative or initiatives should be carried out jointly between departments.

In your entry:

• Describe what your team or teams have done and how this has had a major impact on learning and teaching
• Outline what makes it unique and innovative
• Explain the nature of your initiative and the challenges involved
• Describe the results providing evidence of demonstrable progress or success
• Suggest what the impact could be if your initiative was adopted more widely
• Provide examples of inter-departmental collaboration and evidence of shared ownership
• Outline the key points of your best practice that you would like to share with the sector
  

This award recognises the individual, team or FE college or provider that has made the most impact in supporting their community socially, culturally or economically.

In your entry:

• Describe the background to and context of your initiative
• Explain the nature of the work and the challenges involved
• Provide evidence of demonstrable impact
• Show how the project has supported the community to sustain the impact
• Outline how staff and students contributed to the success of the project and what they gained from the experience

Judges are particularly keen to hear about projects that aim to achieve social inclusion and diversity through working with communities that are disengaged from education. 

This award recognises strategic and innovative approaches to delivering employers' workforce development needs.

In your entry:

• Describe any new ways you’ve developed working with employers
• Provide evidence of your high-quality, flexible provision and show how it is responsive to employer and employee needs
• Explain how you ensured that the staff who delivered this programme had relevant, up-to-date business experience
• Explain the positive impacts on the businesses you’ve worked with

This award is aimed at recognising exceptional leadership in FE. As previous short-listed candidates demonstrate, leadership includes but is not confined to institutional leadership and extends beyond and below the CEO. Nominations from staff, boards/trustees and/or stakeholders should make clear what characterises the exceptional achievement with particular emphasis on impact. Judges welcome, in particular, robust independent testimonials in support of the nomination.

This award will be given to the individual who, in the opinion of the judging panel, deserves to be honoured for his or her contribution to further education above and beyond their own academic interests. Institutions and individuals are welcome to submit nominations for consideration.

This award recognises a team or teams that have adopted an innovative and effective approach in order to drive up the performance of students resitting English and maths GCSE. The provision should be carried out jointly between departments, and deliver a genuinely pioneering approach with the potential to deliver a much wider impact if implemented across the sector.

In your entry:

• Describe what your team, or teams, have done and how this has had a major impact on attainment in GCSE resit students
• Outline what makes the programme unique and innovative
• Explain the nature of your initiative and the challenges involved
• Describe the results providing evidence of demonstrable progress or success
• Outline the key points of your best practice that you would like to share with the sector 

This award will recognise and reward an FE provider that has demonstrated an innovative, strategic and far-reaching way to deliver remote teaching and learning. The judges will be looking in particular for evidence of the contribution of the individuals involved, how they gained support within their institution, overcame challenges and brought about real change with a significant impact on students.

In your entry:

• Describe the background to and context of your entry
• Outline the form the initiative takes, how it works and why it is innovative and effective
• Detail how the individuals involved contributed to the success of the initiative
• Demonstrate how the initiative improved the experience of remote learning and teaching for staff and students
  

This award recognises the administrative and professional services teams working behind the scenes in FE colleges and providers.

In your entry:

• Explain how a specific team achieved or exceeded its objectives
• Include supporting evidence, where available, to demonstrate clearly the contribution of the team in achieving those objectives
• Outline how the team supported the wider aims of the organisation, and worked collaboratively with other teams and individuals, inside and outside of the organisation
• Explain how the team's work improves on standard practice in the sector, and enhances the performance of your organisation as a whole
• Outline how the team supports the organisation’s mission and values by putting learners’ needs at the core of service design and delivery
  

This award will be given to the FE college or provider that helps students gain the maximum benefit from their time at the college or learning provider.

In your entry:

• Describe the background to and context of a specific initiative to support students
• Explain the nature of the support package, detail how it works, and explain why it is original and effective
• Outline the results: Have you attracted more students? Have achievement or retention rates increased? How were the measures received by student bodies? Provide evidence of demonstrable progress or success including more than one year’s statistics where possible
• Outline your principal achievements during the year 2019-2020
• Summarise in no more than 500 words what you were trying to achieve, how you set about achieving it and how you plan to monitor the impact of the initiative
  

This award seeks to reward the individual whose passion, knowledge and skill have inspired students to success and who has made a major contribution to educational life in the year 2019-20. It is open to anyone working as a teacher, tutor or lecturer in a UK further education institution, including colleges, training providers, employer providers and adult and community learning providers. Up to two members of staff can be nominated from any one institution.

In your entry:

• Give evidence of excellent impact on learners' progress, attainment and growth
• Describe how this teacher has brought about positive change beyond their own learners, and how they demonstrate commitment and achievement in their own professional development
• A maximum of four colleague and student testimonials will be welcomed
  

This award recognises the dedicated professionals who go the extra mile to support the talented competitors who take part in regional, national and international skills competitions. Entries can be submitted on behalf of individuals or teams who work in a variety of roles in providers, employers and other organisations supporting WorldSkills participants, including: team leaders, teachers, lecturers, assessors, support staff and coaches.

In your entry:

• Explain what the individual or team does to support apprentices or students in preparing for, and taking part in, skills competitions
• Include supporting evidence, where available, to demonstrate the impact they have had
• Explain how they have worked to promote WorldSkills competition beyond their employer
• A maximum of four colleague and competitor testimonials will be welcomed 

This award seeks to reward the adult community learning providers whose imagination and passion have led to responsive provision. We’re looking for evidence of excellence in providing a high-quality curriculum with excellent student outcomes, reflected in strong recruitment and success rates in 2019-20. This award is open to all ACL providers, including institutes for learning (specialist designated institutions) and adult educational charities.

In your entry:

• Explain how you work with your community to ensure your offer is relevant and responsive and provide examples
• Explain how you evaluate and develop your provider’s professional progress with regard to teaching, learning and assessment
• Demonstrate how your engagement with students has impacted positively in and beyond your provider
• Provide evidence of sustained commitment to advancing and positively influencing the student experience
• Student, community representative and employer testimonials will be welcomed
• Describe how your provider has made a significant and distinctive contribution to your local community
  

This award seeks to reward the colleges whose imagination and passion have led to stellar provision in all areas. We’re looking for evidence of excellence in providing a high-quality curriculum with excellent student outcomes, reflected in strong recruitment and success rates in 2019-20. It is open to all UK further education colleges, including land-based colleges.

In your entry:

• Explain how you evaluate and develop your college’s professional progress with regard to teaching, learning and assessment
• Explain how your engagement with students has impacted positively in and beyond your institution
• Provide evidence of sustained commitment to advancing and positively influencing the student experience
• Student and employer testimonials will be welcomed
• Describe how your college has made a significant and distinctive contribution to your local economy and wider community
  

This award will be given to the training provider that has demonstrated exceptional performance in the past academic year. High quality teaching and learning, learner achievement and business performance are important factors, the main criterion will be evidence of particular bold, imaginative and innovative initiatives that have advanced your reputation and performance. This award is open to all independent training providers.

In your entry:

• Explain how you evaluate and develop your provider’s professional progress with regard to teaching, learning and assessment
• Explain how your engagement with students has impacted positively in and beyond your institution
• Provide evidence of sustained commitment to advancing and positively influencing the student experience
• Student and employer testimonials will be welcomed
• Describe how your provider has made a significant and distinctive contribution to your local economy and wider community
  

This award seeks to recognise sixth-form colleges that best epitomise the qualities that make the sector so distinctive. We’re looking for evidence of excellence in 16-19 education across the board in terms of the quality of teaching and learning as well as outcomes. We also want to see evidence of reaching out to other institutions and a commitment to sharing good practice and raising achievement more widely. This award is open to all standalone 16-19 providers.

In your entry:

• Demonstrate consistently strong outcomes using success rate, progression, value added and other measures
• Demonstrate teaching and learning practices that are particularly effective and innovative
• Demonstrate a commitment to disseminating good practice which has had a positive impact beyond your own institution.
• Case studies will be welcomed but submissions need to demonstrate that they exemplify qualities which are common rather than exceptional in the college
  

This award seeks to reward the specialist providers whose imagination and passion have led to stellar provision and support for SEND students and those with specific learning requirements. We’re looking for evidence of excellence in providing a high-quality curriculum with excellent student outcomes, reflected in strong recruitment and success rates. The award is open to all specialist colleges and providers, and specialist units housed within colleges and learning centres.

In your entry:

• Explain how you evaluate and develop your provider’s professional progress with regard to teaching, learning and assessment
• Explain how your engagement with students and parents has impacted positively in and beyond your provider
• Provide evidence of sustained commitment to advancing and positively influencing the student experience
• Student and employer testimonials will be welcomed
• Describe how your provider has made a significant and distinctive contribution to your local economy and wider community
  

This will be awarded to the provider that has demonstrated exceptional performance in the past academic year. Please note, you cannot submit an entry for this category, the winner will be chosen from the winners of the FE college, training provider, sixth-form college, adult and community learning provider and specialist provider of the year categories. Although teaching, student achievement and business performance will be taken into account, the main criterion will be evidence of particular bold, imaginative and innovative initiatives that have advanced your reputation over the last year.