APPLICATION
Application process
Applications for the 2024 International School Awards can be submitted from 3 April 2023 to 7 July 2023.
THE PROCESS
How to apply
Please follow these steps to submit your application by Friday 7th July 2023 (23:59 GMT+1)
The Awards provide an opportunity to highlight your community’s good practice, creative endeavours and innovation. Your application should focus on one specific initiative that meets the following three criteria:
- Supporting at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Rooting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ)
- Supporting the K-12 schools community
Once you have selected the initiative to put forward, please follow these next steps:
- Create an account on our online application platform. This will allow you to save your progress and return to the application form ahead of the deadline.
- Start your form by selecting the category that best matches your school (this will be checked and updated as necessary as part of our review process to ensure applications are judged fairly):
- Category A: International schools charging tuition fees identified as low within their country
- Category B: International schools charging tuition fees identified as average within their country
- Category C: International schools charging tuition fees identified as high within their country
- Fill out the eligibility section to confirm that your school can take part.
- Complete the application form, responding to every question within the given word limits. Incomplete applications and failed attempts to fill out compulsory questions will result in your form being unable to be submitted.
- Select your supporting evidence carefully and upload your optional images and videos via the application form. You are allowed to submit no more than five photographs and one video per application.
- Once complete, submit your application. You will only be able to submit your applications before Friday 7th July midnight GMT+1 when applications close.
ELIGIBILITY
School eligibility
The International School Awards are hosted by ISC Research, which uses specific criteria to identify international schools. Applicants must therefore check the eligibility of their school before submitting an application. We will not be able to consider schools that do not meet the eligibility criteria for the International School Awards.
ISC Research welcomes applications from international schools meeting these criteria:
- schools that have chosen to deliver a curriculum wholly or partly in English to some or all of their students aged between 3 and 18, in a country where English is not an official language; or
- schools that deliver a curriculum other than the host country’s national curriculum wholly or partly in English to some or all students aged between 3 and 18, in a country where English is an official language.
Online schools eligibility note:
To qualify for the International School Awards, an online school must either:
- offer a whole English-medium curriculum for children of any age between 3 and 18 and be publicly accessible for students from a variety of countries to enrol; or
- only enrol students from within one single country and offer a whole English-medium curriculum that is not the national curriculum of that country.
FAQS
Frequently asked questions
What do schools win?
Recognising that no two schools and initiatives are the same, all schools within each fee category that meet a strict judging threshold will receive an International School Award. This will be in the form of a badge that can be displayed on the school’s website, documents and social media. This is a valuable quality mark for schools. Winning initiatives will be recognised throughout the year on the ISC Research website, community and in International School Leader Magazine.
How do I enter?
You can enter via our application platform. Please view the process detailed above for further details.
How much does it cost to enter?
Entry is free.
Who can enter?
The International School Awards are hosted by ISC Research, which uses specific criteria to identify international schools. Applicants must therefore check the eligibility of their school before submitting an application. We will not be able to consider schools that do not meet the eligibility criteria for the International School Awards.
ISC Research welcomes applications from international schools meeting these criteria:
- a school that has chosen to deliver a curriculum wholly or partly in English to some or all of its students between 3 and 18, in a country where English is not an official language; or
**OR** - a school that delivers a curriculum other than the host country’s national curriculum wholly or partly in English to some or all of students between 3 and 18, in a country where English is an official language.
To qualify for the International School Awards, an online school must either:
- offer a whole English-medium curriculum for children of any age between 3 and 18 **and** be publicly accessible for students from a variety of countries to enrol;
**OR** - only enrol students from within one single country **and** offer a whole English-medium curriculum that is not the national curriculum of that country.
Online schools eligibility note:
Some online learning providers offer subject courses as a supplement to a classroom-based curriculum, but to be eligible for the International School Awards, an online school must offer a permanent whole programme of subject learning in an online environment that meets the criteria described above.
When do applications close?
Friday 7 July 2023 at 23:59 (GMT+1)
What period do these awards cover?
Judges will be looking for an outstanding example of best practice and innovation that has been implemented during the 2022-2023 academic year. If the initiative was introduced prior to this year, the initiative can be submitted provided it has been developed further and this development has been evaluated during the 2022-2023 academic year.
How do I know if my school is eligible to be nominated for an International School Award?
Schools are eligible to participate in the International School Awards if they are a school that has chosen to deliver a curriculum wholly or partly in English to some or all of its students aged between 3 and 18, in a country where English is not an official language; or a school that delivers a curriculum other than the host country’s national curriculum wholly or partly in English to some or all students aged between 3 and 18, in a country where English is an official language.
Online international schools are eligible to participate in the International School Awards if they offer a whole English-Medium curriculum for children of any age between 3 and 18, and it is publicly accessible for students from a variety of countries to enrol. Or, if the online school only enrols students from within one single country, it must offer a whole English-Medium curriculum that is not the national curriculum of that country.
How many entries can we make?
Each school can only submit one application.
Can our school resubmit an initiative that we submitted in a previous year?
Initiatives submitted in previous years cannot be resubmitted unless significant development of an existing initiative has occurred during the past year and your application provides evidence of this.
Can I start my application and return later on to finish it?
Yes, our application platform saves your progress at whatever point of the application you are on. Start your application and come back to it ahead of the 7th July deadline whenever it is convenient for you.
What do I do if I'm having a problem with my application form?
If you have any problems or questions throughout the entry process, please contact us by email on applications@iscresearch.com
When are the award recipients announced?
Award recipients will be announced virtually on the ISC Research community platform during International School Awards week 22-25 January 2024.
How are the applications judged?
An independent panel of education and international school experts select the award recipients. Details of all the judges are available here
PEOPLE
Judges
A panel of independent judges select all award recipients.
Polly Akhurst
Job title - Co-founder and Co-Executive Director, Amala
Polly Akhurst is the Co-founder and Co Executive Director of Amala, a not for profit organisation which uses the power of education to transform the lives of refugees, their communities and the world. Amala has developed the first high school ... View profile
Dr Samia Al Farra
Job title - International Education Consultant
Dr Samia Al Farra works as a consultant in school improvement and excellence in education K-12. Currently she serves on three boards of international schools in Dubai, Riyadh and Kuwait. She was the Chief Education Officer of Taaleem Management ... View profile
John Bastable
Job title - Director of Bastable School Solutions
After graduating from Cambridge in 1975, John left the UK for a two-year teaching post overseas and returned 38 years later having gained extensive international experience, spending 35 years in leadership positions. John is now semi-retired ... View profile
Jeremy Lewis
Job title - Head of School, ACS Egham International School, UK
Jeremy Lewis served as Head of School at ACS Egham International School in the UK for 12 years. Prior to joining ACS Egham, Jeremy held leadership roles in Turkey, Vietnam, Hungary, Japan and Kuwait. During his 38 years in international ... View profile
Anu Monga
Job title - Founder and Chair of TAISI
Anu Monga has a distinguished career within education in India and the international schools market. She has more than thirty years of senior leadership experience and has worked in different leadership capacities with leading schools in Delhi, ... View profile
Ango Mwakisu
Job title - Senior Assistant Director of Admissions
Ango Mwakisu has been working in international higher education for more than 10 years. Originally from the land of Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar, Tanzania, Ango is an alumnus of Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany where he earned both his ... View profile
Mónica Pérez-Bedmar
Job title - Professor, Department of Natural Sciences, Saint Louis University, Madrid, Spain
Mónica Pérez-Bedmar is a double national Spanish-American. Upon completion of primary and secondary school in her hometown of Madrid, she received a scholarship to study in Florida Tech University, where she completed a BS in Oceanography and ... View profile
Paul Regan
Job title - Former Principal of Oaktree International School, Kolkata, India
Paul has worked in the field of education as teacher, head teacher and principal for over thirty years, fifteen of them in international education. He has run schools in Kenya, the Ukraine, Bosnia and India and, as founding head, he has started ... View profile
Kevin Ruth
Job title - President, Moreland University
Kevin is the President of Moreland University, the TEACH-NOW Graduate School of Education, and the former Executive Director of ECIS. In addition to two decades in education as a teacher, advisor, department head, and deputy head, he has given ... View profile
Dr Helen Wright
Job title - International Education Advisor
Helen has an energetic career spanning 25 years to date in the UK and international education sector, including 13 years leading schools as Head, as well as a number of national and international roles, including as Vice-Chair of the ... View profile
