WHO CAN APPLY FOR AN AWARD?
All independent schools which are school members of one of the membership associations of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) are eligible to apply for the awards as are any British international schools which are members of COBIS or of a constituent association of the ISC.are eligible to apply for the British International School Award as well as the other specialist awards.
CAN MY SCHOOL APPLY FOR MORE THAN ONE AWARD?
Yes. Schools from within the UK or overseas are invited to apply for any award for which they are eligible and where they believe they have a compelling story to tell. We particularly encourage schools – including pre-prep and prep schools – to consider submitting entries for the specialist awards as well as for their own generic school category.
CAN MY SCHOOL APPLY FOR MORE THAN ONE AWARD AND/OR SUBMIT MULTIPLE ENTRIES FOR THE SAME AWARD?
Yes. Schools are invited to submit an entry for any award for which they are eligible and where they believe they have a compelling story to tell. Multiple entries can be submitted for the Rising Star of Year award where a school feels they have several worthy candidates.
ARE THE AWARD CRITERIA OPEN TO INTERPRETATION?
Yes. We encourage you to answer the questions set out in the individual award criteria, but we are keen for you to tell us why your story is relevant and means you should win a particular award. Please refrain from submitting only lightly re-versioned entries for several categories and please do consider the category-specific published criteria very carefully when authoring your submission.
HOW WILL THE AWARDS BE JUDGED?
The Chair and Vice Chair of the judging panel will study every entry received against the published awards criteria and create a shortlist of Commended Schools from which, in turn, the Finalists will be selected. The full entry from each of the Finalists will be supplied to the judging panel which will meet to choose the winners.
WILL SCHOOLS BE TOLD THEY HAVE BEEN COMMENDED?
Yes. We plan to tell schools they have been commended towards the beginning of July 2025. Finalists will then be announced in September with an awards ceremony taking place in October.
WHAT SORT OF EVIDENCE DO I NEED TO PROVIDE TO SUPPORT AN APPLICATION AND HOW SHOULD I SUBMIT IT?
Supporting evidence could take the form of photos, video content, evaluations, testimonials, newspaper cuttings and inspection reports, etc. Schools are asked to submit their written submissions, photographs and videos using the online forms provided.
CAN I SUPPLY FURTHER SUPPORTING EVIDENCE AFTER SUBMITTING MY ENTRY?
No. Please ensure that all supporting evidence is included at the point of entry.
WILL THERE BE PUBLICITY ABOUT THE WINNERS?
Yes. During the autumn and winter of 2025-6 the Independent School Parent portfolio of titles plans to put the stories of the winning schools at the heart of its editorial content. Schools need to tell us if they do not seek publicity of this nature and do not want us to use their stories when they submit their applications.
CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ON THE AWARDS AND ADVICE ON HOW TO APPLY?
Yes. If you have any queries or concerns please email us at isoty@chelseamagazines.com
IS THERE A REGISTRATION FEE?
There is a registration fee of £45 per entrant (“Registration Fee”). Please note that this is per registered entrant and not per entry. This one-off Registration Fee entitles an entrant to submit an entry for multiple categories of the Awards. All payments are processed securely via PayPal. The Registration Fee is non-refundable after 14 days of submission as we will have processed your entry by the end of that period. All entrants must be an authorised representative and complete the entry form located here.
DO YOU HAVE A COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE?
Yes. Please see our Independent Schools of the Year Awards Complaints Procedure here.
