Terms and conditions

The Study UK Alumni Awards (The “Alumni Awards”) are operated by or on behalf of the British Council to recognise and honour the outstanding achievements made by international alumni who have studied at, or for a qualification awarded by, a listed or registered UK Higher Education Institution (HEI).

Alumni submit one application. If more than one application is submitted by an individual, only one application, which is the entry submitted closest to the application deadline, will be assessed. Any previous applications submitted by the individual will be deleted.

All eligible alumni applicants from countries who do not host national awards and winners and finalists from countries who host national awards are entered into the global Alumni Awards. National level awards are run at the same time, but separate to, the global awards.

The 28 finalists for the global awards (four award categories x seven global regions) will be celebrated digitally via a campaign on Study UK social media. The four global award winners (one winner per each award category) will also be celebrated digitally and will be awarded with a return flight and visit to the UK to re-connect with their university/ies and meet with Study UK stakeholders to support the ongoing development of their careers.

There are four award categories. These are:

• Business and Innovation Award: recognising alumni who are active in initiating or contributing to innovative or creative new ideas, solutions or business opportunities, that have the potential for strong growth.
• Culture, Creativity and Sport Award: Recognising alumni who have carved a career for themselves in arts, culture and sport. We are looking for individuals who can demonstrate their artistic ingenuity, influence and creativity.
• 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.
• Social Action Award: recognising alumni who have made an exceptional contribution and commitment to creating positive social change and improving the lives of others.

Alumni can apply for one of the above four categories only. The judging panel reserves the right to move applicants into a different award category.

Countries and regions hosting Alumni Awards ceremonies:

1. Bangladesh
2. Chinese mainland
3. Cyprus
4. Egypt
5. France
6. Ghana
7. Greece
8. Hong Kong SAR, China
9. India
10. Indonesia
11. Malaysia
12. Nigeria
13. Pakistan
14. Saudi Arabia
15. Turkey
16. UAE
17. USA
18. Vietnam

The British Council reserves the right to amend the opening and closing dates, and vary them by country, according to local requirements. Any such amendments will be notified in these Terms and Conditions, on the application portal, and via local promotions in the relevant country/countries.

The opening date of the Study UK Alumni Awards 2026 is 1 September 2025. The closing date for all countries is 16 October 2025 at 17.00 UK time (BST).

Any entry received before the opening date or after the closing date will not be accepted. The British Council accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any system, server, provider or otherwise that may result in any entry being lost, delayed or not properly registered.

Applicants whose application is found to be ineligible will be notified from November 2025 onwards.

All Alumni Awards finalists will be notified by 30 April 2026. Winners of national level awards will be announced between December 2025 and May 2026.

Winners of the global level awards will be announced in August 2026. This notification will be made to the email address provided by the applicant when registering for the Study UK Alumni Awards in accordance with section 3 of these Terms and Conditions.

The Alumni Awards will be promoted through the British Council official channels including the website: https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org and through third party channels e.g. UK universities. Paper applications will not be accepted.

All applicants must access the application portal link via the https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/alumni-awards page and then follow these steps:

• Read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
• Read the Privacy Notice on how personal data is used and as optional, to provide consent for use of some special category personal data related to the British Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, direct marketing communication, and joining the British Council’s UK Alumni Network.
• Enter their first and last name and email address where indicated.
• Enter details of the UK Higher Education Institution and award category selected.

All applicants are required to:

• Provide three statements describing their success and achievements within the context of the award category they are applying for, and how it has impacted their community, industry and country; how their experience of studying in the UK/for a qualification from a UK university helped them to achieve their success, and their capacity to be an ambassador for their UK education, including any ongoing links with their institution/UK.

All applicants are required to:

• Accept the Terms and Conditions by clicking the box in the application form.
• Read the Privacy Notice on the Application Form on how personal data is used and as optional, to provide consent for use of some special category personal data related to the British Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, direct marketing communication, and joining the British Council’s UK Alumni Network.
• Click on the button to submit the application.

Applicants can save their application and complete it later, however they must submit the application before the application deadline.

Unsuccessful applicants may reapply for the Study UK Alumni Awards in subsequent years, however they must submit a new application form as per the application process and entry rules for that year. Global award winners of Study UK Alumni Awards from the previous years are not permitted to reapply to the awards in subsequent years.

Finalists may be asked to provide their CV/resume, copy of ID and a reference. Global Award finalists will also be asked to submit a one-minute self-made video highlighting their work and their impact, and the influence of their UK education. They will also be required to provide their passport scan and employer details, to confirm any sanctions against them, and to complete a consent form for a reference checking agency to carry out verification checks, and an image consent/permission form.

Applicants’ data will be shared and verified with the alumni’s UK Higher Education Institution as well as the British Council in the UK and overseas. The British Council reserves the right to independently check all information provided by applicants and referees.

Should the applicant be found to have submitted false information, and/or have provided falsified information through referees in support of their application, the applicant will be disqualified from the Alumni Awards. Any titles already awarded (finalist or winner) will be removed from the applicant during or after the Alumni Awards.

British Council reserves the right to withdraw a finalist/winner story should it pose potential reputational risk due to negative publicity, public perception or uncontrollable events.

Guidelines for using ChatGPT

• ChatGPT can be used as a tool, not a substitute: ChatGPT should not replace your own original content, but you can use it to check your grammar and layout.
• Personal achievements: Your long-form answers should be authentic and reflect your own work and impact.
• Application integrity: Ensure that the information and data you submit is genuinely your own. Plagiarism or presenting someone else's content as your own will render your Study UK Alumni Awards application ineligible.

After the application closing date, all applications will be reviewed by an external agency to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria, and to select the top 80 applications (20 x 4 award categories) in each of the seven worldwide regions (Americas, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Wider Europe). Applications will be reviewed and assessed by an external agency, based on the selection criteria provided by the British Council. Given the large number of applications we receive, the shortlisting agency will first review the answers to the questions on scale of impact, influence of UK education on success, and potential capacity to be an ambassador for UK education, and will only progress the applications of those who score a competitive mark in those questions.

The agency will provide a shortlist of candidates per region to the British Council which will then be forwarded to the relevant regional judging panel. Regional judging panels, consisting of 14 internal and external judges (two per region) will then select finalists (highlighting the top applicant in each of the four categories) from their region producing a shortlist of 28 global finalists in total.

Applications of the 28 global finalists, as well as finalists at any national level awards, are verified by the applicants’ UK HEIs.

A global shortlisting panel, consisting of eight high profile judges, will then review the 28 global finalists’ applications to select the four global award winners from each of the award categories.

In a separate process not linked to the Global Awards, British Council country offices who are hosting national level awards will review applications from alumni in their respective countries and select the top 10%, followed by an internal and external in-country judging panel to select the finalists and winners for their national awards.

Any finalist who makes the decision to withdraw from the Alumni Awards, for whatever reason, will lose their finalist status and the relevant country/global team is within their rights to select another applicant from the shortlist.

Judging criteria

Judges will review all applications against the same judging criteria (listed below). Applications that demonstrate the highest levels of evidence of meeting each of the criteria will be awarded the highest scores. The highest scoring applicants will be selected as finalists. The judging panel reserves the right to move applications into a different award category, based on the skills and experiences described in the application. The 28 global finalists will be asked to submit a one-minute video as described in section 3) above, as part of the judging process, and for use on social media.

National award finalists may be invited to take part in a short interview with the judging panel.

Applications will be assessed on the extent to which they meet the following five criteria:

• Scale of impact in their industry, society and country, based on measurable evidence of that impact.

• UK influence: evidence of particular aspects of their UK education that helped them to achieve their success

• Media traction: extent to which the alum’s story is likely to resonate with:

- local/national media - for national level awards, or

- global media - for global awards

• Inspiration to the next generation of prospective students

- in country of entry - for national awards, or

- internationally– for global awards

• Quality of application

All of the above are marked out of 5, except for ‘Scale of Impact’ which is marked out of 8 (0 = zero impact; 8 = outstanding impact).

The judges’ decision is final and binding. The panel of judges will include at least one member who is independent of the British Council and Alumni Award sponsors/partners. The Alumni Awards reserves at its sole discretion the right to not to make any particular award in any given category or disqualify any entry that does not meet the entry requirements.

Four global award winners (one per award category) and 24 finalists will be celebrated digitally, via a global social media campaign on Study UK social media platforms. There will be no physical award ceremony. The four global award winners will be invited to the UK for a visit to re-connect with their university/ies, meet with Study UK stakeholders and to support the ongoing development of their careers.

Additionally, in selected countries, national award winners will be announced online and/or at in-country events. Finalists of national level awards will be informed by their local British Council office about the format of the Alumni Awards celebration in their country.

In cases where countries are hosting national award ceremonies, national level finalists who are invited to and choose to attend are responsible for covering their own expenses, including accommodation, subsistence, visas, insurance, international or domestic travel costs or other ancillary costs arising out of participation in The Awards, unless otherwise expressly stated by the British Council.

National level finalists invited to an Award Ceremony in their country may be able to invite a guest to accompany them. This will be confirmed by countries upon issuing invitations to the ceremonies. In addition, the British Council will invite a representative from finalists’ UK Higher Education Institutions. Conditions stated in section 6 and 8 in this document also apply to guests.

If the country or location of an Awards Ceremony becomes unsafe due to an event of Force Majeure, the British Council reserves the right to cancel an Award Ceremony with immediate effect. Attendees will be responsible for any cancellation charges on flights, accommodation and any other costs that they may incur in respect of such cancellation.

The British Council will process personal data of all applicants and the additional application details as anticipated in this Terms and Conditions and in line with the Privacy Notice available on the Application Form.

The British Council intends to publish the names and photographs of the finalists and winners on the British Council’s, and partners’, websites and social media pages, press releases and in other promotional and marketing material. In addition, the British Council may write and publish articles about the finalists and winners. Publicity material of winners and finalists will be shared with their UK Higher Education Institution. By entering the Study UK Alumni Awards, each applicant agrees to the use of their name and image and agrees to co-operate with any such publicity or marketing if they are selected as an Alumni Award Finalist or Winner.

By entering the Alumni Awards each applicant grants the British Council, Alumni Award Partner organisations and own Higher Education Institution(s), free of charge, permission to use the entry material in any way they want (including, without limitation, modifying and adapting it for operational and editorial reasons) in any media worldwide. Each applicant confirms that the entry material is their original work, is not defamatory and does not infringe any English laws, that they have the right to give the British Council and their former UK university/ies permission to use it for the purposes specified above, and that all necessary consents for the submission of the entry material have been obtained.

All rights in the British Council’s name and logo, websites, Facebook pages, X (previously Twitter) pages, and other social media platforms, press releases and other promotional and marketing material and all course and examination content and materials (together the “Council’s Materials”) shall vest in and remain with the British Council (or its licensors). By participating in the Study UK Alumni Awards, applicants agree that they will not use, broadcast, publish, export, exploit, reproduce nor copy part or all of the Council’s Materials.

If you are invited to, and attend, a national Award Ceremony, or if you are selected as a global award finalist or winner, you will be asked to sign a Consent form to agree to the following:

• that the British Council is photographing and/or recording you and that the British Council uses any material in the photographs and/or recordings where the copyright or any other rights are owned by you and waive all your moral rights and performers’ rights (if any) in the photographs and recordings;

• that the British Council and partners shall be entitled to use the photographs and/or recordings made of you in their original format or edited, adapted or altered, for the purposes of the British Council’s internal and external promotional and publicity materials and for any programmes, publications, websites, electronic publications and social media services worldwide produced by or on behalf of the British Council and partners; and

• that the British Council and partners shall be entitled to pass the photographs and/or recordings of you , and your name, to external press and media agencies, publishers and broadcasters, Higher Education Institutions and to partners and other third parties with which the British Council works, anywhere in the world, for the purposes of the Study UK Alumni Awards.

All Study UK Alumni Awards finalists will be asked to provide a professional style photograph and images of them demonstrating their careers, and a short personal summary to be used for social media/event purposes.

Finalists and winners will benefit from their global profile being made more visible through press and publicity opportunities via digital media campaigns, as well as professional development opportunities in selected countries, to be advised by each country participating at a national level.

Some countries hosting national level awards may also offer prize draws for nominators and members of the public via social media competitions to encourage nominations and applications. The details of these additional prize draws will be specified on those countries’ British Council country website Alumni Awards pages.

Four global winners will be invited to the UK to take part in a visit to re-connect with their university/ies and meet with UK stakeholders. The British Council will cover the cost of visa applications, flights, airport travel, transportation within the UK, accommodation and meals during the professional programme, in line with British Council’s travel and expense policy.

UK visa and entry clearance: your UK visa application will be processed through UK Visas and Immigration service who have the discretion to decide whether to approve or reject your UK visa application. The British Council will provide you with the necessary supporting documents but cannot guarantee the outcome of your visa application.

Visas are applied for online, you can check if you need a visa before visiting the UK here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

For general advice on visits, check here: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor

The British Council does not provide travel insurance. Global winners should take out Personal Accident Travel insurance for their time overseas. This should include the following standard elements of cover:

• Medical costs for treatment in case of illness or accidental injury
• Benefits for permanent disabling injuries, e.g. rehabilitation and living costs
• Benefits for death and costs of repatriation
• Cover for loss or damage to your personal belongings
• Cover for cancelled flights, e.g. if the airline goes out of business or on strike
• Personal Liability cover. This provides legal support and covers financial costs if you cause injury or property damage to others and are found personally liable.
• 24hr emergency assistance helpline.

Many policies also have Legal Expenses cover, which is recommended in case the global winner needs legal assistance while overseas.

The global winner should remember to save the emergency contact number for their travel insurance to their mobile phone, keep a copy of the insurance policy in a safe place and give their insurance policy number and the emergency contact number to their next of kin.

Liability

(a) The British Council does not exclude or limit in any way its liability to the Participant for any death or personal injury caused by the British Council’s negligence, any fraudulent misrepresentation by the British Council, or any liability which cannot be excluded by law.

(b) Subject to paragraph (a), no liability is accepted by the British Council for:

• loss of or damage to property belonging to the global winner or anyone traveling with the global winner (for example, watches, jewellery, cameras or clothing); or

• losses or additional expenses incurred by the global winner due to delays or changes in travel services, sickness, weather, strikes, riots, war, quarantine or any other cause beyond the British Council’s reasonable control; or

• any special, indirect, consequential or pure economic loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses.

Subject to paragraphs (a) and (b), the British Council’s total liability to the global winner in contract, tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty) misrepresentation, restitution or otherwise arising under or in connection with these Programme rules, or the global winner’s participation in the visit, shall be limited to £300 for that global winner.

The British Council may disqualify or refuse to accept the entry of any applicant which does not meet the eligibility criteria or does not otherwise comply with these Terms and Conditions.

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes or claims (including, without limitation, non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with the Alumni Awards.

The website may include links to third party websites that are controlled and maintained by others. Any link to other websites is not an endorsement of such websites and you acknowledge and agree that Alumni Awards is not responsible for the content or availability of any such sites.

By participating in the Study UK Alumni Awards, applicants are deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions. Please tick the box on the application submission page to agree Terms and Conditions (mandatory field).

Applicants/general enquirers may direct their general inquiries to the Alumni Awards’ dedicated email address StudyUK.Alumni@BritishCouncil.org. Enquiries will be replied to within five working days.

We invite you to be a part of the British Council’s Alumni UK Network. As a member of the British Council’s Alumni Network we seek to provide you with opportunities for career advancement, global networking and access to a range of exclusive events and resources. The British Council’s Alumni UK Network is free to join, it brings people together from around the world who have a shared experience of a UK education or British Council learning and development experience. You can find more information about how we will process your personal data for this purpose in the Privacy Notice available here.

If you would like to join, please provide your consent in the relevant section on the Application Form.