Application and Shortlisting Timeline
| 3 July 2019 | Applications open for all countries |
| 8 September 2019 | Nominations close at 23.59 (BST) for Azerbaijan, China and Qatar |
| 22 September 2019 (extended) | Applications close at 23.59 (BST) for Azerbaijan, China and Qatar |
| 14 October 2019 (extended) | Nominations close at 23.59 (BST) for all other countries except Saudi Arabia, deadline extended to 4 November. |
| 28 October 2019 |
Applications close at 23.59 (GMT) for all other countries except Saudi Arabia, deadline extended to 18 November. |
| October & November 2019 |
Shortlisting of applications |
| December 2019/January 2020 |
Announcement of finalists in national level awards (in selected countries – see full list in T&Cs) |
| January to March 2020 |
National Alumni Award ceremonies (in selected countries – see T&Cs) |
| March to August 2020 |
Global Alumni Awards finalists announced and celebrated via social media |
| September 2020 |
Global Alumni Awards winners announced |
Shortlisting process
The top 30 applications in each region will be shortlisted from all eligible applicants through several stages of judging, including internal and external judging panels involving British Council Regional Directors, Universities UK International, Chevening and Commonwealth, and UK universities, all of whom will review anonymised applications to select the 21 shortlisted global finalists. The global finalists will then be shortlisted by our global judging panel to select the three global winners, one for each of the award categories (Professional Achievement, Entrepreneurial and Social Impact). In addition, a small number of selected countries hosting national level events will conduct their own shortlisting panels, including senior staff from the British Council and the British Embassy/High Commission, to select their national level finalists and winners. All national awards are independent to the global awards.