The Education Awards 2026
The Education Awards celebrate excellent practice in learning and teaching. Find out about the award categories for staff and students, and when nominations open.
On this page
- Overview
- Award Winners
- Award category descriptions
- How were the nominations judged?
- Sharing good practice
Overview
The Education Awards recognise and celebrate excellent practice in learning and teaching. The awards are run by Elevate.
We are delighted to announce the winners for the 2026 Education Awards.
The winners were chosen by a panel made up of colleagues from across the University and chaired by the Deputy VP for Education. The panel included a Faculty Director of Education, a Head of School, A School Director of Education, a One University representative, a previous Education Award winner, an Elevate representative, and two student representatives. The panel made their decisions based on the information provided in the nominations.
The Student Choice award winner was chosen by a panel of students led by the Students' Union Education Officer.
Award Winners
Teaching Practice
- Teaching Practice (Arts & Humanities): Franziska Collier
Franziska was nominated by a student for the teaching approaches she uses to engage students in learning German. The panel were particularly impressed with her powerful sense of community building and belonging, alongside her willingness to innovate and harness co-curricular, cross-disciplinary involvement to connect to academic learning.
- Teaching Practice (Engineering): Dr Chalak Omar, Dr Nidiana Rosado Hau, Dr Raja Toqeer, Dr Charis Bronze, Prof. Andrew Garrard, Michael Wright
The Engineering Project Weeks Team were nominated for the impact their work has on the experience and skills development of undergraduate engineering students. The panel were particularly impressed with the team’s adaptability regarding inclusion at scale. It was the view of the panel that their work represents a diverse team effort and demonstrates excellent collaboration between Professional Services and academic colleagues.
- Teaching Practice (Health): Sally Snowden and Karzan Hughes
Sally and Karzan were nominated for successfully establishing a new community of compassionate healthcare students able to support one another with the emotional and social challenges of working with patients. The panel were particularly impressed with how they empowered students to support each other, and created a wide-ranging impact on inclusion across the School and Faculty, delivering tangible results for everyone involved.
- Teaching Practice (Science): Dr Katherine Inskip
Katherine was nominated for her dedication to inclusive, authentic learning that builds resilient graduates and inspires the next generation of professionals. The panel were particularly impressed with her unique approach to normalising failure as a productive learning tool, such as using creative coding tasks to remove the fear of making mistakes and liked how her work looks beyond immediate disciplinary concerns by incorporating social science research practices.
- Teaching Practice (Social Sciences): Dr Hongmei Sun
Hongmei was nominated for her innovation and continuous improvement in teaching the Supply Chain Technology module. The panel were particularly impressed with her use of creative activities and technology, such as VR, to engage students in an environment where they truly want to learn. In the panel’s view, her work is an excellent example of authentic practice that integrates real-life situations and SGAs to ensure every student has the opportunity to excel.
Leadership in Education
- Dr Asha Akram (Psychology)
Asha was nominated for her leadership in transforming and enhancing student voice in the Faculty of Science. The panel were particularly impressed with her impact at scale on NSS scores and her creation of a new governance structure that delivered measurable results. In the panel’s view, she has developed a complete leadership story, creating a framework that now serves as a blueprint for university principles across the institution.
Academic Tutoring
- Dr Fran Henshaw and Dr Paul Gokhale (Biosciences)
Fran and Paul were nominated for creating an academic tutoring programme specifically targeted at students who might otherwise be at risk of not progressing or completing their courses. The panel were particularly impressed with Dr Fran Henshaw and Dr Paul Gokhale’s proactive engagement with student success and inclusion through these targeted interventions. In the panel’s view, their emphasis on proactively building students’ confidence is a vital contribution to student support.
Supporting Education
- Edward Browncross (Engineering)
Edward was nominated for the impact his software engineering has had on MEE's delivery with Blackboard and how his work supported academics to easily transition to Ultra. The panel were particularly impressed with his ability to resolve long-standing challenges and raise VLE quality and consistency for thousands of students. The panel felt this demonstrates a high degree of transferability and highlights how professional services staff enable high-scale, high-quality education.
Student Contribution to Education
- Eve Doherty, Jesse Layton, Niamh Stimpson, Lucy Thickett, Emily Hufton, Mollie Richardson, Jennifer Coates
The team were nominated for transforming a self-directed PGT module on their own initiative by creating a 'mentor' system that turned self-led tasks into an engaging, student-led experience. The panel were particularly impressed with how this collaborative approach identified a problem with tangible impact, fundamentally changing the student experience across the entire cohort. The panel also highly valued their strong emphasis on sharing and dissemination through the Education Conference.
Student Choice Award
- Prof. Louise Robson (Biosciences)
Louise was nominated for her work restructuring a final year capstone project and her dedication to acting on student feedback. The student panel were particularly impressed with her significant impact on the Biosciences cohort, specifically through the co-creation of module resources and the provision of supportive drop-in sessions. In the student panel’s view, her range of engagement methods and clear desire for students to thrive delivered the exact results this award is designed to commend.
Award category descriptions
Nominations for awards could be made by staff or students.
Staff Awards
- Teaching Practice (six awards: five Faculty Awards and one overall winner)
Staff whose approach to teaching, assessment and feedback has had a significant impact on inspiring student learning.
This could include (but isn’t limited to)
- using creative activities to engage students in learning
- creating inclusive learning environments and establishing effective learning communities
- integrating research to develop inspiring and innovative teaching
- designing innovative assessments and adopting effective approaches to student feedback
- innovating with digital learning tools such as Blackboard Ultra
- providing authentic opportunities for students to develop the Sheffield Graduate Attributes
There will be a total of 6 awards for teaching practice. This will consist of five Faculty specific awards and one overall award. The overall award will be selected from the winners of the Faculty awards.
- Leadership in Education
Staff who have worked effectively with others to influence and bring about change in education. The leadership demonstrated in this award can be of a formal or informal nature.
This could include (but isn’t limited to)
- leadership of a school, faculty, University working group through a period of significant change
- leadership around a particular aspect of learning and teaching such as employability, assessment, inclusion, digital learning, VLE implementation
- Academic Tutoring
Staff who provide ongoing academic support that has had a significant impact on students being able to engage with their learning and their academic development.
This could include (but isn’t limited to)
- developing positive and effective relationships with tutees
- supporting tutees to build an inclusive community within their tutor groups and programmes
- providing individualised guidance to tutees to support their academic progress
- providing effective signposting to additional support where needed
- supporting student transitions into and throughout the programme
- Supporting Education
Staff who do not have a direct teaching role but whose support has had a significant impact on students being able to get the most from their programme of study.
This could include (but isn’t limited to)
- supporting students with administrative, technical and digital tasks relating to their studies
- managing the administrative, technical and digital aspects of education
- supporting opportunities for students to develop the Sheffield Graduate Attributes
- providing training and support to students or staff around skills not directly linked to subject content
- helping to create inclusive learning environments and establish effective learning communities
- supporting the well-being and mental health of students
- Student Choice Award
This award is only open for nominations made by students and the winner will be chosen by a panel of student representatives.
The award is an opportunity for students to recognise the staff members who have had a significant impact on your educational experience throughout the year.
This could include but is not limited to:
- helping create a sense of belonging and an inclusive student community
- empowering students to speak up and have a positive impact on their course
- creating or leading a module that changed your perception of education or your degree
- supporting you in your education in a way that enabled you to succeed
Student Award
- Student Contribution to Education
Students who have made a significant contribution to the education of their peers.
This could include (but isn’t limited to)
- working to bring about change to the student academic experience
- providing support for their peers with their learning
- acting as mentors for other students to support development in learning and teaching acting as a champion for student issues in the school
- effective liaison between students, the school and the Students’ Union
How were the nominations judged?
To select the overall winner for each category, the awards panel focussed on:
- The extent to which the nominated practice is relevant to the award category
- The extent to which the nominee demonstrates pedagogical excellence in their practice
- The extent of impact that the nominee has had on student learning and education within the criteria for the award category. This impact could be direct (immediate impact on student learning) or indirect (supporting others or developing systems to have an impact on student on learning). It could also be wide (impact on a whole cohort) or more personal (impact on an individual student or small group of students)
- The extent to which the practice described in the nomination could be considered best practice and would be beneficial for others in similar positions to learn from
Sharing good practice
The award winners have been invited to share their practice at an event on Wednesday 17 June. All Education Awards nominees have been invited to this event and, if there is space, it will be opened up to other colleagues.
Find out more about how Elevate shares good practice (Staff hub login required)