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Tes Awards for International Schools

Entry guidelines 

Our awards are simple to enter and open to all international schools outside of the UK that teach the British or International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, or both.

The information below will help you to prepare your entry.  

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Tes Awards for INT Schools 2024 - Star Hero image
  • Entry is free 
  • To enter the Tes Awards for International Schools you'll need to register with us. Your details will only be used by us for awards-related communications. Once you've registered and your account has been created, your details will be retained on the site whenever you're logged in, so you won't be required to re-enter them when revising your entries or making additional entries
  • You'll be able to draft and revise your entries up until you click on the ‘SUBMIT’ button. Just click ‘SAVE’ any time you wish to exit an incomplete entry
  • All entries should be endorsed by your institution or organisation 
  • If your entry relates to an initiative or project carried out in collaboration with other schools, the entry should come from the lead school, and any shortlisting will be in the name of that school. If you're successful, we'll give credit to partner schools in the awards winners announcement that will be made on social media
  • These awards celebrate achievements during the 2022-2023 academic year. We'll accept submissions based on projects, initiatives or endeavours that commenced prior to the 2022-2023 academic year, provided that core achievements took place during this main period of focus. We'll also accept any evidence that has come to light after the close of the 2022-2023 academic year if this further underlines success 
  • All entries must be submitted online. The entry text should be no more than 300 words in length, and must address the key criteria set out for the relevant category 
  • In addition you may include up to three sets of supporting materials; each must be  no more than two sides of A4 in length. Please see below for more details on the supporting material requirements 
  • If you wish to include tables, please upload these as part of your supporting materials rather than including them within your entry text 
  • You can enter as many categories as you wish, but you must complete a separate entry for each category
  • You may also submit more than one entry per category when projects or initiatives are distinctive and unrelated. Otherwise, it's advisable to combine the best elements of each in a stronger single entry 
  • You may enter a project that has been undertaken in collaboration with an external public or private partner, but the award will be given to the winning institution only 
  • If there is no lead school in a collaborative project, to avoid multiple entries focusing on the same project please agree who will submit the entry on behalf of the group. All partners will be credited in the awards winners announcements  
  • If we do not receive sufficient entries to form a full shortlist for a specific category, we have the right to withdraw the category
  • The website will be open for entries until midnight on  Friday 10 November 2023 GMT 

Supporting material

A maximum of three supplementary documents are permitted: 

  • Documents should be in PDF or Word doc. format 

  • Each document should not exceed two sides of A4 

Supporting material may include photographs, documents containing statistics, testimonials, supporting research, evaluation or press cuttings and promotional material; please highlight any sections you believe are particularly relevant. 

Preparing your entry

  • When preparing your 300-word entry please review the entry criteria carefully 

  • Ensure that your entry contains sufficient robust information. Please include relevant facts and figures where possible. Some categories may ask you to include details of a particular initiative or initiatives; please think carefully about these and select those that best promote your expertise 

  • As well as completing the 'Institution name' field on the application form, please ensure that you also enter the specific team or project in the nominee field 

Please note that we will use the 'Institution name' rather than that of the project or team in our coverage, although in the shortlisting or winning announcement we will refer more specifically to the shortlisted project or team.  

On receipt of your submitted entry, a unique ID number will be generated and emailed to you. This will be quoted in subsequent Tes Awards for International Schools 2024 correspondence relating to your entry, including any notification of shortlisting, so please do cross-check this, particularly if your institution has submitted multiple entries in any given category. 

The contact details you provide in your entry form will be used throughout the awards process. If these details change after the form has been submitted, please send the new contact information by email to  infotesevents@tes.com

Photo and video guidance for shortlisted entries

If you have been shortlisted, please see the requirements below.

Photographs

Please supply us with six different high-quality landscape photographs.

Technical specifications for photographs:

  • Images should be at least 2,000 pixels wide

  • The formats we accept are jpeg, eps, pdf

  • Please don’t overlay logos or text on the photographs

  • If the photographs don't meet these criteria, we'll contact you to request suitable images

  • These photos will be used for the awards winners announcement, which will be showcased online. The images may also be used in Tes coverage, Tes social media channels and PR before and after the announcement

  • Please make sure that you have the relevant written permissions from teachers and students in these photos before you send them to us for use

  • Ideally, we’re looking for photographs that reflect your entry. It’s often more interesting to see the team / individuals behind the entry

  • You can upload supporting pictures during the entry process

How to send your photographs:   

  1. If you are experiencing issues submitting your photographs, please send then by email to infotesevents@tes.com

  2. Please clearly label your photographs for identification making sure you include the following information within the text of your email:
    – Category name
    – School name
    – Entry ID number

(Your ID number will have been sent to you via your entry confirmation and shortlist confirmation email)

Videos

  • If you're fortunate enough to be a finalist or a winner, we may reach out to you for a promotional video of 15-20 seconds in duration regarding your school/entry that we may use in promotional materials

  • Any videos we request will not be used for the judging process, if your video is used it will be used for promotional purposes only

Technical specifications for requested videos:

  1. Our preferred video format is QuickTime files (Pro res 422 or H264 codec), 1920 x 1080 Pixels (16:9 format)

  2. Please top and tail the video with your school logo

  3. Your video must have some form of audio, whether it’s dialogue or music (music must be license free/library music) and the audio should fade out as it reaches the end logo

  4. Please make sure that you have the relevant written permissions from teachers and pupils in this video before you send it to us for use

  5. Please clearly label your video for identification making sure you include the following information when you submit it:
    – Category name
    – School name
    –  Entry ID number

(Your ID number will have been sent to you via your entry confirmation and shortlist confirmation email)

If you have any queries or require any further information please contact infotesevents@tes.com