2025 Award Winners

---

The winners of the HELOA Awards 2025 were announced at the National Conference on the evening of Thursday 16th January and presented by award sponsors. 

HELOA Awards serve as a platform to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our members. They highlight Best Practice and allow colleagues across the sector to exchange knowledge on how best to assist students in making informed decisions that contribute positively to their academic and professional journeys.

The Awards not only acknowledge individual and collective efforts but they also foster a culture of excellence within the educational landscape.

After receiving an outstanding range of submissions, we’re delighted to announce the winners and shortlisted nominees.

Award for best undergraduate initiative, supported by UniTasterDays

Winners: University of Derby – Derby UG Student Recruitment Campaign 2023

The University of Derby is ranked Top 20 for teaching quality and student satisfaction and was awarded TEF Gold in 2023, but is not as well-known as competitors. The challenge was to raise awareness of Derby as a thought leader, an applied university with outstanding research, and increase applications to our courses.

To achieve this, the University of Derby planned an inspiring campaign that would resonate with Gen Z and their influencers. They encouraged students to think about how they could save the world by going to university, while profiling their own world-leading research, including the game-changing work linked to coral reef restoration.

Nominee: Cardiff Metropolitan University – Capital of Affordability

The Capital of… campaign is a strategic, three-year initiative by Cardiff Met to attract undergraduate students, emphasizing the unique benefits of studying in Cardiff compared to London. 

Focusing on Cardiff’s affordability, quality of life, and easy transport links, the campaign targets schools and colleges in London, positioning Cardiff Met as a high-quality, cost-effective alternative. Initially aiming to reach five schools, the campaign surpassed expectations, engaging students from 12 institutions by November 2023. This outreach led to a 191% increase in applications from London, with significant interest from those directly involved in campaign sessions, highlighting Cardiff Met’s educational and lifestyle appeal.

Award for best postgraduate initiative, sponsored by FindAUniversity

Winners: University of Bristol – On-demand academic talks

The University of Bristol launched cost-effective, on-demand academic talks to boost postgraduate taught (PGT) leads and support recruitment. With no dedicated budget, over 150 programme-specific sessions were created using existing resources, generating 2,000+ views and over 1,000 high-quality leads.

This initiative, the second-highest lead generator for PGT Home after our flagship on-campus open day, delivered excellent application and firm acceptance rates. Developed from student feedback, the talks offer accessible, essential information and address declining attendance at live events. The project delivered an outstanding return on investment, enhanced cross-divisional collaboration, and aligns with the University’s goal to attract diverse, high-quality students.

Nominee: The University of Edinburgh – Always on: Launching Postgraduate Open Days on Demand

In a cost-neutral pilot Between March – September 2024 we rapidly scaled-up our video content to fulfil an unmet need among prospective postgraduates. Postgraduate Open Days on Demand (ODOD) showcased our extensive portfolio of +500 postgraduate programmes across 246 new videos (167 hours valuable new content), enabling an additional 1,209 pre- and post-applicants to register to receive essential course-level information on their terms.

Through tracking follow-up registrant behaviour, we established a correlation between engagement with the recordings, applying, offers and enrolments, thereby providing firm evidence of impact and rationale for roll-out during 2025.

Nominee: University of South Wales – Share your common worries – Instagram competition

The campaign ranged from the out-of-home pitch-side adverts and tickets secured via our partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union, to a social media-driven insights campaign which provided unique insights that has directly informed the University of South Wales’ postgraduate marketing and recruitment strategy.

Using the comment box on Instagram stories, USW created an engaging post and incentivised competition for their followers to share their worries about postgraduate study. One of USW’s postgraduate recruitment priorities is to improve progression rates from undergraduate study to postgraduate among their current student cohort so they found this opportunity to use social media in this way was a fantastic opportunity.

Award for best practice in widening participation, outreach, and access, supported by The Brilliant Club

Winners: University of East London – Phenomenal Physiology

The Phenomenal Physiology Project is a flagship initiative at the University of East London that has inspired under-represented Year 10 students since 2017. Through a six-week programme, students participate in hands-on science workshops led by trained Curriculum Ambassadors.

These sessions, held during lessons or after school, ignite interest in higher education and science degrees. The programme concludes with students presenting their experiment findings to a panel of academics, fostering confidence and empowering diverse young learners to pursue academic and professional success in science. The project is a vital platform for promoting diversity in STEM education.

Nominee: University of Sheffield – Access Development Project Curriculum Redesign