Talk Education’s Awards for Innovation in Education 2026 – WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Earlier this year, we launched our 2026 Talk Education Awards for Innovation in Education. For the fifth year running, we were blown away by the sheer number and quality of entries from hundreds of schools around the globe.   

We’ve harnessed our team’s decades of experience and on-the-ground, insider knowledge to keep tabs on what amazing things schools have been up to, and our panel of informers and judges – experienced researchers and educational experts, former heads, teachers and advisers, all with their eyes and ears to the ground – have spent the summer locked away in very heated discussion, whittling down our shortlist to the schools that have impressed them the most.  

Our awards are designed to celebrate the schools who are changing the face of independent education by forging ahead with new, revolutionary ideas.   

Once again, schools across the globe are setting the bar higher and higher. We have heard from schools developing their own bespoke AI tools, allowing human expertise and adaptive technology to complement each other; cutting the ribbon on state-of-the-art innovation hubs; and creating portable ‘lessons in a box’ to enable local schools to borrow specialist teaching resources and remove barriers to high-quality learning. Others told us about their choristers winning Grammys; pupils voyaging to the Arctic to witness first-hand the realities of climate change; talented athlete programmes overseen by some of the top sportsmen and women in the world; and boreholes being installed to provide sustainable water supplies. Community spirit continues to shine, too. We loved hearing from schools providing life-changing holiday enrichment for disadvantaged pupils; launching dedicated bursaries for state school pupils showing outstanding musical talent; and engaging with local pupils at risk of exclusion through hands-on environmental work. This year’s judging panel had a lot to mull over.

So, without further ado, drum roll please…  

Best use of technology
We're less interested in how much schools have spent or how many shiny Macs they have, but in how effectively they use tech to enhance pupils' learning.



Community engagement or charity fundraising
For a school that has found a new way to open its doors to the wider community, or pioneered a new approach to raise money for charities at home or overseas.  



Inspiring sporting activities
From encouraging members of the F-team to nurturing future Olympians, we’re interested in achievements and initiatives related to anything that gets pupils active: be it sailing or squash, cricket or CCF.  



Equity, diversity and inclusion
Lip service doesn’t cut it: we want to hear how schools are going above and beyond to make a genuine impact and ensure every single member of the school community feels included, represented and celebrated.  



Innovation in nutrition or food
This could be a new catering team, a change in dining facilities, a revised menu to encourage pupils to eat more healthily or a new approach to monitor pupils at risk of eating disorders.  



Environmental achievement
For inspiring and encouraging eco-awareness in pupils or creating an eco-innovative learning space or building (everything from farms to carbon-neutral classrooms).  



Bursary provision
This could be the launch of an ambitious new foundation or a successful new approach to publicising a school’s bursaries scheme, resulting in an increased number of candidates.  



Pastoral care and wellbeing
All schools tell us that their pastoral care is top-notch – we're interested in the initiatives they have introduced to guarantee that theirs is unparalleled.  



Thinking beyond the curriculum
How do schools inspire pupils to think beyond the core and challenge themselves to take their interest in a subject further?

 

Performing and creative arts
We want to celebrate schools’ innovation in the teaching of music, art, drama, dance, photography, D&T and anything else that gets pupils’ creative juices flowing.  



Support for life beyond school
Instead of telling us how many pupils got into their first-choice university, we want to know what schools are doing to help ensure pupils are fully prepared to bid goodbye to their school bubble and tackle an increasingly competitive further education market head on.  



Entrepreneurship and business
Today’s pupils need to be prepared for jobs that don’t currently exist – how are schools coaching and empowering the leaders of tomorrow?  



Learning support and SEND
We’re looking for both mainstream and specialist schools that excel in supporting all pupils, whatever their learning needs – whether through outstanding specialist provision, innovative teaching strategies, strong partnerships with families or a tangible commitment to helping everyone achieve their full potential, academically, socially and emotionally.



Exploration and adventure
Learning doesn’t only happen at a desk. From forest school to far-flung expeditions, we want to hear how your school creates opportunities for pupils to explore, take risks, step out of their comfort zone and embrace the unknown.



And finally…  

The Alice Rose Award 

Alice Rose, co-founder of Talk Education, sadly passed away in 2022. Very much loved not only by the Talk team but by schools and parents alike, she remains a driving force behind Talk Education, and it is thanks to her brilliant vision, her positivity and inspiration that Talk has grown into the huge success story it is today.

In honour of Alice, our judges have selected the two schools that embody the qualities Alice was most passionate about - schools that support growth and learning but allow their pupils to find their passions, get stuck in, muck in and feel safe and supported. In short, schools where confident, nurtured, happy children are given the freedom to enjoy their childhood and adolescence to the fullest.

The Alice Rose Award has been awarded by the whole TE team, as well as Alice’s husband James and her three boys.

There was no shortlist for this very special award, and all schools were carefully considered.