UCL has announced the winners of the 2025 Education Awards, celebrating staff and students who have made outstanding contributions to teaching, learning and the wider academic experience across the university. From pioneering curriculum design and innovative digital education to exemplary support for student wellbeing and inclusion, this year’s recipients reflect UCL’s commitment to excellence and educational leadership. Drawn from faculties,professional services and the student body,the awardees highlight the breadth of talent driving improvements in education and shaping the future of learning at UCL.
Celebrating excellence in teaching at UCL Spotlight on the 2025 Education Awards winners
From laboratories and lecture theatres to studios and clinical settings, this year’s winners exemplify how distinctive, research-informed practice can transform student learning at scale. Drawing on digital innovation, inclusive curriculum design and cross-faculty collaboration, these educators have reimagined assessment, pioneered student-staff partnership models and embedded real-world challenges into their teaching.Their work is already influencing program design beyond their own departments, as colleagues adapt these approaches to new disciplines and contexts. In many cases, students were the first to nominate these individuals and teams, citing not only academic rigour but also the sense of belonging and confidence they helped to nurture.
Collectively, the 2025 cohort reflects the breadth of education at UCL, from early-career lecturers to professional services colleagues whose behind-the-scenes expertise makes exceptional learning experiences possible.The awards highlight achievements such as co-created modules, community-engaged projects and accessible learning environments that respond to the diverse needs of our student body. Among the themes emerging from this year’s citations are sustained commitment to feedback, creative use of learning technologies and a strong focus on employability.
- Innovative assessment: authentic tasks aligned with industry practice.
- Inclusive pedagogy: flexible, accessible design for diverse learners.
- Student partnership: co-growth of curricula and resources.
- Community impact: projects that extend learning beyond campus.
| Award Theme | 2025 Focus |
|---|---|
| Digital education | Blended, data-informed teaching |
| Student voice | Co-created modules and feedback loops |
| Global outlook | Interdisciplinary, real-world challenges |
Innovative learning practices and projects that shaped this year’s awards
Across faculties, this year’s laureates pushed beyond traditional lectures to experiment with authentic, student-led learning anchored in real-world impact. From medicine to architecture, winning projects embedded live casework with NHS trusts, London boroughs and cultural partners, enabling students to design policy proposals, prototype digital tools and co-create public exhibitions. In several modules, assessment was reimagined as public-facing outputs-podcasts, open-source datasets and policy briefs-giving students a tangible legacy while sharpening their communication and critical thinking skills. Staff reported higher engagement and deeper cross-disciplinary dialog, especially where community partners were involved in shaping the curriculum from the outset.
Many of the recognised initiatives also leveraged technology for inclusive learning, blending low-cost tools with elegant analytics to personalise support. Awarded teams piloted AI-assisted feedback on drafts, virtual labs for remote experimentation and accessible “micro-learning” playlists designed with commuter and part-time students in mind. Key themes included:
- Co-created curricula with students as partners in design and evaluation.
- Immersive simulations using VR and scenario-based role play for complex decision-making.
- Place-based projects tackling local sustainability, health and heritage challenges.
- Data-informed teaching that uses learning analytics to spot and close attainment gaps.
| Project | Faculty | Innovative Element |
|---|---|---|
| City Voices Studio | Social & Past Sciences | Student-led audio stories for community partners |
| Lab in Your Laptop | Engineering Sciences | Virtual experiments mirroring real lab data |
| Green Campus Live Brief | Built Surroundings | Live consultancy with estates and local councils |
| Inclusive AI Feedback Hub | Arts & Humanities | AI-supported draft review with staff moderation |
Championing inclusion and student partnership across faculties and disciplines
Across this year’s awards, staff and students from Engineering, Arts & Humanities, Life Sciences, IOE and beyond were celebrated for dismantling barriers to participation and co-creating curricula with their learners. Panels highlighted projects that embedded decolonial perspectives in core modules, redesigned assessment with neurodivergent students, and opened up laboratory and studio spaces to undergraduates traditionally excluded from research. Nominations repeatedly cited a shift from consultation to genuine partnership, with students leading change in areas such as feedback design, digital accessibility and the ethical use of AI in teaching.
- Co-created curricula that centre diverse voices and lived experience
- Student partnership roles embedded in departments and research groups
- Cross-faculty mentoring for first-generation and international students
- Accessible learning design spanning lecture capture,captioning and flexible assessment
| Faculty | Student-Staff Initiative | Key Inclusion Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering Sciences | Student-led lab redesign | Accessible equipment and signage |
| Social & Historical Sciences | Community syllabus project | Local voices in global case studies |
| Brain Sciences | Peer mentor network | Mental health and academic transition |
Practical lessons and recommendations for enhancing education inspired by the awardees
The experiences of this year’s awardees offer a set of concrete strategies that departments can adapt immediately. Many of the winning projects combine low-tech interventions with high-impact design: short “concept check” polls embedded in lectures, rotating peer-feedback circles, and five-minute reflective journals at the end of seminars have collectively boosted both attainment and student confidence. Others have championed assessment redesign, replacing a proportion of high‑stakes exams with brief, authentic tasks such as policy briefs, research posters or client-style presentations.These approaches align learning with real-world expectations while giving students more frequent, formative signals about their progress.
- Make feedback continuous: Integrate micro‑feedback moments in every teaching session.
- Foreground inclusion: Co-create ground rules and materials with diverse student groups.
- Design for adaptability: Offer multiple pathways to demonstrate learning outcomes.
- Leverage partnerships: Involve external organisations in projects and case studies.
| Practice | Awardee Insight | Swift Win for Staff |
|---|---|---|
| Active seminars | Short tasks every 10 minutes sustain attention. | Break lectures into mini-activities. |
| Inclusive design | Students help review reading lists and case studies. | Add one student-suggested source per topic. |
| Authentic assessment | Realistic briefs increase motivation and clarity. | Convert one essay into a real-world output. |
| Digital support | Short video explainers reduce repeat queries. | Record a 3-minute “assignment walkthrough”. |
Insights and Conclusions
As this year’s Education Awards draw to a close, the achievements of our 2025 winners underline the breadth of talent and dedication across the UCL community. From innovative teaching and transformative student support, to sector-leading initiatives in inclusivity and digital learning, each recipient has played a distinct role in shaping a richer, more equitable educational experience.
Their work reflects UCL’s ongoing commitment to research-informed teaching and to placing students at the heart of the academic mission. As these projects evolve and new ideas emerge, the 2025 awardees set a clear benchmark for what is possible when staff and students collaborate to rethink how – and for whom – education works.
Further details about the winners, their projects and the full shortlist can be found on the UCL Education Awards webpages.
