“The Awards were set up to recognise individuals and organisations who make an outstanding contribution to raising the professionalism and reputation of the English language sector of international education in Australia and to celebrate their achievements, their dedication and their inspiration,” said English Australia, the peak body for ELICOS.

Ruby Biscuit of Ability English accepts the IELTS Award for Academic Leadership from IELTS Australia’s Research Coordinator, Jenny Osborne.

The English Australia Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding service to the ELICOS industry was presented to Christine Bundesen, director of the Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education, University of Queensland (ICTE-UQ), for her work in promoting ELICOS via posts at English Australia and IDP among others.

“The Awards were set up to recognise individuals and organisations who make an outstanding contribution”

Ruby Biscuit, an international strategy manager at Ability English school, received the English Australia/IELTS Award for Academic Leadership in ELICOS, after working to increase the professional development of teachers at Ability. She said the award served to recognise teachers, “the most powerful thing a college can invest in”.

Nominations for the awards, which started in 2003, open in March each year and any organisation registered on CRICOS may participate, with cash prizes often up for grabs. Many categories are sponsored by industry giants such as Pearson, IELTS, and ETS Toefl.

The three-day English Australia conference welcomed over 350 delegates working in or associated with the ELICOS sector of international education. Themed “Re-shaping our future”,  sessions were given cover marketing, regulatory changes and industry trends as well as presentations from plenary speakers from the UK, Europe and Australia.

Go here for a full list of the award winners.