Winners across 21 categories were announced at a glamorous event hosted at the historic Guildhall in London. Meanwhile, many more entrants were recognised as highly commended for their outstanding achievements and contributions to global education over the past year.
Last night’s celebrations were particularly special, marking a decade of The PIEoneer Awards. For the 10th year in a row, finalists showed innovation, determination and a truly global outlook in the face of mounting challenges facing the global international education sector.
“Even after 10 years of The PIEoneer Awards, we continue to be blown away with the exceptional quality of entrants. Our winners have demonstrated a real commitment to making a difference, and we’re thrilled to recognise their achievements,” commented The PIE’s COO and co-founder, Clare Gossage.
International education is a sector that never stands still, and this year’s winners are testament to the people continually pushing it forward
Clare Gossage, The PIE
“International education is a sector that never stands still, and this year’s winners are testament to the people continually pushing it forward. From pioneering new approaches to championing inclusion and creating meaningful opportunities, they represent the very best of our industry.”
A distinguished judging panel – representing a wide range of expertise and international backgrounds – sought out individuals and organisations redefining excellence and driving progress in global education.
This year, the flagship PIEoneer of the year award recognised US-based Technovation for its project-based learning philosophy where students build real technology solutions to community challenges.
Each year, The PIE recognises an individual for their Outstanding contribution to the industry, with Oxford International Education Group (OIEG) CEO Lil Bremermann-Richard taking home the coveted trophy last night for her boundary-pushing career spanning over two decades as a leading figure in international education.
Read about all our finalists and their entries here
The full list of winners and highly commended for the 2026 PIEoneer Awards are:
- Business school of the year: BPP University Business School.
In 2025, this school transformed its programs to meet global learner needs through full MSc revalidation, PRME aligned curriculum design, enhanced digital and academic skills support, and employer-informed content. - Highly commended: Greystone College, part of ILSC Education Group.
In 2025, Greystone College co-designed an exclusive micro-credential for 378 Brazilian high school students, combining Canadian academic rigour with local business immersion across three cities and achieving an 8.9 out of 10 satisfaction score. - Championing diversity, equity and inclusion award: Phoenix Space
This organisation created a pathway for Gazan students to access admissions mentoring, scholarships, relocation support and career pathways, demonstrating how collaboration can expand access for students traditionally excluded from international education. - Highly commended: The University of Bristol – Think Big Scholarship & Development Programme
In 2025, the Think Big Scholarship doubled its investment to £6m, supporting nearly 600 new scholars – almost twice the previous year’s cohort – and launched a new career accelerator pathway for international postgraduates. - Digital innovation of the year – learning: Efekta Education
Efekta’s AI-powered language learning platform is built on a vast English language learning dataset, combining cutting-edge AI with proprietary curricula and decades of pedagogical expertise. - Highly commended: Monash College
Passport to Maths is a scalable digital learning model transforming mathematical readiness for international students. Using diagnostic assessment and personalised pathways, it has improved outcomes for 7,500+ learners across multiple countries. - Digital innovation of the year – student recruitment: Platty & The University of Akron – Omnichannel Campaign
This partnership resulted in a full-funnel student recruitment ecosystem, combining paid media, CRM integration and Alice AI. The campaign reached over two million people, generated 3,705 leads, and improved conversion across Vietnam and Indonesia. - Highly commended: House of Education – Candidate Digest
In 2025, over 300,000 prospective students used House of Education’s Digital Advisor. Building on this, they developed the AI-powered Candidate Digest, transforming data into recruiterready candidate profiles. - Emerging leader of the year: Serhii Kosianenko, IHCL
Serhii has spent eight years building educational institutions across Ukraine and the UK. As CEO of IHCL, he created the first joint UK-Ukraine college, combining AI-integrated British curricula with humanitarian support for wardisplaced students. - Highly commended: Rekha Magon, Boundless Life
- Employability international impact award: Cormack Consultancy Group & Virtual Internships – Ukraine Global Employability Initiative
Through this initiative, Ukrainian students can access sponsored global virtual internships, linking internationalised university curricula with real employer experience. - Highly commended: University of Galway – Global Employability Team
Through data-driven initiatives and tailored support, this team enhances career readiness, improves graduate outcomes, and empowers students to secure meaningful employment. - Excellence in data and insight: Explore – Student whitepaper series
Explore has developed the world’s only undergraduate-level longitudinal intelligence platform. Partner universities using the tool achieved a 28% average application growth with a 92% admission rate. - Highly commended: UCAS – UCAS Tracker
With growing international applications and uneven analytical capability across institutions, UCAS rebuilt its insight system. It created Tracker through a collaborative process with over 100 providers to deliver real‑time sector‑wide data. - International alum of the year: Monique Farquharson, Aston University
Monique’s international experience drives her work in food, drink, and wellness. She mentors MBA students, supports international alumni engagement, and champions culturally authentic, ethical innovation.
Highly commended: Oluwadamilola Iyanda, Birmingham City University International College and Birmingham City University
Dami has ensured international perspectives shape her institution’s strategy and infrastructure, raising student concerns in regional and national forums as public policy priorities. She implements the skills she gained during her international studies to empower young people in Nigeria.- International student recruitment organisation of the year: SEED Global Education
In 2025, this company introduced a new region, a challenge-based recruitment platform, a lead engagement system, and AI-powered scholarship evaluation, while engaging 420,000+ students across 10 countries. - Highly commended: Studyportals
Studyportals launched the postenrolment community platform Uni-Life, partnered with VFS Education Services on discounted visa support, and expanded its Global Enrolment Benchmark Survey to 70+ countries. - Language training provider of the year: Efekta Education
Efekta’s English learning platform and AI teaching assistant Addi empowers students to become more confident and capable communicators. An average proficiency gain of over 30% is achieved compared to traditional learning methods - Highly commended: New Zealand Language Centres
In 2025, NZLC redesigned its activity schedule around Whanaungatanga, the Māori concept of relationships and belonging through shared experiences. Participation rose 16%, while English practice with friends increased 26 percentage points - Marketing campaign of the year: RMIT University, What the future?! global brand campaign
This campaign used humour, music and theatrical storytelling to reframe uncertainty about the future as opportunities. It boosted RMIT from fourth to second in category awareness and lifted enrolment applications by 8%. - Highly commended: Griffith University, Griffith International ‘Make It Matter’ global brand campaign
In this campaign, Griffith University’s authentic student storytelling and letterwriting narratives shifted focus away from institutional credentials and towards student-led experience. Reaching 29.2m users on just a $316,000 investment, the campaign generated 4,486 qualified leads and lifted target-region applications by 28% year-on-year. - Membership organisation of the year: NISAU: National Indian Students and Alumni Union
In 2025, NISAU conducted the largest-ever survey of Indian international students, generating over 50,000 responses that directly informed advocacy and program design across the UK-India education corridor. - Highly commended: IIE: Institute of International Education
Now spanning nearly 70 institutions across 26 countries, the IIE Global E3 consortium advances global engineering education through exchange, collaboration, and leadership. - Outstanding contribution to the industry: Lil Bremermann-Richard, OIEG
Lil has driven global expansion, innovation, and inclusion across international education, supporting over 580,000 students worldwide. As group CEO of OIEG, she has pioneered transnational education models, championed diversity, and shaped sector dialogue through partnerships, public commentary, and sustained leadership recognised by multiple industry awards. - Partnership of the year: Learna & The Harwood Charitable Trust – Widening global access to postgraduate medical education
In 2025, Learna, The Harwood Charitable Trust, and UK universities collaborated on funding, expert online delivery, and validated qualifications to empower healthcare professionals across developing countries - AND Olin College & Kyiv School of Economics – Re-shaping engineering education for Ukraine’s future
This partnership created a new-model undergraduate engineering program, emphasising creative, collaborative culture, preparing a first cohort of change-oriented engineering students in a country designing its future even as it fights for survival - Highly commended: Greystone College & Sickkids Hospital
Greystone College and SickKids launched a healthcare communication program combining customised training with clinical observation, addressing Canada’s healthcare workforce needs and creating professional pathways for international professionals. - PIEoneer of the year: Technovation
Technovation is transforming global technology education by empowering underrepresented youth to become AI innovators and problem solvers. Through project-based learning, mentorship, and a global competition, students build real technology solutions to community challenges. - Highly commended: The Outreach Collective
TOC is India’s first inclusive professional association for K-12, higher education and allied sectors. Over three years, it has brought together 1,000+ counsellors, university leaders, founders, and providers in one community. - Progressive education delivery award: THINK Global School
THINK Global School is the world’s first traveling high school, with place-based learning across eight countries. Students live and study within local communities, tackling interdisciplinary projects that build curiosity and global responsibility. - Highly commended: University of the West of Scotland & Ukrainian State University of Railway Transport
This dual master’s program enables crossborder teaching, joint supervision and inclusive learning under crisis conditions. Students earn two degrees while developing the skills needed to rebuild resilient global supply chains. - Secondary school international innovation award: Minerva Virtual Academy
MVA serves 1,400+ students across 50+ countries. Its flipped learning model, weekly 1:1 mentoring, and vibrant global community prove that parents don’t need to choose between academic rigour, deep pastoral care, and genuine flexibility. - Highly commended: GEMS Modern Academy
In 2025, this school delivered an AIenabled innovation pipeline, combining challenge-based learning and global citizenship. Outcomes included EcoSign, an AI sign language translation platform, and awards for two students representing the UAE against 190+ countries. - Student support award: Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) – International Student Arrival Centre (ISAC)
Supporting TNE through G2G partnerships and the world’s first International Student Arrival Centre at KLIA Terminals 1 and 2, EMGS ensures every student touches down with confidence and warm Malaysian hospitality. - Highly commended: Phoenix Space
Phoenix Space built a support system helping Gazan students with confirmed UK university places to restart higher education. With 30+partners, it removed administrative barriers. - Study abroad and exchange experience of the year: GAP Africa Projects
This 12-night study combining wildlife research with adventure-based learning across two South African reserves reached 354 students, engaging in species monitoring, telemetry tracking and camera trapping. - Highly commended: The University of Delaware – World Scholars Program
In 2025, this university’s World Scholars Program enrolled 123 students from 90 majors across all eight colleges, including engineering majors for the first time. - Sustainability international impact award: Sunway University & Lancaster University – Future Cities Research Institute
The Future Cities Research Institute (FCRI), a landmark collaboration between Sunway University and Lancaster University, engaged over 4,000 students in community-based sustainability learning, delivering more than 200 projects in a single semester. - Highly commended: University of Sussex – Forest Food Garden
The Forest Food Garden addressed water scarcity by bringing students together to design and build a pond, combining waterpositive design with habitat creation to support biodiversity. - The Charlene Allen award for inspirational leadership: Miri Firth, University of Manchester
Miri is an internationally recognised leader in flexible assessment and employability education. Her National Framework for Flexible Assessment now impacts over 300,000 students across 17 institutions. - Highly commended: Eylem Atakav, University of East Anglia
By advancing equitable partnerships and policy influence through storytelling, Eylem unites strategy and social justice, creating a transformative, values-driven model of higher education leadership. - AND Heidi Piper, Griffith University
Heidi has spent nearly two decades shaping Australian international education through policy contribution, sector leadership, and an extraordinary commitment to mentoring women.
