Finalists revealed for 2026 ENAs

Finalists have been revealed for the 2026 ENAs, recognising the achievements of universities, colleges and education leaders across the region.

The awards celebrate excellence across higher education, further education and sixth forms from the east to west coast.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony at The Point at Lancashire Cricket Ground on Thursday 7 May, hosted by Lucy Meacock, the long-serving presenter of ITV’s Granada Reports.

Among the categories this year are Apprenticeship Award, Digital and AI Innovation Award and Campaign of the Year, alongside individual honours including Leadership and Innovation Award and Student Achievement of the Year.

The finalists reflect the breadth of work happening across the sector, from AI-driven learning initiatives and community partnerships to sustainability programmes and creative arts projects.

Universities, colleges and education groups across the north have been recognised, including institutions such as The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, Northumbria University, Leeds Beckett University, Sheffield Hallam University, York St John University and Teesside University, alongside FE providers including Hull College, Blackburn College, Hopwood Hall College, Wigan & Leigh College and Askham Bryan College.

On the night, the names of three winners, nominated by listeners of Smooth and Heart across the north, will also be unveiled for their outstanding work supporting pupils and students across the region.

Patrons include John Kennedy CBE, University of Manchester, Liverpool Hope University and Liverpool John Moores University. Sponsors include CCUK, owner of Smooth NW, Smooth NE and Heart Yorkshire, Mindful Education and IT Capital. RM Communications stages the event, and the judging panels are led by Emeritus Professor Phil Harris and Emeritus Professor Ruth Ashford.

Tickets for the event are on sale now at educationnorthawards.com.

Apprenticeship Award

(Sponsored by The University of Manchester)

• Askham Bryan College — Apprenticeship Land-Based Lift Off
• Cheshire College – South & West and Utilita Energy — Training for a Sustainable Future
• Education Partnership North East — Apprenticeships
• Myerscough College — Apprenticeships for Skills, Careers and Growth
• Salford City College (SCC Group) — Apprenticeships at Salford City College
• University of Salford — Apprenticeships
• Warrington & Vale Royal College — Advanced Automation Build Programme
• Wigan & Leigh College

Business Engagement Award – HE/FE Sector

• East Durham College (& Robertson Homes) — Developing Futures
• Franklin Sixth Form College — Emma Swinburn, Christina Vorley, Andy Lockwood – The Legal Skills Certificate
• Hartlepool College of Further Education & Airbourne Colours — The Airbourne Colours Trainee Programme
• Heart of Yorkshire Education Group — Skills Bootcamps
• Hull College — AI Academy
• TEC Partnership, NET & Integrated Care Board — Creating Pathways into NHS Employment through Collaborative Partnerships and Sector Skills Training
• The Sheffield College & Aviva — Inclusive Careers Project
• Trafford and Stockport College Group — Manchester Airport Skills Hub

Business Engagement Award – University Sector

• Leeds Beckett University Business School — #WECAN Programme
• The University of Manchester & Ove Arup & Partners — MASIL: Next-Generation Digital Simulation for Safer, Greener Structures
• The University of Manchester & Menzies LLP — Digitalising the Audit Function
• University of Huddersfield & Institute of Railway Research — Driving the Future of our Railways
• University of Liverpool Management School — Project Partners
• University of Salford — Centre for Sustainable Innovation

Campaign of the Year

(Sponsored by John Kennedy CBE)

• Calderdale College — Great Career, Right Here
• Craven College — The Woolly and Whinny Campaign
• Leeds College of Building — Build Greatness Campaign
• Northumbria University — Unlock Your Potential Campaign
• TEC Partnership — Skills Bootcamp Marketing Campaign
• The Northern School of Art — Creative Community: Student-Led, Data-Driven HE Recruitment Campaign
• The Sheffield College — South Yorkshire Apprenticeship Hub
• University of Salford — It Starts in Salford. A Place Where Ideas are Formed that Shape the World

Charity / Third Sector Award

• Bendrigg Trust
• Northumbria Students’ Union — An Outstanding Year
• Swarthmore Education Centre
• The Christie Hospital / The Christie Charity — Teenage & Young Adult Education & Employment Project

Community Engagement Award – HE/FE Sector

• Hopwood Hall College — Cooking Up Change in the Community
• Learning Curve Group
• Newcastle College (& partners) — Open Doors: Beyond Barriers
• Northumbria Students’ Union & University, Newcastle Students’ Union & University, and Newcastle College — Students as Partners
• Oldham College — Social Action Projects
• Oldham Sixth Form College & partners — Great Horizons 2025
• Sunderland College — Hate2Riot Project
• Swarthmore Education Centre — Creative Communities Project

Community Engagement Award – University Sector

• Aspiration Digital & Newcastle University Business School
• Holocaust Centre North — Student Placements
• Newcastle University & RISE — Community Physical Activity Clinical Champions
• Northumbria University — NU Navigators
• Sheffield Hallam University & Save the Children — Early Years Community Research Centre (EYCRC) / Meadows Nursery
• University of Lancashire & Partner Care Homes — The Person Before the Patient
• University of Manchester & partners — Great Horizons 2025
• York St John University — Centre for Counselling and Community (YSJCC) Programmes

Digital and AI Innovation Award – HE/FE Sector

(Sponsored by Liverpool John Moores University)

• Bishop Burton College — Inclusive, Immersive and AI Driven Learning Transformation
• Bradford College — Lesson Weaver
• Heart of Yorkshire Education Group — I>innovate
• Hopwood Hall College — AI Careers Transformation & UCAS Agent
• Learning Curve Group — AI Driven Learner Non-Completion Reduction Project
• Leeds City College — Digital & AI for Community Inclusion
• TEC Partnership — Making the Real Virtual and the Virtual Real
• The Oldham College — The Imaginarium

Digital and AI Innovation Award – University Sector

• Newcastle University Business School — TheoryHub
• Northumbria University — Ember: Conversational AI for Hybrid 24/7 IT Support
• Manchester Metropolitan University Centre for Enterprise — Centre for Digital Innovation
• University of Chester — Micro Learning
• University of Cumbria — The Clarence Project: Rehumanising Nursing Education
• University of Lancashire — AI Chatbot and Conversational AI Avatar
• University of Salford — Immersive Digital Simulation Project
• York College & University Centre — Education Without Walls

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award

• Go Higher West Yorkshire — Care to Go Higher CPD
• Hopwood Hall College — ESOL Stories Project
• Leeds Beckett University Business School — #WECAN Programme
• Liverpool John Moores University — Diversity & Inclusion Funded Projects Programme
• Sheffield Hallam University — Black British Pathway Programme
• St Helens College — Quality Team / Student Experience
• Teesside University — Emily Downes
• University of York — GenerationResearch

Game-Changing Education Award

• Askham Bryan College — Learning Without Limits
• Hull College & HEY! Volunteering — Locked Out: The Day the Jobs Disappeared
• Liverpool Hope University — Physiotherapy 360° Digital Escape Room
• Manchester Metropolitan University — Dr Pin Shen Teh
• The City of Liverpool College & The Games Assembly
• University of Lancashire — Transforming Medical Education with Playful Learning
• University of Salford — UoScape
• York College and University Centre — WorldSkills Competitions Week

Heart Creative Arts Award

(Sponsored by Heart Yorkshire)

• Access Creative College Manchester — Supporting the North West Grassroots Music Industry
• Arts North Studios College — Expanding Creative Access and Excellence in the North East
• TEC Partnership — Creative Arts
• The City of Liverpool College — Contributions to Community, Culture and Legacy
• University of Lancashire & Shakespeare North — Acting Partnership & Public Performance Programme
• Wakefield College — Reclaim the Night: Demanding Justice through Art
• Wirral Met College — Creative Arts Impact

Innovation Award

• Askham Bryan College — Wildlife & Conservation Park Teaching Zoo
• Greater Manchester Further Education Innovation Partnership (GMFEIP)
• Heart of Yorkshire Education Group — Carbon Capture and Storage Programme
• The Manchester College & UCEN Manchester — Leadership of Learning Programme
• University of Manchester — Harmonised Impact Acceleration Account
• Trafford & Stockport College Group — Auto-Enrolment Voter Registration
• University of Leeds — NewsdayVR
• University of Manchester & Bank of England — Teach Economics

Liverpool Hope Prize – Outstanding Achievement for Social Mobility

(Sponsored by Liverpool Hope University)

• Cheshire College – South & West — Crewe 42
• Darlington College — Social Mobility
• St Michael’s Church of England Academy — Faith in your Future and HE+ Programme

Mental Health and Wellbeing Award

(Sponsored by Smooth Radio North East & North West)

• Arts North Studios — Embedding Mental Health and Wellbeing into Creative Training
• Edge Hill University & partners — Supporting Tomorrow’s Teachers
• Manchester Metropolitan University & St John Ambulance — Peer-to-Peer Training
• Northumbria Students Union — Mental Health and Wellbeing Initiative
• Salford City College Group — #WELLSTUDENT
• University of Chester — Preventative Health Initiative
• University of Lancashire — How to Thrive in Veterinary Education
• Works4u — Support Services

STEM Initiative Award

• Askham Bryan College — Practical Science Learning Across All Disciplines
• Heart of Yorkshire Education Group — STEM Event Initiatives
• University of Manchester (SEERIH) — Engineering Educates Robotics Challenge
• University of Manchester (SEERIH) — Great Science Share for Schools
• University of Huddersfield — Practical Science Outreach
• University of York — GenerationResearch

Student Experience Award – HE/FE Sector

(Sponsored by Communicorp UK)

• Askham Bryan College — Aspire Mentoring Programme
• Blackburn College — International Work-Related Learning
• City of Liverpool College — Students’ Union Social and Cultural Project
• Newcastle College University Centre — Warm Spaces Initiative
• Sheffcol Goes Global — Making Overseas Placements Accessible
• South Tyneside College — ESOL Football Team
• The Sixth Form Bolton — Policing Academy
• Wigan & Leigh College

Student Experience Award – University Sector

• Leeds Beckett University — Embedding Employability and Belonging
• Northumbria Students’ Union — A Positive Impact on All our Students
• Royal Northern College of Music
• Teesside University — Law Employability Innovation Team
• University of Chester — Chester Credentials Nano-credentials
• University of Hull — Student-led Neurological Physiotherapy Clinic
• University of Lancashire — Achieve+
• York St John University — Student Engagement

Sustainable Green Initiative

• Bishop Burton College — Decarbonising our Campus
• Darlington College — Sustainability and Green Initiatives
• Kirklees College — Green Changemakers
• Liverpool Hope University & Liverpool World Centre — Wider Perspectives in Initial Teacher Education
• The Sixth Form Bolton — Sustainability
• University of Manchester & Yorkshire Wildlife Trust — PeatFix
• University of Salford & ACS Clothing
• University of Huddersfield — Sustainability Champions

College / FE Student Achievement of the Year

• Anujayani Rathugama — Tameside College
• Archie Matthews — Myerscough College
• Ivanna Clary — Craven College
• Mia Goodall — St Helens College
• Niko-Rae Rust — Hull College
• Robert Rakhra — Hull College
• Robert White — Wakefield College
• Sienna Minns — Hull College

University Student Achievement of the Year

• Bashirunnisa Ananya — University of Manchester
• Charlie Allen — Leeds Beckett University Business School
• Emma Ellis — Liverpool Hope University
• Gian-Piero Meade — Teesside University
• Lamin Gibba — Newcastle College University Centre
• Natalie Mulley — University of Salford
• Phillip Meehan — The Christie Hospital
• Ramitha Nittore Ramnath — University of Chester
• Zoe Eaton — TEC Partnership

PhD Student Achievement of the Year

(Sponsored by Esharelife Foundation)

• Caroline Biddle — Manchester Metropolitan University
• Debbie Busby — Manchester Metropolitan University
• Gabrielle David — The University of Manchester
• James Oxford — The University of Manchester
• Rand Abdulhussain — University of Huddersfield
• Tom Mitchell — Manchester Metropolitan University

Leadership and Innovation Award

• Annie Guy — Arts North Studios
• Professor Caroline Wilkinson — Liverpool John Moores University
• Danny Metters — Bishop Burton College
• Professor Hannah Holmes — Manchester Metropolitan University
• Ken Merry — York College
• Dr Miri Firth — The University of Manchester
• Ramitha Nittore Ramnath — University of Chester
• Professor Richard Allmendinger — Alliance Manchester Business School

Business School of the Year

(Sponsored by Mindful Education)

• Lancaster University Management School
• Newcastle University Business School
• Salford Business School, University of Salford
• Teesside University International Business School
• University of Huddersfield Business School
• University of Lancashire Business School

Further Education College of the Year

(Sponsored by The University of Manchester)

• Access Sport College
• Bishop Burton College
• Blackburn College
• Hull College
• Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College
• Pure College
• Wigan & Leigh College
• Winstanley College
• York College

Law School of the Year

• Durham Law School
• Edge Hill University – School of Law and Criminal Justice
• Lancaster University School of Law
• Liverpool John Moores University – School of Law and Justice Studies
• Northumbria Law School
• University of Chester Law School

Medical School of the Year

• University of Lancashire – School of Medicine and Dentistry
• University of Manchester – School of Medical Sciences
• University of Sheffield Medical School
• University of Sunderland School of Medicine

Lifetime Achievement Award

• No shortlist – winner announced at ceremony on 7 May

University of the Year

• No shortlist – winner announced at ceremony on 7 May