Award categories and criteria

The Natspec Innovation Awards recognise and celebrate innovative practice in the specialist further education sector. The awards shine a light on initiatives which have resulted in demonstrable improved outcomes for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. We want to unearth exciting new ways of doing things that go beyond what you might typically see in specialist colleges and share these across the sector. Winning entries will focus on a particular pioneering project or aspect of your practice that is helping you make a real difference for your students. We have created an innovation checklist that you could use as a guideline when considering your application.

So, get ready to tell us about a specific innovation that you have introduced, what makes it different from typical approaches, and how you know it’s working. To have the best chance of winning, make sure you include strong evidence of positive outcomes in whatever format works best for your project. Think learner voice videos, before and after data e.g. to show how many learners benefitted and / or the scale of the impact, quotes, or survey feedback from different stakeholders.

Innovative use of technology

This award will go to the project or initiative which demonstrates most innovative use of technology to enhance students’ experience of college. The technology itself does not have to be new; it is the use of it that must be innovative. Projects can be based on any form of technology, not just assistive technology.

Perhaps you’ve adapted hardware or software so that it’s become accessible to students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to use it, or further developed it to open up new opportunities. Maybe you’re making use of hardware or software in a way that is different from its normal or intended use in an aspect of education or care where you’d least expect technology to be deployed.

If you’re using technology in a way that is a bit different, and it’s having a positive impact for students, this is the category for you. Remember to focus on a specific use of technology rather than your whole-college approach.

Tell us:

  1. how and why you are using technology within your specific project or initiative and what makes that innovative
  2. how your innovative use of technology within this specific project or initiative is leading to an enhanced experience for students while in college, for example by increasing their ability to access learning; allowing them to take part in activities otherwise inaccessible; helping them to gain new skills; enabling them to have enhanced quality of life
  3. how students’ own aspirations, preferences or opinions, and their feedback have been used in the development of the innovative practice
  4. about the impact of your innovative use of technology within this specific project or initiative, citing evidence that it is making a positive difference for students.

Innovative routes into employment

This award will go to the most innovative project or initiative designed to improve students’ chances of post-college employment.

Maybe you’ve set up an enterprise with an unusual focus. Perhaps you’ve found a route into a sector with a limited track record of employing people with SEND or you’re working with unlikely partners to expand work placement opportunities. Maybe you’re helping students to get jobs who traditionally would not have been considered suited to employment (e.g. PMLD students) or you’re helping students achieve a different type of employment: self-employment, online selling, or in a micro-business. Maybe you’ve introduced some surprising content into your employability curriculum.

If you’re doing something a little bit different and you have evidence that it’s increasing your students’ chances of employment, this is the category for you. Remember to focus on a specific impactful aspect of what you do rather than your whole approach to preparing students for employment.

Tell us:

  1. about a specific innovative project or initiative, what makes it different from typical approaches, why you introduced it, and how it is improving students’ chances of gaining employment after leaving college
  2. how employers and / or other partners have helped, or are helping you to make this innovative practice successful
  3. how students’ aspirations, interests, strengths and skills are central to your innovative approach
  4. about the impact of your specific innovative practice, citing evidence that it has made a positive difference for students in terms of employment outcomes such as paid work.

Innovation in student voice

This award will go to the most innovative project or initiative in terms of empowering students to have their voices heard.

Maybe you have found an exciting new way to develop the (self) advocacy skills of groups of students whose voices often go unheard. Perhaps you’re using student voice in higher level decision-making than typically happens in a college or you’ve enabled your students to have an impressive degree of influence within the wider community. It could be that you have enabled students to share their opinions in new and exciting ways, including through innovative use of technology. If you are breaking new ground in terms of student voice and positive change is happening as a result, then this is the category for you.Remember this award recognises the success of your college in empowering students to use their voices to positive effect so it will be important to clarify how you developed your students’ ability in this area (rather than putting the main focus of your submission on what the students achieved as a result). You should highlight a specific impactful aspect of your practice rather than your college-wide approach to student voice.

Tell us

  1. what specific student voice project or initiative you have introduced, why you introduced it and what makes it innovative
  2. the innovative approaches that you have adopted to develop your students’ ability to advocate on behalf of themselves and / or others
  3. how you have supported students to take a lead within the project or initiative
  4. about the impact of your student voice project or initiative on the students directly involved, for example in terms of the (self) advocacy or communication skills, confidence, or self-esteem they have developed and, as appropriate, on their peers, the community or wider society.

Innovative approach to mental health and wellbeing

This award will go to most innovative practice, project or initiative relating to mental health and wellbeing.

Perhaps you have developed some exciting new resources to support students or found an innovative way to make existing resources meaningful or accessible to a particular student group. Maybe your approach to wellbeing involves people, activities or facilities that wouldn’t normally be associated with mental health support or you’re making inventive use of technology to support student wellbeing. Perhaps the original ideas for your groundbreaking approach came from your students or the students have led the whole project.

If you are supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing in way that is a little bit different and are having some success, then this is the category for you. Remember to focus on a specific impactful aspect of what you do rather than on your whole-college approach.

Tell us:

  1. what specific new wellbeing or mental health practice you have introduced, why it was needed and what makes it innovative
  2. how students have been involved in the design and / or implementation of the innovative practice
  3. how your new practice fits into your wider healthy-college approach
  4. about the impact of your innovative new practice, citing evidence that it is having a positive impact on students, for example in terms of improved wellbeing and / or mental health, being better informed, more aware of sources or support, or more able to communicate about their mental health / wellbeing needs.

Innovative interdisciplinary working

This award will go to the most innovative project or initiative involving joint working between staff in different disciplines from across education and either health or care or both.

Interdisciplinary working across education, health and care is a mainstay of specialist college provision. We are looking for approaches that are a little different from the norm. Perhaps you’ve brought together staff from disciplines that don’t normally work together. Maybe staff from different disciplines have worked on a project that would typically be handled by just one team. Or maybe you’re doing something that you wouldn’t expect to see in a specialist college at all, and it’s been made possible through the combined efforts of different teams from across education, health and / or care.

If staff from different disciplines are working together in a way that isn’t typical and students are clearly benefiting, then this is the category for you. Remember to focus on a specific impactful aspect of what you do rather than on your college-wide approach to interdisciplinary working.

Tell us:

  1. about a specific innovative interdisciplinary project or initiative which different disciplines are involve in, what makes it different from typical approaches and why you introduced it
  2. why interdisciplinary working was key in achieving your objectives within this innovative project or initiative
  3. how the innovative approach has enabled staff from different disciplines to learn from one another and how staff sharing their learning has helped students
  4. about the impact of this innovative, interdisciplinary practice, citing evidence of how students have benefited, for example in terms of increased independence or capacity for self-determination, improved progress in their learning, or increased access to learning opportunities.

Innovative specialist / mainstream partnership working

This award will go to the most innovative project or initiative involving partnership work between a specialist college and a mainstream FE provider. The project or initiative must have resulted in expanded or improved opportunities for students.

You might be working with a general FE college, an FEI in Wales, an independent training provider, sixth form college or other DfE funded post-16/FE provider in your local area. While such partnerships may not be in themselves innovative, perhaps yours is getting into completely different territory or there is something unique about the arrangement, which could be a subcontracting agreement, a memorandum of understanding or service level agreement.
Maybe, by working in partnership, you’ve been able to introduce something totally new to your college, given your learners the chance to do something that is not typically available in specialist colleges, and / or opened up new opportunities for learners in a mainstream setting.
If there’s something a bit different about the way you’re working with your mainstream FE partner, then this is the category for you. Remember to focus on a specific impactful project or initiative and the partner or partners involved rather than on your whole wide approach to partnership working.

Tell us:

  1. about a specific innovative project or initiative between your specialist setting and a mainstream FE provider, how partnership is central to its success and what makes your approach innovative
  2. about the different contributions of each partner involved in the innovative project or initiative
  3. how you are maintaining the partnership so that your project or initiative is sustainable
  4. about the impact of your innovative approach to partnership working in this project, citing evidence that it is benefitting students, for example enabling them to achieve ambitious learning outcomes, develop skills relevant to their post-college ambitions or benefit from new or improved expertise.

Curriculum innovation

A man and a woman having a discussion over a file folder

This award will go to the most innovative curriculum project or initiative. The project or initiative could relate to curriculum content, design, or delivery in relation to a specific aspect of the curriculum or to a particular student group.

Perhaps you’ve introduced an exciting new subject or sector to your curriculum. Maybe you’ve thoroughly modernised an aspect of your curriculum so that it is now truly cutting edge. You might have gone about curriculum review and redesign in a particularly creative way, for example through genuine co-creation with learners. Perhaps you’re using inventive resources or pedagogies, involving unexpected people in the design or delivery of your curriculum, or students are learning in unusual settings. Maybe you’ve found new ways to make parts of the curriculum exciting or accessible for particular groups.

If you’ve gone about shaping or delivering your curriculum in a way that is a little bit different, then this is the category for you. Remember to focus on a specific impactful aspect of what you do rather than on your college-wide approach to the curriculum.

Tell us:

  1. about a specific innovative project or initiative, why you have introduced it and what makes your practice different from typical curriculum approaches
  2. how you have involved students in your innovative curriculum project or initiative and how you have ensured that they are enthusiastic about and motivated by it
  3. how your innovative approach is helping to ensure that your curriculum is up-to-date, consistent with best / industry practice or other guidelines, and / or relevant for the intended students
  4. about the impact of your innovative approach, citing evidence that it is benefiting students, for example in helping them to access new learning, engage more fully or make improved progress.

Innovative approach to equality, diversity and inclusion

A group of college students standing outside the college. Some are in wheelchairs.

This award will go to the most innovative project or initiative in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Successful EDI initiatives foster fair treatment, recognise individual differences, and create environments where everyone feels valued. When thinking about a project you might enter for an award, remember that diversity has multiple characteristics. For example, your project could be about gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief, socio-economic background, or disability. It may also have an intersectional focus, such as gender and sexual orientation or disability and race.

While the project or initiative may include staff and other stakeholders, it must involve students. It can relate to the whole organisation or address a specific EDI issue, for example in relation to a particular student group, activity within the college, or curriculum area.

Tell us:

  1. about your specific new project or initiative, which aspect(s) of EDI it addresses, why you have chosen this focus, how students have been involved and what makes it innovative
  2. how your practice is responsive to the lived experience of the under-represented or marginalised group(s) whom you are seeking to more fully include and how it addresses their different needs or the barriers to equality, diversity and inclusion that they face
  3. how you will ensure the ongoing impact of your innovative project or initiative, so that it continues to help you build and sustain an inclusive organisation in which all people are treated fairly and where diversity is celebrated and intersectionality is recognised
  4. about the measurable improvements in EDI resulting from this project or initiative, citing evidence that it has made a positive difference for the target group, e.g. in terms of their participation, representation, sense of belonging, or outcomes.

If you have any further questions not covered here, please check our frequently asked questions and guidance page.