Independent Schools of the Year 2023 is an awards programme brought to you by Independent School Parent magazine. The awards are designed to showcase our schools’ success stories and celebrate the extraordinary and compelling student experience they provide.

This year there are 22 award categories which schools can enter. They have been designed to reflect the breadth and diversity of life as a student in the independent education sector. 

The awards are free to enter for all independent schools which are members of an association in membership of the Independent Schools Council.

The judges will be looking for schools to share stories of success underpinned by supporting evidence. Success comes in many forms and we want to celebrate them all. 

Nominations will open on 15 March and close on 6 June. Entries are easy to submit using the online forms on this website.

The 2023 Commended Schools will be announced on 4 July, Finalists on 5 September and the winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony in October.

The Winners, Finalists and Commended Schools will be presented with specially commissioned rosettes and supporting collateral to use across their print and online marketing materials celebrating their success. Winning schools will also be awarded one of the much-coveted ISOTY trophies.

The awards will be chaired once again by Dr Helen Wright, international Education Adviser and past Vice Chair of the ISC, supported by a panel of judges which includes leading Head Teachers and representatives of the professional associations.

Helen Wright comments:

“I am so pleased to be chairing the judging panel for the Independent Schools of the Year for a sixth time.

I hope that the awards will provide the independent schools sector with an opportunity to showcase the extraordinary student experience our pupils receive and demonstrate beyond doubt that the sector is worthy of recognition and support.

The announcement of the winners in the autumn will provide our schools with a great platform from which to tell their stories and underline the benefits of an independent school education as the sector pushes forward through stormy waters.”