This award is for an independent school based in the Central area of the UK – whether that’s in Wales or across the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Hereford and Worcester, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Suffolk or Warwickshire. You may be large or small, academically selective or proudly broad in intake. What matters here is how you make the most of where you are.

We would like you to tell the story of your school in 2025–26 with verve and conviction. Share your pride in your region. Explain why your pupils enjoy a truly distinctive education, one shaped and strengthened by your location in this richly varied part of the country. Use examples to bring your case to life and, where helpful, weave in data to support your claims (but do avoid presenting it as a list). Above all, help our judges picture what they would see, hear and feel if they stepped through your doors on an ordinary school day.

Resilience is very much the watchword of the moment in our sector, prompting a clear-eyed focus on the future amongst leadership teams up and down the country. So please weave an explanation of how your school is taking sensible, forward-thinking steps to shore up its long-term stability into your answers.

Please structure your entry around the following questions, keeping a clear focus on how your school draws strength from its Central location.

• Why is your school special in your region?
  In a part of the country known for its history, industry, countryside and innovation, what makes your school stand out? How do you capitalise on your setting – whether that’s through partnerships with local businesses and universities, access to rural landscapes, cultural heritage, or strong community ties? What have been your defining successes in 2025–26 – academically, pastorally, on the sports field or in the arts – that mark you out as the best in your area? (Around 200 words.)
• How has your location shaped and enhanced pupil experience in 2025–26?
  How does being rooted in your part of the Central UK enable you to meet the particular needs of your students? Perhaps it’s the breadth of co-curricular opportunity, the close-knit community feel, or the balance between ambition and groundedness that your setting affords. Tell us how your location has allowed you to offer something richer, more relevant or more expansive than might otherwise have been possible. (Around 150 words.) 
• What impact does your school – and its regional identity – have on pupils and the wider community?
  A great school is never an island. How do your pupils engage with, contribute to and draw strength from the local community? And how, in turn, does that regional identity shape their character, confidence and outlook as they prepare for adult life? (Around 150 words.)