Competition Terms and Conditions

Read our terms and conditions for the the Pearson Educator Awards.

The competition

Overview: The Pearson Educator Awards 2026 ("the Competition") is a global online competition designed to celebrate educators who inspire, enable, and empower learners to achieve their full potential. The Competition will run from 19 August 2026, 3:01 a.m. CST (the "Opening Time") to midnight on 2 November 2026 CST (the "Closing Time"), inclusive.

The Competition is conducted by Pearson Education Limited, registered in England with company number 872828, whose registered office is at 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL ("Pearson"), across its English Language Learning (ELL), Higher Education (HE), and K-12 in the United States (K-12) educator communities.

The Competition will be run and administered online via the Submittable platform and hosted through the website go.pearson.com/educator-awards (the “Site”).

Participants will select one educator community (English Language Learning (ELL), Higher Education (HE), or K-12* and one Award Category (as described below). Up to one (1) winner will be selected from each of Pearson’s four regions (Americas, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM) in each of the twelve (12) Award Categories, giving a maximum of forty-eight (48) winners in total.

How to enter

Entrance and participation in the Competition is subject to these Terms and Conditions. In order to nominate yourself or another person to enter the Competition you (and anyone you nominate) need to satisfy the Eligibility Criteria set out below and take the following steps:

  1. Submit a completed video entry via the Submittable platform between the Opening and Closing Times. All Competition entries received after the Closing Time will be automatically disqualified.
    1. All entries must be video files in English, 3–5 minutes in length.
    2. Only video files will be accepted; other file formats will be automatically disqualified.
    3. Videos made using AI tools aren't allowed and will be disqualified.
  2. Choose an educator community
    1. English Language Learning (ELL), or
    2. Higher Education (HE).
    3. K-12 Educators in the United States (K12)*
  3. Choose a relevant Award Category within that business unit (see “Award Categories” below).
  4. Answer the relevant entry question within your video submission:
    1. ELL: “How do you / your colleague inspire students to be themselves in English?”
    2. HE and K-12*: “How do you / your colleague empower students to love their learning journey?”
  5. The entry form gives you the option to upload a file containing your nomination answer. Please note that only documents containing video answers will be accepted. Any other uploads will not be entered into the Competition and will be deleted.
  6. Provide the required information on the Submittable form:
    1. Full name
    2. Email address
    3. School/organisation name
    4. Country
    5. Role/position
    6. Relationship to nominee (where applicable).
  7. The nominator must inform the nominee of their nomination and confirm their willingness to participate prior to submitting the form.
  8. By submitting the form, you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you are nominated by someone else, you will be asked to confirm that you agree to be entered into the Competition and to these Terms and Conditions if selected as a finalist.
  9. Upon submission of the nomination form, all nominees will automatically receive a confirmation email notifying them of their nomination and will explain how to withdraw from the Pearson Educator Awards 2026 (by emailing educatorawards@pearson.com) and providing other relevant details (including a link to these Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy). Withdrawals will be processed within 48 hours.
  10. Pearson may contact nominators or nominees about the Competition using the details provided in the entry form.
  11. If you are nominating yourself, you can enter the Competition once. If you are nominating another person, you may submit only one entry per nominee. Duplicate entries for the same nominee by the same nominator will not be reviewed, and only the first submission received will be considered for the awards. If multiple nominators nominate the same educator, all submissions will be reviewed, but only one entry per nominee will be considered.

Pearson reserves the right to add, amend, or remove Award Categories at its discretion, and may reclassify any entry under a different Award Category where it considers this more appropriate. For example, if an entry intended for “Finding their Voices” recognises an educator who inspires adult learners to build confidence in English, Pearson may reclassify it under “Excellence in Adult English Teaching”.

Award Categories

Entrants must first choose an educator community (ELL, HE or K-12*)  and then select a relevant Award Category:

  1. Shared Categories (open to ELL, HE and K-12*):
    1. AI Innovation in Education Award
    2. Lifelong Learning Impact Award
  2. ELL Categories:
    1. Inspiring Young Learners
    2. Empowering Teen Confidence in English
    3. Excellence in Adult English Teaching
    4. Unlocking Global Futures Through English
    5. Finding Their Voices
  3. HE and K-12* Categories:
    1. Teaching Excellence Award
    2. Education Impact Project of the Year
    3. Inclusive and Accessible Learning
    4. Student Engagement and Success
    5. Preparing Students for the Future Award

Eligibility Criteria

Only individuals aged eighteen (18) or over can participate in the Competition (by nominating or being nominated).

The Awards are open to:

(i) any educator currently teaching English as a foreign language, including head teachers, deputy head teachers, teaching assistants, and lecturers;

(ii) any Higher Education educator formally engaged by a higher education institution to deliver, support, or facilitate teaching and learning activities at postsecondary level; or

(iii) any K-12 educator formally engaged by a K-12 institution in the United States to deliver, support, or facilitate teaching and learning activities; or

(iv) any person who wishes to nominate a person falling within (i), (ii) or (iii),

* K-12 entries are open to educators based in the United States only. Higher Education and English Language Learning entries remain open globally, subject to the eligibility criteria set out in these Terms and Conditions.

in each case, from any institution worldwide (whether state-maintained or independent), excluding the Restricted Countries listed below, and except:

  1. employees of Pearson or its holding or subsidiary companies who are professionally connected with the Competition or its administration;
  2. employees of any partners, agents, suppliers of Pearson or its holding or subsidiary companies, who are supporting the Competition or professionally connected with the Competition or its administration; or
  3. members of the immediate families or households of (a) and (b) above or of the person they have nominated.
  4. any, nationals of, or persons located in the following Restricted Countries/Regions: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, Crimea/Sevastopol region, and Donbas, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.
  5. any person listed on a US or International blocked party or other watchlist.
  6. any person located in a jurisdiction where entry into this Competition is prohibited.

In addition to the Eligibility Criteria above, all entries must comply with the following requirements:

  1. You must have the consent of every individual featured in your video submission and the right to grant the permissions set out in these Terms and Conditions on their behalf. You are responsible for obtaining all necessary consents before submitting your entry. Pearson accepts no liability for any claim arising from your failure to obtain such consents.
  2. Video submissions must not feature any person under the age of eighteen (18). Entries featuring minors will be disqualified and deleted.
  3. Entries must not contain any content that is defamatory, libellous, obscene, unlawful, offensive, or infringes the intellectual property or other rights of any third party. Pearson reserves the right to disqualify and delete any entry that, in its sole discretion, breaches this requirement.

Pearson reserves all rights to disqualify any entrant (including nominees and nominators) at any time, including if Pearson has reason to believe an entry is not in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, if Pearson considers an entry or anyone’s conduct to be contrary to the spirit or intention of the Competition, if you do not comply with the age criteria, if you are located in a jurisdiction where entry into this Competition is prohibited or for any other reason.  Any such decisions shall be at the sole discretion of Pearson. 

By entering the Competition (whether by nominating yourself or another person) and, in the case of nominees, by accepting nomination, you confirm that your participation in the Competition and acceptance of any prize comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and your employer's or institution's policies, and that you are authorised to make these representations. If you are nominating another person, you also confirm that, to the best of your knowledge, their participation is not prohibited by any such law, regulation or policy. You agree to notify Pearson promptly if any relevant circumstances change. If it is subsequently determined that your participation or acceptance of a prize conflicts with applicable laws, regulations, or policies, Pearson reserves the right to withhold the prize or, if the prize has already been awarded, request reimbursement of its value to the extent permitted by law

Pearson will not accept responsibility for Competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit, regardless of cause. For example, as a result of equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind. Please do not send proof of posting or transmission as proof of receipt of entry to the Competition, as this is an online competition only. Competition entries cannot be returned.

In all matters Pearson’s decision is final, including deciding whether an entry is valid, the Eligibility Criteria are satisfied, the winners and awarding of any prize.

The Judging Process

The Competition entries will be judged by an experienced panel of global judges, which includes current educational specialists, authors, and industry leaders.  Pearson reserve the right to conduct a pre-selection process of entries by suitably qualified Pearson staff. The identity of the judges is in Pearson’s sole discretion and the decision of the panel of judges (acting reasonably) will be final, and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into or feedback provided after the decision is made.

Judges will review submissions using the following criteria: 

  1. Category Fit: How well does the submission align with the award category description and judging criteria? 
  2. Question Response: How effectively does the nomination answer the awards question and demonstrate the impact the nominee has had on learners?
  3. Outcomes and Impact What results and outcomes have been achieved through the nominee's work?

The Prizes

Pearson intends award to up to forty-eight (48) award prizes across twelve (12) categories.

For the two shared headline categories, AI Innovation in Education Award (1) and Lifelong Learning Impact Award (2), up to four (4) winners in total will be selected for each category from across English Language Learning (ELL), Higher Education (HE), and K-12* entrants.

For the remaining ten (10) category awards specific to either English Language Learning (ELL) or Higher Education (HE) and K-12*, Pearson intends to award up to one (1) winner from each of its four regions (Americas, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM) in each category.

Five (5) Higher Education and K-12 categories

(3) Teaching excellence award (4) Education impact project of the year (5) Inclusive and accessible learning (6) Student engagement and success (7) Preparing students for the future award

Five (5) English Language Learning categories

(8) Inspiring Young Learners (9) Empowering teen confidence in English (10) Excellence in Adult English Teaching (11) Unlocking Global Futures Through English (12) Finding their Voices  

Prize package (up to forty-eight (48) winners in total across all Award Categories and regions) will consist of the following components:

(1) A Pearson Educator Awards branded plaque for display within the winner’s institution, recognising their achievement.

(2) Potential opportunities for promotion, which may include participation in Pearson Educator Awards communications, PR, and marketing activity across Pearson channels, and involvement in additional in-person Pearson engagement opportunities. Any such opportunities will be offered at Pearson's discretion and are not guaranteed as part of the prize package.

Prizes are subject to availability and the prize packages may be changed at any time by Pearson in its sole discretion. There is no cash alternative for the prizes and the prizes are not negotiable or transferable. If you win a prize you agree that you shall be responsible for any tax and regulatory liabilities regarding the prize.  The prize, or any unused portion of the Prize, is non- exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash. Pearson reserves the right to substitute the prize of equivalent or greater value (if this is necessary for any reason). If you are selected as a winner you may be required to agree to additional terms and conditions applicable to the prizes in order to access the prizes.

Finalist announcement

Pearson will contact the finalists, using the email address provided with the Competition entry between November 2nd, 2026 and November 16th 2026 to inform them of the fact they have been chosen, and seek certain confirmations. All finalists will be required to agree to the terms set out in the email in order to be considered for an award and confirm if they are able to attend the award ceremony. The finalists will be invited to attend the virtual awards ceremony on December 2nd, 2026. A list of finalists may be used across various owned Pearson channels, including the Site and any other media. Pearson may contact finalists to participate in marketing and promotional related activities including for but not limited to videos, testimonials, social media posts, and case studies.

Winner announcement

The winners of the Competition will be announced at the online awards ceremony on  December 2nd, 2026 (“Announcement Date”). A list of Winners may be used across various owned Pearson channels, including the Site and any other media from the Announcement Date for a period of at least 30 days. Pearson may contact winners to participate in marketing and promotional related activities including for but not limited to videos, testimonials, social media posts, and case studies. 

Claiming the prizes

If you are the winner of a prize, we will contact you by November 20th, 2026 via email. You then have until November 27th, 2026 to claim the prize by responding to the communication you receive from Pearson informing you that you have won. If you do not claim the prize by this date, your claim will become invalid. Your prize may not be claimed by a third party on your behalf.

Pearson will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winners and deliver the prizes. If a winner cannot be contacted or is not available, or has not claimed their prize by November 27th, 2026, Pearson reserves the right to offer the prize to the next eligible entrant selected from the correct entries that were received before the Closing Time. Pearson will make reasonable efforts to deliver prizes to winners in accordance with the delivery arrangements agreed with each winner but reserves the right to invalidate the awarding of a prize if for any reason it is not possible to deliver the prizes in a reasonable time. Pearson does not accept any responsibility if a winner does not receive a prize for the reasons set out in this paragraph or other reasons outside Pearson’s control.

Limitation of liability

Insofar as is permitted by law, Pearson, its agents or distributors will not, in any circumstances, be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize, except where it is caused by the negligence of Pearson, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected.

Ownership of Submissions and intellectual property rights

By submitting a Competition entry and any accompanying material (“Submission”), you agree that:

  1. You have all the relevant rights and permissions to upload the Submission, including the consent of any person featured in your Submission;
  2. You agree to assign and do hereby assign to Pearson all your intellectual property rights with full title guarantee in and to the Submission, and agree to execute any documentation which Pearson may require to effect this assignment;
  3. To the extent that any right, title and interest in and to the Submission is unable to be assigned, you grant Pearson an exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights in the Submission, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, reformat and sublicense the Submission for any purpose connected with the Competition and Pearson's related promotional, marketing and business activities;
  4. You waive all moral rights, in and to your Submission and otherwise arising in connection with your Submission to which you may now or at any time in the future be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended from time to time and under all similar legislation from time to time in force anywhere in the world; and
  5. Your Submission, including any video content, must be created by you (or the person(s) featured in the submission) and must not be generated, in whole or in part, using artificial intelligence tools. Entries found to have been created or materially produced using AI-generated video, imagery or other AI-generated content will be disqualified.

You agree that Pearson may, but is not required to, make your Submission available on the Site and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the Competition in its full discretion, except to the extent that you have opted out in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

Entrants may opt out of Pearson’s use of their video for promotional purposes by selecting the opt-out option within the Submittable form or by contacting pearsoneducatorawards@pearson.com within seven (7) days of submission.

All Submissions will become the property of Pearson on receipt and will not be returned.

Data protection and publicity

If you are the winner or a finalist in the Competition, you agree that Pearson may use your video submission, name, image, and town or county of residence to announce the finalists and winners and for reasonable and related promotional purposes. Pearson will hold the rights to such promotional materials and may use them in its marketing activities, unless you have opted out of promotional use of your video. You may also be asked to participate in reasonable publicity activities related to the Competition.

By entering the Competition, you agree that any personal information provided as part of your entry may be collected and processed by Pearson, as well as its authorised agents and third‑party service providers, for the purpose of administering the Competition.

Where your data is shared with third‑party service providers (for example, platforms used to collect and manage submissions), Pearson will ensure that you are informed, at the point of submission, of:

  • the identity of such third parties and/or categories of recipients,
  • where they are located,
  • the purpose for which they will process your personal data (including video submissions), and
  • how long your personal data will be stored.

For participants, explicit consent will be obtained at the point of entry for the collection, use, and sharing of personal data, including where required by local law.

Personal information gathered during the Competition will be used solely for the purposes of administering the Competition and related promotional activities as described in these Terms and Conditions, and in accordance with Pearson’s Privacy Policy.

General

If Pearson believes that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, it reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to exclude an entrant from participating in the Competition. Pearson also reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the Competition where necessary.

These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law, and the parties submit to the non‑exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. If any provision is found to be unenforceable or invalid, this will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.