Applying for the World's Best School Prizes provides an opportunity for schools to self-reflect and celebrate their achievements and innovations. While the money can help winners expand their vital initiatives, all schools, by just applying, will undertake a self-assessment process to leverage their work as well as improve upon them by benchmarking against our criteria. Additionally, they will gain a global platform and join a worldwide community, inspiring others and enhancing their own school culture.
To be eligible to apply for the World's Best School Prizes, your school or learning centre must be legally registered with its respective Ministry of Education or government regulatory authority and not be prohibited from participating under the applicable law of your country.
Applications can only be submitted by teachers and principals currently working at the school they are entering into the Prizes. Applicants must be aged 18 or over and have the authorisation and permission of the school’s authorities and/or governing body to enter the contest.
Applications can be submitted in any language and are free of charge.
Here's a timeline of the process of the World's Best School Prizes:
World’s Best School Prizes applications open
Applications close
Public announcement of Top 10 shortlists for each Prize and Public Vote
Public announcement of Top 3 finalists for each Prize
Winning Ceremony
Read the Terms and Conditions of the World's Best School Prizes.
Find answers to common questions about the application process, eligibility, and more.
As a school, to enter the contest, you need to submit an application form to participate in the competition which has to be filled by your school’s staff. You can also receive an email with a dedicated invitation to apply by someone else, via the Invite a School to Apply form, but the invitation is not enough, you will need to submit your application form to run for the Prizes.
Application forms are submitted online at:
https://applications.worldsbestschool.org/
Yes, a school can apply for more than one Prize category, but please note that you will need to apply for each Prize separately, completing different forms. Please do not submit more than one form for the same category.
All schools that teach students in compulsory schooling and are legally registered with their respective Ministry of Education or government regulatory authority are eligible to apply – kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, operating in any modality approved by their authority: traditional, online or blended, and any type of school: state schools, private/independent, etc, as long as they are legally registered as education institutions in their country.
Only teachers, school principals, or other members of the applicant school’s leadership team or of its governing body can complete the application form. We will not consider applications submitted by any figure other than the ones described above, from the leadership team.
No, you need to apply as an individual school.
Yes, you need permission and consent from your school authorities to apply for the World’s Best School Prizes. By applying to the World’s Best School Prizes, you take full legal responsibility for ensuring the necessary permissions have been sought and granted in advance.
No, there are no costs to apply to enter the contest
No, we use the same application form for all five categories. All you need to do is select the Prize category you are applying for when you start completing the form.
Unfortunately not. We will publicly announce the schools that are on the shortlists. We can not give individual feedback due to the high volume of applications.
Yes, you can write and submit the answers in your language. On the application form, you will need to inform us which language you’re typing your responses in.
Yes, we accept applications written in your native language. However, you need to know that all our communications with contestants will be in English. If you don’t speak English, we recommend you involve an English speaker to support you through the process, particularly if your school gets shortlisted.
Yes, you can save as draft and submit or edit it later by logging back into the applications’ dedicated site.
Applications close on March 5th, 2025, at 11.45 pm GMT.
No, entries will not be returned.
The Prizes are funded by sponsorship and grant funding from organisations in the private and philanthropic sectors.
A Prize of US$ 50,000 will be shared equally between the five winners. Each winner will receive a Prize award of US$10.000. Learn more about the prize on our Terms and Conditions.
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