The forthcoming PIEoneer Awards 2023, which have generated significant anticipation, are scheduled to occur on Friday, September 22, 2023, at the acclaimed Hilton Bankside in London. Subsequently, it has been officially revealed that AHZ Associates will serve as the platinum sponsor for this event.

The purpose of this yearly occasion is to pay tribute to exceptional accomplishments and contributions within the realm of global education. The PIEoneer Awards is an acclaimed event that honours exceptional performance and ingenuity within the global education industry.

  • In the year 2023, the organisers of the PIEoneer Awards have introduced four captivating additional categories to the event.
  • Digital innovation of the year – Student recruitment
  • Emerging leader of the year
  • Business school of the year
  • Study abroad & exchange experience of the year

Association of the Year has been renamed Membership Organisation of the Year.

Finalists 2023:

Business school of the year

  • Arden University, United Kingdom
  • Eaton Business School, UAE
  • EHL Hospitality Business School, Switzerland
  • Globe Business College, Munich, Germany
  • Kaplan Business School, Australia
  • Technical University Munich, School of Management, Germany
  • Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

Championing diversity, equity and inclusion award

  • AFS Global STEM Accelerators, Global
  • CIS Abroad, United States
  • Institute of International Education Center for Access and Equity, United States
  • NCUK – The University Consortium, United Kingdom
  • The Association of Commonwealth Universities, Global – The Commonwealth Virtual Exchange
  • University of East London and Unicaf, United Kingdom
  • University of Leicester, United Kingdom – Sanctuary Seekers’ Unit
  • Western Sydney University, Australia – Thai-Myanmar Border Refugee Scholarship Program

Digital innovation of the year – assessment and credentials

  • British Council, eCom, BUILA and UKCISA, UK – The UK agent and counsellor hub – the UK Quality agent framework.
  • Kaplan International Pathways UK, United Kingdom – Kaplan International Tools for English
  • Oxford International Digital Institute, UK – Oxford ELLT
  • Riiid, Korea – an online test preparation platform and app for the SAT and ACT
  • StudyLink Connect, Australia – Automated verification of English tests IELTS, TOEFL & Pearson
  • telc digital examinations, telc – language tests, Germany
  • Qualification Check, United Kingdom – I’m Verified

Digital innovation of the year – learning

  • IBT College, Canada – Micro-credentials leading to a Personal Support Worker Diploma using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
  • iheed (Cambridge Education Group), Ireland – Meet the Patient Simulation
  • IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany – Syntea (Synthetic Teaching Assistant)
  • Little Bridge, United Kingdom OtherWordly, Global
  • Riiid, Korea – R.test, an AI-powered test preparation platform
  • The WorldGrad, Singapore

Digital innovation of the year – student recruitment

  • ApplyBoard, Canada – The ApplyBoard Platform
  • Cialfo, Singapore
  • GUS Gateway by Global University Systems, United Kingdom
  • Leverage Edu, India – Univalley
  • Niagara College, Canada – Countdown to Open House
  • Rosedale International Education, Canada – The Global Student Success Forum and Elite University Student Recruitment Fair
  • Successful Graduate, Australia – Recruiting Students Back Into Australia
  • Swinburne University of Technology, Australia – Swintopia
  • University of East London, UK – Where Next

Digital innovation of the year – technology

  • AFS Intercultural Programs, US – Multi-Language Video Creator
  • Adventus.io, Singapore – Adventus Drive
  • BorderPass, Canada
  • British Council, eCom, BUILA and UKCISA, UK – The UK agent and counsellor hub – the UK Quality agent framework
  • Enroly, UK – Data Insights
  • Kaplan International Pathways, UK – Promoting student engagement with digital badges
  • Otermans Institute, UK – OIAI

Emerging leader of the year

  • Andy Howells, UUKi, UK
  • Dr. Ivan Kumar, English Unlimited, Australia
  • Ellen Mahoney, Sea Change Mentoring, Hong Kong
  • Elliott Lancaster, Keele University, UK
  • Francis Glover, De Montfort University, UK
  • Pilar Lindley, SCORE Test Prep & College Counseling, Peru
  • Prof. Dr. Katrin Klodt-Bussmann, HTWG Konstanz – University of Applied Sciences, Germany
  • Yinbo Yu, UKCISA, UK

Employability international impact award

  • Centre of Applied Data Science, Malaysia – The Data Star Accelerator Programme
  • De Montfort University, UK – Supporting student employability and entrepreneurship through international experiences
  • Graduate Guidance Group, UK & Ghana – Nigerian Talent, UK Educated
  • Study NSW, Australia
  • Twin Group and University of Greenwich, UK – Graduate Programmes with Industrial Practise
  • University of Auckland, New Zealand – Workplace Insights Programme
  • University of East London, UK

International alumni of the year

  • Aishwarya Mishra, India – King’s College, UK
  • Astitva Jindal, India – International Students House and Queen Mary University of London, UK
  • Beauclaire Mbanya, Cameroon – University of Rochester, US
  • Dhionis Llanaj, Albania – Study Group’s Leeds International Study Centre, in partnership with the University of Leeds, UK
  • Ibrahim Nash’at, Egypt – MetFilm School (Berlin Campus), Germany
  • Nam Nguyen, Vietnam – Johns Hopkins University, United States
  • Nehara Pandey, India – UP Education, New Zealand

International student recruitment organisation of the year

  • AECC, Australia
  • Blue Ivy Coaching, Mexico
  • KC Overseas Education, India
  • Language Kingdom, Global
  • Leap, Global
  • Leverage Edu, India
  • Mozaik Play, Australia
  • OxBridge Holdings, Greater China

Language training provider of the year

  • Edify Education, Brazil
  • English Language Centre, University of Victoria, Canada
  • French in Normandy, IH Rouen, France
  • Heartland International English School Winnipeg, Canada
  • International Programmes at York St John University, UK
  • LILA* Liverpool, UK
  • UCD English Language Academy, Ireland

Marketing campaign of the year

  • EHL Group, Switzerland – EHL TikTok by students for students
  • James Cook University, Australia – English Proficiency Scholarship Campaign
  • King’s College London, UK – Ukraine Explained
  • London Metropolitan University, UK – The Real London
  • Londonist DMC, UK – Move with Londonist
  • National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU), UK – The India UK Achievers Honours
  • Universities UK International, Cormack Consultancy Group and Waterfall, UK – The #TwinForHope Campaign
  • University of East London, UK – #BeTheChange

Membership organisation of the year

  • Colleges and Institutes Canada, Canada
  • Eaquals, UK
  • Groupement Fle, France
  • Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (OUI-IOHE), Canada
  • National Indian Student and Alumni Union (NISAU), UK
  • UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), UK
  • Universities UK International, UK

Outstanding contribution to the industry

  • Bobby Mehta, UK
  • Cyndi McLeod, Canada
  • Diarmuid Hegarty, Ireland
  • Dr Diana Beech, UK
  • Edwin van Rest, The Netherlands
  • Sreng Mao, Cambodia

PIEoneer of the year

  • AFS Intercultural Programs, Global – AFS Global STEM Accelerators
  • Edified, Global – The Enquiry Experience Tracker
  • Education Above All Foundation, Qatar – Internet Free Education Resource Bank (IFERB)
  • Goin’ – Connecting your students, The Netherlands
  • The Hacker Exchange (HEX), Australia
  • The Lygon Group, Australia – #TheSocialSource – an International Education Student Insight Solution
  • Universities UK International and Cormack Consultancy Group, UK – The UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative

Progressive education delivery award

  • Australian Centre for Education (ACE), Cambodia, – Children’s Plus+ & Young Learners’ Plus+ Programs
  • IES Abroad, US – Designing the Sustainable City Course
  • TEDI-London, UK
  • The Forum on Education Abroad & Partners, Global – Future Nobel Laureates Scholarship Program
  • THINK Global School, Global
  • Singapore Management University, Singapore – SMU Industry x Project-Based Experiential Learning (INDEX)

Public/private partnership of the year

  • franked.io & Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Study Australia), Australia – The Study Australia Entrepreneurship Challenge
  • iheed (Cambridge Education Group), Ireland & Cambridge Education Group, UK
  • International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC), Global & a broad range of international partnerships – Giving greater access to education
  • Navitas, UK & University of Portsmouth, UK – ICP – OnePortsmouth approach to the student journey
  • Northumbria University (NU), UK & St George’s University (SGU), Grenada – International Medical Degree Pathways – a unique collaborative partnership in medical education
  • QA Higher Education, UK & Ulster University, Northern Ireland
  • Royal Roads University, Canada & Royal Bridge College, Canada – HyFlex Delivery of a Dual-Language Graduate Diploma for Recent Immigrants and Working Professionals
  • IAE Business School & Inter-American Development Bank Lab and Hemispheric University Consortium, Global – Women in Stem Entrepreneurship (WISE)

Student support award

  • Nido, UK&EU
  • Northumbria University Pathway in partnership with QA Higher Education, UK
  • Student VIP, Canada – Virtual Health Clinic
  • Study Group, UK – Student Enrichment Programme at Durham University International Study Centre
  • University of Bristol, UK – Think Big Development Programme in association with Ashinaga, UK
  • Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

Study abroad and exchange experience of the year

  • Coventry University, UK – The Knowledge Hub Faculty Led Programme
  • Institute for Shipboard Education, US – Semester at Sea
  • Teens of Color Abroad (TOCA), US
  • The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
  • The University of Sydney, Australia – Sydney Sustainability Program
  • Think Pacific, Fiji
  • Singapore Management University, Singapore – Cultivating global citizenship through SMU Industry x Project-Based Experiential Learning Overseas Approach

Sustainability international impact award

  • Coventry University, UK – Explore the globe
  • Hazaar, United Kingdom
  • Intercultural Outreach Initiative (IOI), US – 2025 Net Zero Strategy
  • IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany – Sustainability as a core value
  • The University of Waterloo, Canada – ‘SDGs at Work’ – Building SDG awareness and engagement through work-integrated learning (WIL)
  • University of Sydney, Australia – Sustainability Program

In addition to generating heightened anticipation for the event, AHZ Associates, a prominent consultant specialising in international education, has been announced as the Platinum Sponsor for The PIEoneer Awards 2023. AHZ Associates demonstrates an organization’s dedication to promoting educational possibilities for students on a global scale. Their support serves as a testament to their commitment to acknowledging and fostering excellence within the realm of international education.

The Hilton Bankside, a luxurious and contemporary venue located in the heart of London, will provide the perfect backdrop for the celebration of educational achievements and innovation. Attendees can look forward to a night of glamour and networking opportunities amidst the backdrop of London’s vibrant culture.

The PIEoneer Awards 2023 promise to be a night to remember, bringing together professionals, educators, and innovators from around the world to honour those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of international education.

As the countdown to September 22nd begins, anticipation is building for what is sure to be an unforgettable evening. With AHZ Associates as the Platinum Sponsor, the event is set to shine a spotlight on the dedication and hard work of those who strive to make international education accessible and transformative.

Stay tuned for further updates on the event, and mark your calendars for The PIEoneer Awards 2023, a night of celebration, recognition, and inspiration in the global education community.