Winners of 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education Announced

Highest National Honour in Education Awarded to 19 Universities and Colleges across the UK

LONDON, Nov. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- His Majesty The King has approved the award of the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education to nineteen higher and further education institutions across the United Kingdom.

Winners of the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education 
Sixteenth Round | 2024-2026   

The University of Edinburgh  
A world-first Centre for Fire Safety Engineering, conducting internationally significant research and advanced education and training to underpin fire safety design, policy, regulation and innovation throughout the world in both the built and natural environments. 

Gateshead College 
A unique employer-led programme that has transformed apprenticeships in the built environment sector, including expansion into Canada, by tackling skills gaps to create a multi-skilled, adaptable workforce, with further expansion into other sectors underway across the UK. 

Hull College 
A globally recognised English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programme using AI-powered digital storytelling, real-time translation, and trauma-informed teaching to transform language learning, boost employability and social integration for learners, setting a new benchmark for inclusive education. 

The Institute of Cancer Research, London 
Groundbreaking research in radiotherapy, developing advanced treatment technologies, innovative strategies, and radiation-drug combination therapies that improve cancer treatment effectiveness, reduce side effects, and enhance patient outcomes globally. 

Lancaster University  
Creation and development of core technology for the micro:bit, a pocket-sized programmable computer that's driving a global transformation in digital literacy and has empowered 66 million children in 85 countries to become coders and technology creators. 

University of Leeds 
An internationally-leading centre exploring new materials, processes and products, the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour combines multi-disciplinary expertise in design, science and technology to address the global challenge of sustainability and demand for innovation across textile, colour and related industries. 

Leeds Beckett University 
A bespoke prison education model founded on an innovative educational alliance between the university and a maximum security prison, offering higher education and post-graduate study to both prisoners and staff, producing outstanding academic results. 

Liverpool John Moores University 
Pioneering craniofacial analysis in the forensic and digital heritage field, combining interdisciplinary education, research and knowledge exchange at the interface of art and science with a focus on individual and population facial identity, depiction and identification. 

London Metropolitan University 
A world-leading research unit dedicated to ending violence against women and girls nationally and internationally through cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, policy intervention, criminal justice reform and improved support for survivors. 

Loughborough University 
A pioneering partnership with ParalympicsGB generating world-class research, enhancing the performance of athletes at the Paralympics, informing practice in elite Para sport and improving the quality of life and health outcomes for disabled people worldwide through sports provision. 

Newcastle University 
Leading internationally significant, advanced research into the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and management of Dementia with Lewy Bodies over three decades, playing a pivotal role in establishing it as a major and distinct cause of late-life dementia. 

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College  
A dynamic partnership between further and higher education and local industry to develop and provide training in emerging technologies via a central hub, meeting the demand for new skills in green technologies and autonomous vehicles of the future. 

North West Regional College  
Creation of a large-scale business support hub with five industry-focussed innovation centres targeting local entrepreneurs and helping 400+ businesses in the region each year on the journey from prototype and product development through applied research, skills, and workforce development. 

University of Nottingham  
A pioneering programme using satellite data to map and measure modern slavery from space, accelerating interventions in multiple countries, shaping strategies and operations for governments, businesses and NGOs, and leading to the liberation of thousands of people from slavery. 

University of Oxford  
A globally impactful data analysis platform, OpenSAFELY uses new methods to access the entire England population's NHS GP records for the first time, meeting complex privacy challenges to enable life-saving research by unlocking and protecting a goldmine of data. 

Royal College of Music  
The Centre for Performance Science is shaping the future of music education through world-leading applied performance science, advanced by interdisciplinary research spanning the arts, medicine, engineering, natural sciences and business and informed by outstanding teaching and knowledge exchange. 

University of Salford  
Reflecting the University's commitment to improving the environment and sustainability, Energy House Labs' unique testing facilities deliver critical research that helps millions to save money on energy bills, accelerates progress towards net zero housing design and tackles fuel poverty. 

Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) 
Informing and shaping agricultural policy for over 80 years through rigorous, economic analysis using data gathered and curated from the ground-breaking Scottish Farm Business Survey (SFBS), enabling advanced, predictive modelling and offering a scalable, transferable model for other nations.  

University of Southampton 
Leading research into the sustainability, resilience and cost-effectiveness of the UK's rail system, resulting in new industry design guidelines and standards, influencing engineering practice globally and delivering significant cost savings. 

Notes for Editors: 

The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education are part of the UK's national honours system, recognising outstanding work by UK universities and colleges which demonstrates excellence, innovation, benefit to the institution and benefit to the wider world. First awarded by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1995, the Prizes are granted every two years by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister following a rigorous and independent process of review carried out by the Royal Anniversary Trust, an independent charity. The Prizes were formerly known as the Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education.