QCHE Awards 2026 winners: Celebrating excellence in verification and compliance practice

Paul Teasdale • March 5, 2026

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🌍 GLOBAL FOOTPRINT AWARD:
King’s College London

Global reach is not just about scale, it’s about adaptability, inclusivity, and operational capability across diverse geographies. This award recognises institutions that demonstrate an expansive and consistent global verification presence. 

King’s College London verified applicants across an extraordinary 122 countries in the past 12 months, spanning from Albania to Zimbabwe. Their breadth of coverage and consistent engagement with our platform demonstrated a truly global, inclusive admissions approach. 

🪴 VERIFICATION GROWTH AWARD: 
The University of Law 

This award celebrates partners who have significantly scaled their use of our services year-on-year, embedding verification processes effectively and sustainably. 

The University of Law achieved over 1000% growth in their QC platform engagement, a remarkable achievement by any standard. Their expansion reflects both strategic commitment and operational success in embedding verification at scale. 

✅ VERIFICATION VERSATILITY AWARD: 
King’s College London 

Reducing risk requires a holistic approach. This award recognises partners adopting a comprehensive verification strategy across education, identity, and language checks. 

King’s College London continues to pioneer multi-layered verification strategies, leading adoption of ID, English language, and global checks at scale. Their integrated approach reflects a deep commitment to safeguarding admissions processes. 

⚡ LIGHTNING LAUNCH AWARD: 
Cranfield University

Effective partnerships translate intent into action. This award recognises the fastest and most operationally effective transition from onboarding to live verification activity. 

Cranfield University demonstrated exceptional operational readiness, moving swiftly from onboarding to high-volume activity in record time. Their ability to mobilise internal teams and deliver immediate impact set them apart. 

⭐ RISING STAR AWARD: 
University of Bristol

Strong foundations lead to long-term success. This award celebrates new partners whose early engagement, collaboration, and momentum stood out from the outset. 

The University of Bristol demonstrated outstanding early collaboration, embedding effective communication practices and building strong foundations for sustainable partnership success. 

🚀 COLLABORATION CHAMPION AWARD: 
University of Glasgow 

True collaboration goes beyond transactions. This award recognises partners who actively share insights, innovate jointly, and contribute to continuous sector-wide improvement. 

The University of Glasgow exemplified collaborative partnership, working closely across teams, sharing actionable data insights, and helping strengthen sector-wide risk mitigation efforts.

🔍 THE SHERLOCK HOLMES AWARD: 
University of Westminster 

Fraud detection is a shared responsibility. This award recognises partners who proactively flag suspicions, share intelligence, and work collaboratively to uncover fraudulent activity. 

The University of Westminster brought forward complex fraud cases and worked closely with our team to investigate them. Their proactive intelligence sharing led to the discovery of significant fraudulent activity, reinforcing the power of sector collaboration. 

🎓 APPLICANT EXPERIENCE AWARD: 
Ghent University

A robust admissions process must also be a fair and transparent one. This award recognises institutions prioritising clarity, communication, and applicant confidence. 

Ghent University implemented strong applicant communication strategies, ensuring transparency and trust throughout the verification process while maintaining rigorous fraud safeguards. 

🥇 EXCELLENCE IN PARTNERSHIP AWARD: 
Imperial 

This award celebrates long-term, high-impact partnership, recognising sustained collaboration, strategic alignment, and deep stakeholder engagement. 

Imperial is one of our longest-standing partners. Over the years, the relationship has evolved into a deeply embedded collaboration across senior stakeholders, admissions teams, and enquiry functions. With exciting joint initiatives on the horizon, Imperial exemplifies what true partnership looks like in practice. 

A big congratulations to all our winners and nominees! 

That’s a wrap for our first ever QC Awards. We’re already looking ahead at how we can make the 2027 edition bigger, better and even glitzier than this year’s celebrations. Stay tuned for updates coming this autumn. 

Here’s to another year of partnership, innovation, and shared impact. 

Paul Teasdale

Head of Marketing

Paul Teasdale is Head of Marketing at Qualification Check. He has spent over 12 years working in education and technology and is now focused on building the QC’s brand and sharing its story with universities, employers, and partners around the world.

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