Somewhere in the Commonwealth right now, a student is running a campaign on a shoestring budget. A lecturer is staying late to help a struggling student. A small organisation is quietly widening access to education in a community that has been overlooked. Most of this work goes unrecorded. The CSA Excellence Awards 2026 exist to change that.
Nominations open today and close on 17 November 2026. The Awards are the Commonwealth Students’ Association’s annual end-of-year recognition for people and groups who have advanced education and student development across the Commonwealth’s 56 nations this year.
Who can be recognised
The Awards cover five groups: CSA staff and volunteers, students, institutions, student organisations, and civil society organisations. Students from any Commonwealth country can be nominated for leadership, community and SDG projects, climate action, peacebuilding and academic achievement. Universities, colleges, polytechnics and schools can be recognised for putting students first, for inclusion and wellbeing work, and for excellent teaching. National student organisations, campus unions, societies, NGOs, foundations and education partners are all eligible. Most categories accept a nomination from yourself or from someone else, so if you know someone who deserves to be seen, put their name forward.
How entries are judged
At least three judges will score every eligible nomination out of 100, drawn from CSA executive members, alumni, academics and partner organisations, ideally from at least three of the five Commonwealth regions. Impact carries the most weight at 35%, followed by innovation at 20%. Inclusion and reach, sustainability, and alignment with CSA values carry 15% each. Judges sign a conflict-of-interest declaration and do not score any entry they are linked to. The number of nominations an entry receives does not decide the result. The quality of the work does.
Key dates
Nominations close on 17 November. Shortlisted entries will be announced on 7 December. The winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony on Saturday 19 December 2026. The ceremony will run for a full day so that winners can join from any time zone.
Every winner receives a signed digital certificate and a CSA Excellence Awards 2026 badge for LinkedIn and email signatures, and will be featured on the CSA website and social channels. Shortlisted nominees receive a certificate of recognition.
A Statement from the President
The Commonwealth Students’ Association was founded so that students would have a voice at the table. These Awards are about the people who make that voice worth hearing.
I want to start by thanking the team who built this launch. Led by Charitarth (Chad) Sindhu, Special Projects and Development Officer on the Presidential Taskforce, they gave their evenings and weekends to it, they argued over the details, and they made sure it would be fair. The Awards exist because of their care.
To every student, every volunteer and every organisation working in student development: this is an invitation to you. If you have changed something for the better, however small it seemed at the time, we want to hear about it. If you know someone who has done that, nominate them. Many of the people who deserve recognition will never put their own names forward, and they need someone else to speak for them.
Please take a few minutes this week. Tell us who is doing good work, and we will make sure the Commonwealth hears about it.
Francis Azubuike, AIoL,
President of the Commonwealth Students’ Association
Read the full information in the document below before applying, and submit a nomination before 17 November 2026.
Download the document below
