SU Awards

This new award is an open category designed to recognise and celebrate individual student achievements across a wide range of activities and endeavours.

This award is open to individual students who have achieved something special since 1 April 2024. You should outline what you achieved, what skills you used to make it happen, and what positive impacts the achievement has had (for you personally, and/or for a wider group of people).

Your achievement should be something you are primarily responsible for, and which you have chosen to undertake. The achievement(s) mentioned in your nomination statement shouldn’t be part of paid employment, part a project primarily led by someone else, or an achievement which is a requirement for passing your course at Queen’s. SU staff and officers may also nominate individual students for this award.

We hope to recognise many individual students with this award, and all successful recipients will be invited along to the SU Awards event, with a ‘plus one’ guest.

This is a very broad category, so we would encourage any student who has achieved something special this year to nominate yourselves. Some examples of achievements could include:

• Raising money for a charity or cause important to you
• Representing the needs and welfare of others, leading to a positive change
• Individual sporting successes
• Student entrepreneurial achievement
• Commitment to volunteering during the year
• Making a contribution to the community at Queen’s or further afield
• Successfully delivering an event, project, or campaign that you’re passionate about
• Another achievement in your life, e.g. acts of bravery or generosity; overcoming adversity; competitive success; or something else.

This is not an exhaustive list – all nominations are welcome. If you’re not sure if you have an eligible achievement for this award, please contact us on su.societies@qub.ac.uk well in advance of the nominations deadline and we can give you some guidance.

This award will recognise the achievements of a newly ratified Club or Society in their first or second year of operation.

Nominees should outline how their Club or Society has improved the student experience at Queen’s, how they have engaged with new members since their foundation, and what achievements they’re most proud of so far.

Nominees should show that they have engaged with Students’ Union since starting their new Club or Society, for example by attending committee training, using SU resources, or successfully applying for SU funding.

Any Clubs & Societies newly ratified in the 2023/24 or 2024/25 academic year are eligible to apply for this award. You must have a minimum of 15 registered Student Members at the deadline to be eligible for this award. Please make sure your Student Members have all been registered before this deadline – see guidance on how to do this on the Handbook.

This award will recognise the best student-led event or activity since 1 April 2024.

The event should demonstrate excellence in its focus on students, the professionalism of its delivery, and how it raised the profile of your Club/Society/group. You should also include any ways in which the activity represented the Students’ Union or the University, to students at Queen’s or to the wider community.

In applying for this category, nominees must provide supporting evidence of good administration, event management, good financial standing, and creative thinking (particularly in the case of recurring events).

This category is open to individual students, student groups, and Clubs & Societies.

This award will recognise the achievements of a Society which has offered excellent opportunities to its members and to the wider Queen’s community since 1 April 2024.

Nominees should outline how their Society has contributed to enhancing the overall student experience, how their Society engages a wide range of students, and what the Society’s key achievements have been this year.

Societies should demonstrate a high level of engagement with the Students’ Union and evidence excellence in Society administration, financial planning, and event management.

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This award is divided into three size categories (Small, Medium and Large) with a similar number of eligible Societies in each group. There will be a shortlist and a winner in each category.

To determine which category your Society is in, we will consult the total number of registered Student Members of your Society on the SU online admin system at the deadline (midnight on Sunday 30 March). Please make sure your Student Members have all been registered before this deadline – see guidance on how to do this on the Handbook. You must have a minimum of 15 registered Student Members to be eligible for this award.

• Small Society of the Year: Up to 49 Student Members
• Medium Society of the Year: 50-99 Student Members
• Large Society of the Year: 100 or more Student Members

This award seeks to recognise the achievements of a Sporting Club that can demonstrate a high level of student engagement and opportunity since 1 April 2024.

Nominees must also demonstrate a high level of commitment to its members via training and (where applicable) competition. The successful Club will demonstrate excellent initiative in event management, links to internal and external agencies, and the provision of opportunities for its members.

The successful Club will demonstrate competency in the areas of communication, finances, administration, sporting achievement, marketing, and the provision of increased benefit to its current members.

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This award is divided into three size categories (Small, Medium and Large) with a similar number of eligible Clubs in each group. There will be a shortlist and a winner in each category.

To determine which size category your Club is in, we will consult the total number of registered Student Members of your Club on the SU online admin system at the deadline (midnight on Sunday 30 March). Please make sure your Student Members have all been registered before this deadline – see guidance on how to do this on the Handbook. You must have a minimum of 15 registered Student Members to be eligible for this award.

• Small Club of the Year: Up to 49 Student Members
• Medium Club of the Year: 50-99 Student Members
• Large Club of the Year: 100 or more Student Members