2023 nominations are open. 

Te Whatu Kairangi celebrates outstanding educators across the entire tertiary education sector who are making a difference to learners, their whānau and communities. These awards are about building sector capability for learner success in Aotearoa NZ.  

Read about the 2023 nomination process below to find out about the award categories, entry process and requirements.  

There are two new awards in 2023: 

• Le Moana Mua Award recognises the outstanding practice of Pacific Educators. 
• The General award now has separate criteria for Groups. A group is people who collaborate to contribute directly to the achievement of successful outcomes for learners.  

For more information download the 2023 Procedures, Guidelines and Criteria. 

Through these awards, outstanding tertiary educators have the opportunity to: 

• Share their commitment to and outstanding practice in building educational capability and sustained learner success. 
• Showcase their innovative work and responsiveness to student needs. 
• Reflect on and strengthen their teaching or training practice. 
• Enhance their careers. 
• Access monetary grants to advance their work, enhance their career, promote good practice and benefit learners. 

We want to hear about the outstanding mahi being done by Aotearoa tertiary educators from right across the sector, no matter what they teach or train, and the organisation they do it in. This includes educators from Industry Training Organisations, Private and Government Training Establishments, Adult & Community Education, Wānanga, Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics, Universities and more. 

Te Whatu Kairangi is one of the most well-recognised and respected tertiary education awards programmes in Aotearoa. So, being part of these Awards is being part of something big. 

Nominations close at 5:00 pm, Friday 30 June 2023. 

The Awards 

In 2023, Awards are $20,000 for a group award and $10,000 for an individual award. 

The number of awards made will depend on the number of group awards given, but at least two Kaupapa Maori Awards and at least two Pacific Awards will be awarded in 2023. 

One Prime Minister’s Educator of the Year Award (with an additional $10,000 grant) will also be awarded to the nominee whose portfolio the panel agrees best exemplifies the overall criteria.  

Award categories and criteria 

The categories for General awards focus on some of the important challenges facing tertiary education today, and include: 

• Advancing approaches to, and the outcomes of, work-based learning.  
• Achieving diversity and inclusion for improving outcomes for: Māori learners; Pacific learners; neurodiverse learners; and/or learners with disabilities.   
• Innovation in learning, teaching, and curriculum (including developers, educators, or combinations).   
• Progressing educational partnerships and collaboration.   
• Initiatives for progressing on hauora and wellbeing in education.   
• Progressing on seamless ākonga transitions between contexts.    

The Awards criteria have a strong focus on evidence of sustained contribution to and impact on learner success, and the subsequent impact on whānau, communities, and employment outcomes.  

Who can enter  

We welcome nominatons from any tertiary educator who has been working in an education position for at least four years full-time, or equivalent, and is employed with an organisation that receives Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) funding. 

How to enter  

Nominations are to be submitted with a word count limit of 4,500 words. Nominations must be submitted using the Microsoft Word template provided, plus any video or audio files.  

Enter Awards

Get behind the awards

Please join us in encouraging Aotearoa NZ's outstanding tertiary educators to apply!
Download a copy of the 2023 flyer and share it with your networks.

More information 

Download the 2023 Procedures, Guidelines and Criteria booklet for more detailed information on the awards and entry process. 

Please contact us if you have any questions, or check out our FAQs.