The Honours Awards are our end-of-year award scheme for Queen Mary Students’ Union's affiliated societies, student media outlets and volunteering groups. The award scheme intends to recognise your student group’s accomplishments over the academic year and rewards your hard work.
The Honours Awards is launched this year replacing the previous Trophy Awards, making the recognition more specific, accessible, and meaningful. Your group’s Honours will be displayed as badges on your qmsu.org page, allowing you to work towards collecting a full set. Each Honours Awards category can be won by multiple groups.
Submissions for the Student Group Honours Awards 2025 open in December and close 17 March 9am. We will only be accepting one submission per student group, but you can enter as many categories as you like. Honours Award winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in Thursday, 3rd April 2025.
Baseline Award: Point-based criteria
Our Student Group Honours Awards is criteria-based. The criteria include actions that your student group completes and activities/events/campaigns that you may have delivered throughout the year. Your group could earn up to eight Honours Awards to recognise your student group’s hard work in relation to these criteria for the specific categories. We have adapted the criteria so that societies, student media outlets and volunteering groups can all get involved with the Honours Awards.
The points-based criteria are explained below:
- The criteria are point-based, so your student group will earn points depending on what you have submitted as evidence. If you achieve 30 points or more in a specific category, you will achieve the Honours Awards for that category. Each category is marked out of 40 points.
- You will either be awarded 0, 5 or 10 points in relation to most criteria items, but some higher-value criteria will see groups awarded 0, 10 or 20 points. The criteria where this applies are indicated in the criteria section below.
- You must achieve at least 30 points in the core criteria to become eligible for the Honours Awards
The Honours
We have eight categories that you can strive towards. You can read all Honours we have available below:
Student Community
This award is for groups that turn shared interests into something bigger — a welcoming, engaging, and vibrant community. As a Students’ Union, we exist to make sure that each of our students gets the most out of their time here. Your student group is a crucial part of this, and we want to recognise your commitment to delivering your student group and positively impacting the student body.
Inclusivity & Wellbeing
This category celebrates groups that put inclusivity and wellbeing at the forefront of everything they do in each event, campaign, and conversation. They create safe, supportive environments where everyone feels welcome and valued.
Communication
Recognising groups that nail communication, this award highlights those who keep their members and the wider student community in the loop with clear, creative, and consistent updates.
Innovation & Development
This award is for groups that aren’t afraid to think outside the box. Whether it’s introducing new projects, improving how they operate, or finding creative ways to engage members, these groups elevate the student group experience year after year.
Community Impact
Celebrating groups that make a meaningful difference beyond their members, this award honours those whose initiatives create a lasting positive impact on the wider community, whether through outreach, initiatives, or partnerships.
Sustainability
Awarded to the eco-champions, this award highlights groups that prioritise sustainability in their efforts. Whether through eco-friendly initiatives or raising awareness, they’re committed to making the world a greener place.
Best Practice
These are student groups that set the standard in smooth operations to solid teamwork, by implementing the Queen Mary’s Student Union policies through and through!
Fun
This one’s for the groups that know how to have fun! It celebrates those who create a lively, enjoyable atmosphere, making sure their members have a great time at every event and activity.
Please refer to the Information Pack below for more details on the Honours criteria. We have also attached a winner society example application. You can submit your nomination by filling in an Evidence form, submitting it on the link below.
Winner Example Application
Information Pack
Submission Form
Additional Awards
We know that some student groups will have excelled in certain areas that our list of criteria only touches upon. So, to reward your Student Group for going above and beyond, we also have the following awards available for our three types of student groups:
Societies Awards Volunteering Awards Student Media Awards
If you have any queries about the Student Group Awards, please contact your staff support: