Two people stood next to each other, the person on the right is holding a glass award

Student Experience Awards

What are the SEA's?

SEAs stands for Student Experience Awards, and it’s our annual awards event that celebrates students and staff at LJMU.

We spend the academic year collecting feedback across course, community, and department, to identify the individuals and teams who work hard to increase the quality the student experience.

Nominations are open now! 

Know someone who deserves recocnition? You know what to do...

Nominate now

Frequently asked questions

Tell me more about nominations

Students and staff at LJMU can nominate, simply by completing the form below. You don’t have to nominate in all categories, and you can nominate as many times as you like throughout the year.  

Nominations open on Saturday 12th October following the celebration of World Teachers Day, and close at midnight on Sunday 30th March. 

How do you choose the winners?

It’s all about the quality of nomination. Once the nominations form closes on 30th March, our student voice team will anonymise all submissions, and present to a panel of students, staff, and officers at JMSU.  

The panel will consider all nominations and choose winners based on the quality of the nomination, and how it aligns to the award criteria. 

How do I make a good nomination?

Read the criteria, this is what the panel will score your nomination against. Try and think of good examples to compliment your nomination and take your time when writing.

How many times can I nominate?

The nomination form is open from October to March, and throughout this time, you may have multiple positive experiences, so you are able to nominate more than once in all categories.

What do I get for nominating?

You’ll get the satisfaction of showcasing a student or staff member who is excellent at their role and deserves institution wide recognition for their work. You may receive an invite to the awards and be asked to present if you are a course rep, or student leader.  

At JMSU we love a freebie, so you’ll also be entered into a prize draw. Keep an eye on our socials to find out what you could win!

What awards are there?

Outstanding Teacher

For a teacher who displays excellent standards of teaching, this could be through engaging methods in and outside of the classroom, excellent use of technology, inclusive and welcome approach to students, challenging you and your peers to improve academically, going above and beyond the curriculum to expand your knowledge and experience, as well as being informative, supportive and organised.

Outstanding Course Rep

This is for a course rep who may have worked hard to hear and action your concerns, ideas and feedback while at university, they may have made or helped steer impactful change, signposted you at a moment of uncertainty, been a friendly face when you were unsure where to turn, or been a true representative of everyone on your course or in your school.

Outstanding Course Team

For a course team who may have developed your course, or learning opportunities in a way that developed you and your peers professionally, making the content interesting, engaging or exciting, organising your course professionally and effectively, and displaying excellent practice of learning. You may feel that there are multiple members of staff who work hard and go above and beyond to enhance your university experience, as well as cooperating well to make this experience as smooth as possible.

What is a course team? 

The team that organises and implements your course, this might include your module leaders, programme leaders, admin staff, readers, lecturers, associate deans etc. 

Outstanding Teaching Support Officer

This is someone in the role of teaching support officer, such as a PGR student or member of staff, who has gone above and beyond to facilitate undergraduate and/or postgraduate teaching.

This person may have invested time and energy into preparing for module sessions, worked diligently to support lecturers and applied their skills and knowledge to greatly benefit student learning and satisfaction.

You may also know this person, who has shown passion and commitment to students and the pursuit of teaching, as a Demonstrator.   

Outstanding Personal Tutor

This could be a Personal Tutor who may have strengthened your feeling of belonging at university, or fostered your confidence, resilience, and independence in times of struggle or uncertainty.

This person may have been a point of contact for you academically and personally. They may have signposted you to services, supported you, and advocated for the student voice.  

Outstanding Professional Services Star

For professional services individual staff members who work around campuses to keep the learning environment safe and comfortable for all students and staff within them. They care about those around them, are hardworking, putting students at the heart, and work behind the scenes to support the student experience in ways that others may not consider.  

This could be a cleaner, porter, facilities staff member, receptionist, or someone you see around campus.  

If you’re unsure of their name, let us know what they do and what campus they work on and we will do our best to locate them. 

Outstanding Professional Services Team

  • These are the staff that make the university run, but their home is not in the classroom.  
  • Provided support during your student journey in a non-teaching environment.    
  • Provided an excellent specialist service at an event or in your School/Faculty     
  • Ensured an efficient service for it to run smoothly.   
  • Supported and/or encouraged you in the right direction to get the guidance you needed.   

Outstanding contribution to Diversity & Inclusion

This is someone who encourages inclusive participation, and wants to eliminate discrimination. Equality, diversity and inclusivity are at the heart of what they do, beyond the commitment expected of their job role, and their initiatives are impactful and positive, in response to relevant issues concerning equality and diversity. 

Community of the year

This is a liberation community who could have supported you to speak up about your experiences, empowered you to lead change, helped you feel a sense of belonging and inclusion at university, or for a community who have made your time at university happier, more fun, or worthwhile. 

Outstanding Postgraduate Researcher

For a PGR student who has gone beyond their research and truly engaged in the LJMU community, this could be through assisting as a teaching support officer, supporting their fellow PGR peers, attending and presenting at conferences, volunteering outside of their direct studies, and successful paper publications. 

Outstanding Student Leader

For a student leader who you feel has worked hard to ensure your views are represented, taken time to hear your feedback and pass it on to the relevant team, has been engaging and supportive and empowered students to speak up and make impactful change either course level, school wide, or institutional. This category is for course reps, senior reps, community leaders, or academic society committee members.

Student Choice Award

An opportunity for students to choose and thank someone who has worked hard to make a difference to the lives of students at LJMU. This award will be shortlisted based on the quality of nominations, and chosen by the JMSU Officer Team.  

Some of the winners 2023-24