CMI Awards of Excellence

Winners
Higher Education Partner of the Year Award

Higher Education Partner of the Year Award 2025

Teesside University is a dynamic and modern institution, dedicated to delivering opportunity and providing a high-quality higher education learning environment, offering innovative courses taught by committed and passionate staff.

Awarded Times Higher Education University of the Year 2025 and Daily Mail Modern University of the Year 2026, Teesside University is recognised for its transformative teaching, bold innovation, and life-changing impact.

As a driver of economic growth, directly and through its partnerships, Teesside University transforms lives and economies. It’s an engine of opportunity and social mobility; serving its communities and playing a vital role as an anchor institution within the Tees Valley.

The University’s Future Facing Learning initiative equips every student with cutting-edge digital tools, while its multi-award winning £300m Campus Masterplan provides world-class spaces for learning, collaboration, and discovery.

With triple Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, Ofsted Outstanding for apprenticeships, and a mission to widen access to higher education, Teesside is setting a new standard for what a modern university can achieve.

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Teesside University

We’re very proud of our longstanding partnership with CMI so being shortlisted is a very rewarding feeling for us at Herts Business School. CMI is the pre-eminent professional body we work with, and it has been an integral part of how we deliver our leadership and management apprenticeships.

University of Staffordshire

"For the University of Staffordshire, receiving this award would formally recognise the institution as a national leader in leadership and management education, validating the quality, relevance and impact of its apprenticeship and undergraduate provision. It would confirm that the University is not only delivering academically rigorous programmes, but is also shaping professionally credible, CMI-accredited leaders who make a tangible difference in the workplace and wider society."

City College Norwich

"It would truly be the greatest honour possible to win this award, the inspiration for us to target even higher levels of excellence in our team’s delivery and learner achievement. Winning would also place City College Norwich Higher Education firmly in the spotlight, helping attract more managers and leaders to study CMI qualifications with us."

Arden

"Winning the CMI Higher Education Partner of the Year Award would be a powerful endorsement of Arden University’s mission to widen access to high-quality higher education and provide them with the skills they need to empower them in their future careers. Our partnership with the CMI enables us to open doors for learners who may not have considered university a possibility — including working professionals, career changers, and those balancing study with other life commitments. Recognition from CMI would highlight the importance of flexible, inclusive pathways that ensure talent can flourish regardless of background or circumstance. "

Highly Commended Buckinghamshire New University

"Winning the CMI Higher Education Partner of the Year 2025 award would be a powerful recognition of our commitment to social mobility and the success of our learners. It would affirm the impact of our partnership with CMI in ensuring every learner becomes work‑ready, celebrate our staff and students, and reinforce our mission to deliver outstanding, career‑focused education. "

Higher Education Partner of the Year Award 2024

 

We’re very proud of our longstanding partnership with CMI so being shortlisted is a very rewarding feeling for us at Herts Business School. CMI is the pre-eminent professional body we work with, and it has been an integral part of how we deliver our leadership and management apprenticeships.

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University of Hertfordshire (Business School)

School of Business and Law at Buckinghamshire New University

"We are thrilled and excited to be shortlisted! Colleagues have worked closely with CMI in the past couple of years, building relationships and adding value to the student experience, and it is wonderful to see our close relationship recognised in this way. It has given the whole school a boost!"

London School of Business and Finance

"Being shortlisted for the CMI Partner Awards 2024 is an incredible honour. It is rewarding to see our commitment to professional development and educational excellence are being recognised. This acknowledgement not only validates our efforts but also motivates us to to do better."

Higher Education Partner of the Year Award 2023

 

It's fantastic to get this recognition at the University of Exeter. We work really hard on developing responsible leadership through all education programs, and it really aligns with all of the work that the CMI do. So it's fantastic to get the recognition from the CMI for the work that we do.

Rachael Johnstone, University of Exeter

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University of Exeter

Arden University

"Becoming CMI's Higher Education Partner of the Year would mean a lot for Arden University, an institution dedicated to achieving our 2025 strategic vision – that everyone everywhere has the right to higher education. Through our work with the CMI, especially through our Faculty of Business and our degree apprenticeship programmes, we strive to create accessibility to marginalised UK and international learners, widen participation, and provide exposure to the transformative power of higher education. Being named Higher Education Partner of the Year would aide us in attracting new students and apprentices who may have been overlooked for whatever reason, or may have not previously considered higher education to be an option for them. This in turn would help our efforts to create leaders of tomorrow through our efforts to democratise education and ensure that everyone, no matter their background or location, is able to pursue their dream career."

Gloucestershire Business School

"Winning this award would have a significant impact for both Gloucestershire Business School, its staff, and our students. Gloucestershire Business School has seen significant growth in recent years and this has in part been due to the nurturing of relationships with key partners such as CMI. Staff are very positive about our relationship with CMI and this is because of the wonderful individuals and teams we work with at CMI. This positivity pervades from staff to students and encourages their use of CMI resources and enhances their pride on receiving their dual accreditation."

University of Strathclyde

"We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this award. Strathclyde is in the distinctive position of successfully delivering apprenticeship degrees for learners based both in Scotland and England in partnership with CMI. Winning this award is important to us as it helps increase awareness among employers and future learners of our success in delivering high quality programmes with impactful outcomes, not only for learners on an individual level but also at organisational and societal level. It’s important that we showcase the achievements of our learners and celebrate the success of our partnership with CMI in continuing to develop a pipeline of exceptional leadership talent for our employer partners."

Higher Education Partner of the Year Award 2022

We are delighted to announce that Solent University are our 2022 Outstanding HE Partner of the Year.

Solent Business School were delighted to be shortlisted for this award as it celebrates the long partnership that we have had with the CMI and the fantastic achievements we have made together in supporting and developing our students to be future leaders and managers.

Claire Hughes, Head of Undergraduate and Partnerships

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Higher Education Partner of the Year Award 2021

The University of Huddersfield has been chosen as the Award winner for their development of their people managers and their student population, as part of a wider student employability agenda. This institution made the shortlist because they have shown a strategic attitude to Management and Leadership training in an extensive relationship with CMI. As a CMI Centre, the University has embedded CMI qualifications into undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and has integrated Level 5 and Level 7 programmes into their staff training.

Being shortlisted for this Award really shows our commitment to CMI through the development of our staff community and prospective students. The external recognition it provides will help us stand out within the HE sector during a challenging time for everyone.

Danny Benton, Head of People and Organisational Development

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Honourable Mention Henley Business School

"This Award is very important to us. Whilst we are a recognised Higher Education provider, the apprenticeship market for higher level degrees is still new. Therefore, being shortlisted recognises and emphasises the quality of our apprenticeships."

Dr Dorota Bourne
Associate Professor

WMG

"We are delighted to be recognised for our relationship with CMI by being shortlisted for this Award. It is great to be appreciated for our work in Leadership and Management education by such a well-known Management Institution."

Trudy Spencer
Associate Professor

University of Exeter Business School

"We wanted to apply to reflect on what we have achieved over the last year. This Award shortlisting highlights the importance of the huge diversification in our student body that we have cultivated through the innovative delivery of our programmes."

Rachael Johnstone
Head of Department and Director of Degree Apprenticeships