Announcing the winners of the 2026 Teaching Excellence Awards

25 Sep 2026

The winners of this year's Teaching Excellence Awards have been announced, celebrating colleagues whose sustained work in teaching and learning makes a real difference for our students.

Image: Rui He and Stephen Rayner receive their Highly Commended certificates from Prof Jenn Hallam at the 2025 Teaching Excellence Awards celebration.

Behind every great student experience is someone who made it happen. Each year, the Teaching Excellence Awards recognise the colleagues doing that work at the highest level, and today we're delighted to announce this year's winners on behalf of the University. Chosen for significant and sustained excellence in teaching and learning, they represent some of the very best of what happens in classrooms, labs, seminar rooms and one-to-one conversations across Manchester.

You'll be able to read more about each of their nominations on the Institute of Teaching and Learning website, and over the coming months we'll be sharing more about their practice through blog posts, case studies and workshops so that colleagues across the University can learn from what they do.

The winners will be presented with their trophies by Professor Jenn Hallam and Professor Duncan Ivison at a celebration event on Tuesday, 3 November in Whitworth Hall.

Our thanks to everyone who took the time to nominate or support a colleague this year, and our congratulations to the following:

Individual Awards

• Rachel Heyes (Learning Technologist, FBMH eLearning team) for Inclusive Education and Flexible Learning and Delivery
• Caroline Hoyle (School of Social Sciences) for Educational Leadership
• Aurelie le Normand (School of Natural Sciences) for Educational Leadership and Inclusive Education

Team Awards

• Drugs: from Molecules to Man FLP Project Team (Team Leader: Richard Prince) (School of Biological Sciences) for Inclusive Education and Flexible Learning and Delivery
• The Manchester Royal Eye Hospital in the Carys Bannister Building Optometry Clinics team (Team Leaders: Paul Rogers and Ravi Ahluwalia) (School of Health Sciences) for Educational Leadership

Highly Commended

• Rachel Ashworth (School of Health Sciences) for Assessment and Feedback
• Pietro Paolo Frigenti (Alliance Manchester Business School) for Inclusive Education and Student Voice 
• William Holmes (School of Health Sciences) for Educational Leadership and Assessment and Feedback
• The MIE Undergraduate Education Research Conference team (Team Leader: Sara Jackson) (School of Environment, Education and Development) for Assessment and Feedback and Student Voice (2025)
• The MBChB Becoming a Doctor team (Team Leader: Sarah Sharp) (School of Medical Sciences) for Inclusive Education and Flexible Learning and Digital Delivery
• The FSE Compensation and Condonement Working Group 2024-25 (School of Engineering and School of Natural Sciences) (Team Leader: Peter Martin) for Educational Leadership

Commended

• Jude Moss (School of Health Sciences) for Educational Leadership and Inclusive Education 
• Salman Shahid (School of Engineering) for Educational Leadership and Assessment and Feedback  
• Hannah Wilkinson (School of Environment, Education and Development) for Assessment and Feedback
• MB ChB Community Team - Group Teaching Team (Team Leader: Sarah Merrifield) for Inclusive Education and Flexible Learning and Digital Delivery
• The Workplace Ethics Healthcare Challenge Group (Team Leader: Alison Fisher) for Educational Leadership and Student Voice

For further information

• See: ITL website
• Contact: teaching.learning@manchester.ac.uk