Skip to main content
AwardsNews

NEG shortlisted for major forthcoming awards

We’re delighted to report that we’ve been shortlisted for the Education Investor Awards 2023 in the categories Education Software Provider of the Year and the grand prix for Education Provider of the Year. This comes hot on the heels of shortlistings for two other prestigious awards: the Bett Awards 2023 for Company of the Year (£3m to £12m) which took place in March, and the Education Resource Awards for the categories Supplier of the Year (£1m to 10m turnover) and Online Safety, due to take place later in May.

This widespread industry endorsement reflects the exponential growth of our business since its establishment in 2017: our platform is today used by over 700,000 users, and over 43,000 schools, and resources are used in 194 countries. This in turn reflects the success of our value-for-money model which combines high-quality professional development with powerful IT capability to help schools, trusts, colleges and nurseries drive lasting improvement throughout their organisation.

Major landmark

A major landmark in our brief history was the launch of our new professional development platform earlier in the year, bringing together two major brands – The National College and National Online Safety – in one online space, offering education settings the most comprehensive CPD programme on the market, at the same time, harnessing the latest technology to create a powerful professional development management system.

With over 2,500 webinars, courses, policy templates, guides and lesson plans covering 12 key categories, a live newsfeed, statutory training for all roles and responsibilities, opportunity to earn digital badges and work towards accreditation, weekly poll to determine new content, a range of channels including TED Talks – we say it’s the only professional development platform educators will ever need.

Automation and centralisation

At the same time, our new platform permits automation and centralisation of management functions, enabling leaders to instantly roll out training programmes aligned with strategic priorities. In a few clicks, they can allocate CPD to individuals, groups, the whole school or trust, set deadlines, track progress, send reminders, ensure timely completion, and generate reports for internal and external stakeholders. Our dashboards make it easy to drill down for individual data or pan out for an overview of performance across the whole setting.

Collaborative improvement

Our One Platform membership facilitates a shift towards self-directed learning, where staff at all levels can pursue training according to role, interests and career aspirations. New content is constantly being added (at a rate of 60+ per month for webinars) to reflect the latest policy, practice and research. Educators are reporting full buy-in from staff and a move towards collaborative improvement and the establishment of learning communities within their organisations.

“It’s like having an expert in your pocket”, says one user, commenting on the quality and flexibility of our online CPD, which is pretty much the truth. Our training is developed in conjunction with national and international education experts, offering a level of expertise that simply wouldn’t be affordable by other means, and which the whole workforce can access anywhere, anytime and on any device, including, of course, their mobile phones.

We’re only too aware of the pressing need within education settings for knowledge and skills in areas which may well exceed the specialism of the individual – mental health and wellbeing, SEND, behaviour management, sustainability, safeguarding, online safety, to name a few. That’s why we bring the experts direct to the educators, saving them precious time and money. Feedback on our professional development continues to have the power to amaze and even move: “Thought provoking, inspiring, informative, humorous, concerning, life changing. I can now do better for the children in my school”.

With 14 major awards and 40 shortlistings already under our belts, we’re never complacent and always considering how we can better serve the needs of schools and education settings. We’re thrilled to be invited to the Education Investor and Education Resource Awards, not least because it’s a strong indicator that we’re getting it right.