Terms and Conditions

The World Education Medals are a global initiative founded by HP Inc. to celebrate and recognise individuals who are harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform education and drive social good. Originally launched in 2022 with the Africa Education Medal, the initiative expanded in 2024 to include Asia and Latin America. In 2025, the Medals evolved into a global honour spotlighting changemakers across three categories:

The World Education Medal for Leaders
The World Education Medal for Educators
The World Education Medal for Students

The 2025 World Education Medals are facilitated by T4 Education on behalf of HP Inc.

These Medals recognise individuals who are sparking positive change through the ethical and impactful use of AI, aiming to build a global community of innovators shaping the future of education.

The awards spotlight and bring together changemakers from around the world who are shaping the future through the power of AI. By recognising Leaders, Educators and Students who are using AI ethically and effectively to address real-world challenges, the Medals provide a global platform to share diverse perspectives, innovative solutions, and inspirational stories that can drive collective progress.

For each Medal, we will announce five Finalists, culminating in the recognition of one winner per Medal – a total of three global Medalists.

Timeline

Launch & opening of nominations – 7th August 2025
Nominations deadline – 10th October 2025
Top 5 Finalists public announcement – 11th December 2025
Winners’ public announcement – January 2026

Nomination process

We will receive all nominations through an online form that can be accessed on our official website.
We welcome nominations from individuals through a nominator, or by those applying directly themselves. All submissions will be entered through a single form that is accessible on our website. The form should be completed in one go – there is no ‘save as draft’ feature.
All nominations must be submitted in English to be eligible for consideration. Please be aware that submissions in any other language will not be reviewed. While our assessment does not evaluate English proficiency, the clarity of your writing is essential for a thorough evaluation of your nomination.

About nominations

A nomination form represents the action of an external person [Nominator] nominating an individual for a Medal [Nominee].
As a Nominator, you will be required to identify yourself when completing the nomination form. Nominations are accepted from individuals, either in a personal capacity or on behalf of an organisation supporting the candidate. You will also need to provide the Nominee’s personal data and contact details, including a valid email address. By submitting this information, you confirm that you have obtained the Nominee’s consent to share their data with T4 Education for the purposes of this nomination. All personal data shared will be kept confidential in accordance with T4 Education’s Privacy Policy. Your contact information may be used by T4 Education in relation to this nomination process.
As a Nominator, you will act as a supporter of this nomination, and we may contact you to verify information if your nomination is successful.
You won’t need to prove your relation to your Nominee. Anyone can nominate a candidate, as long as you have enough information to fill out the form and the Nominee’s contact details so we can get in touch with them.
Several nominations from different individuals can be submitted for the same candidate, although the number of nominations for the same person has no bearing on the judging process.
One Nominator can nominate multiple candidates, even across different Medals. Each nomination form counts as one nomination. We don’t allow multiple nominations for different individuals on the same form.

About self-nominations

A self-nomination describes the action of someone applying for a Medal [Nominee].
As a Nominee applying, you may need to present one reference that can back your nomination in case we request it. We only request their contact details to get in touch if your application is successful.
You can only submit a single application. If you submit more than one application for yourself, we will only consider the last submission and disregard the earlier ones.

Judging Process

The judging process for the 2025 World Education Medals consists of three phases. First, an internal screening of all nominations to ensure eligibility and completeness. Second, an expert panel evaluates eligible applications based on the official criteria to determine the five Finalists in each category. Third, the Global Judging Academy reviews Finalist profiles and casts their votes to select the three winners — one for each Medal: Leaders, Educators and Students.

Judging phases

Nomination review: The internal team conducts an initial review of all submitted nominations across the three Medals to ensure they meet eligibility requirements and align with the global criteria. This determines which nominees move forward in the process.
Selecting Finalists: Eligible nominations are then reviewed in detail by an expert panel using the official assessment criteria. Based on these evaluations, the five Finalists for each Medal are selected — 15 Finalists in total — and publicly announced.
Judging the winners: Finalists are evaluated by the Global Judging Academy. Each judge receives a judging pack with detailed information on each Finalist and casts their vote. The Nominee with the highest number of votes in each category is named the winner.

Criteria

Eligibility criteria

General (All Medals)

Applicants must demonstrate a clear, responsible and ethical approach to AI within an educational context. Evidence must be provided to support this.
The AI-related work must have been implemented and in use for at least six months prior to the application deadline.
All applications must be submitted in English.
Only one application per person is permitted.

The World Education Medal for Leaders

Must hold a formal leadership role in the field of education, such as policymaker, education NGO lead, EdTech founder, or government official.
Applicants must demonstrate the use of AI to address at least one of the following key educational challenges:
- Enhancing literacy development: language and numeracy proficiency
- Building lifelong skills
- Supporting social mobility
- Promoting mental health and holistic wellbeing
- Empowering learner autonomy and self-directed learning
- Increasing educational productivity and efficiency
- Supporting educators’ professional growth
- Supporting the development of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and Humanities education
- Fostering play-based and experiential learning opportunities
- Addressing and closing educational achievement gaps

The World Education Medal for Educators

Must be a currently active classroom teacher, subject specialist, academic staff member, headteacher or school principal at a formal education institution recognised by a national or regional education authority (e.g. Ministry of Education).
Applicants must demonstrate the use of AI to address at least one of the following key educational challenges:
- Enhancing literacy development: language and numeracy proficiency
- Building lifelong skills
- Supporting social mobility
- Promoting mental health and holistic wellbeing
- Empowering learner autonomy and self-directed learning
- Increasing educational productivity and efficiency
- Supporting educators’ professional growth
- Supporting the development of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and Humanities education
- Fostering play-based and experiential learning opportunities
- Addressing and closing educational achievement gaps

The World Education Medal for Students

Applicants must be currently enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary (university/college) education institution.
Applicants must be aged between 15 and 25 at the time of application. If under 18, written consent from a parent or guardian is required. (Note: While the age of majority varies globally, 18 is widely recognised for legal and safeguarding purposes.)
Applicants must demonstrate how they have used AI to solve a meaningful problem in the education space that would have contributed to technical advancement and/or social good.

Judging criteria

Each application will be assessed according to four key dimensions:

Vision & Influence
- A clear vision or goal that they have pursued.
- How they have inspired others to act with their work.
- Evidence that their work has shaped attitudes, decisions, or direction within their sphere of influence.
Use of AI
- The AI initiative is effective and meaningful in solving a problem or enhancing an aspect of education.
- The applicant can clearly articulate the reason for their AI initiative, how it works in their context, and why it was chosen.
- It supports human-centred learning, improving educational experiences, outcomes, or life skills in a purposeful, ethical, and socially impactful way.
Community Contribution
- The initiative is generating positive transformation beyond the individual.
- The applicant is contributing to or engaging others, whether classmates, colleagues, families, local communities, professional networks, or education systems — to foster collaboration, awareness, or shared benefit.
- Shows the ability to mobilise or inspire others to embrace positive change through AI.
Commitment to Continuity
- The AI initiative is not a one-off event but is embedded in regular practice or growing steadily.
- There is evidence of sustainability, ongoing reflection, and adaptation.
- Demonstrates resilience and the capacity to persist and evolve, even when facing barriers.

Communication & Dissemination

All dissemination efforts in relation to this Contest and its development will be made through T4 Education’s communication channels and amplified by HP Inc. and the T4 Community, our partners, and other third parties involved in the Contest.

T4 Education’s main communication language will be English – for dissemination and promotion activities, as well as communications between T4 Education and the participants.

T4 Education’s main channel of communication with participants will be through email.

Terms & Conditions for all Participants

By participating in this contest (“Contest”), each Nominator and Nominee accepts and agrees to be bound by the following terms and conditions. We define “Nominators” as those individuals who submit a nomination form to nominate somebody else for any of the three World Education Medals. We define “Nominees” as those individuals who are either nominated by someone else, or who have self-nominated for any of the World Education Medals.

Terms & Conditions on application for all nominations

Conditions and limitations for everyone:

If applying under the Student category, Nominees must be between 15 and 25 years old. For the Leaders and Educators category, Nominees must be 18 years or older. T4 Education may request documentation to verify this information at its discretion.
All nominations must be submitted online and written in English. The forms can be accessed via the website at worldeducationmedal.org. Nominations from sources other than the official nomination form will not be accepted. All nominations must be written in English. We will not consider applications written in any other language.
T4 Education is not responsible for late, lost, uncompleted, or misdirected entries.
T4 Education will not be obligated to provide feedback to unsuccessful nominations. T4 Education will not notify Nominees whose applications have not been considered for the shortlist. Only the shortlisted candidates will be notified of such and the Finalists’ names will be communicated to all.
Nominators and Nominees will not be reimbursed for any costs incurred in connection with submitting the nomination.
Upon submission, Nominators and Nominees grant T4 Education a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free and worldwide license to use and modify the nomination and the supportive material provided in it, in whole or in part, for commercial and other purposes, without any payment or other consideration, for use in any media now known or hereafter discovered, in perpetuity, to the extent legally permissible.
By entering this Contest, each Nominator and/or Nominee forever discharges and releases T4 Education from any and all liability, claims, causes of action, suits, and demands of any kind (“Claims”) arising from and in connection with the Contest. The Nominator and/or Nominee also indemnify T4 Education from all Claims arising from third parties in relation to the Nominee’s participation in this Contest or the breach of these Terms and Conditions by the Applicant.
The Nominee agrees to the use of their name and likeness in publicity without notice or any additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. T4 Education is not obligated to attribute a nomination to the Nominator who submitted it.
All Nominees who enter the contest through a third-party nomination (i.e. nominated by someone else) need to consent to their nomination for T4 Education to process it for the competition. The consent is given when submitting the form by the Nominator. Once the form is submitted, the T4 Education team will contact the Nominee directly to continue the process.
At T4 Education’s discretion, the Nominee may be required to provide proof of compliance with any of these Terms and Conditions.
Upon T4 Education’s request at any time, and in order to verify the information submitted, Nominees may have to provide evidence and references to support their nominations, and Nominators may have to give references about their candidate.
T4 Education reserves the right to contact any of the references whose contact details were provided through the nomination form (only for self-nominations) to verify their nomination.
Any personal or organisational information included in the nomination materials collected in connection with this Contest is collected, used, and maintained according to our Privacy Policy:
https://t4.education/privacy-policy/
T4 Education and HP Inc. reserve the right to apply professional judgment and broader contextual considerations in the assessment and selection of participants (Nominees) at any stage of the contest, to ensure alignment with the values and objectives of the World Education Medals.

Terms & Conditions on application for Finalists

In addition to the Terms and Conditions for all nominations which have been accepted, those candidates who are named as “Finalists” agree to the following:

During the period of two years, the Finalists shall not conduct themselves (by act of omission) in such a way as to bring education, HP Inc., T4 Education or its partners into disrepute (as may be determined at the sole discretion of T4 Education).
The Finalist acknowledges that T4 Education and HP Inc. have the right to publicise and broadcast the Finalist’s name, voice, and likeness, the fact that they qualified, and all materials incidental thereto. T4 Education is not obligated to attribute a nomination to the Nominator who submitted it.
The Finalist acknowledges that T4 Education has the right to request visual, written, media or other types of assets to promote their inclusion in the shortlist and understands that, by providing T4 Education with these materials, they grant permission to use them publicly. All assets provided will have the necessary permissions of the people on them, even if these were children, for public use in digital, press, and other channels to promote the initiative and any other activities related to T4 Education. The Finalist is responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions in advance. Upon submission of required materials, the finalist authorises T4 Education to use them publicly and grants T4 Education a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free and worldwide licence to use and modify the materials, in whole or in part, for commercial and other purposes, without any payment or other consideration, for use in any media now known or hereafter discovered, in perpetuity, to the extent legally permissible.
The Finalist commits to collaborate where necessary with T4 Education to ensure the proper development and dissemination of the public announcement of the Finalists as stated and requested by them, and any other activities in relation to their inclusion in the shortlist.
The Finalist will provide T4 Education with 14 days prior written notice of any public speaking engagements.
Inclusion in the shortlist obligates the Finalist to: (i) collaborate where requested by T4 and HP Inc., (ii) participate in events, (iii) participate in media engagements, (iv) participate in research programmes, (vi) fully promote T4 Education’s events to their community to ensure maximum participation, (vii) use all media channels, including social media accounts to promote engagements where requested, (viii) disseminate information to their networks, (ix) active participation in the T4 Community and its activities.
The shortlists, once announced, are final. In the exceptional cases where Finalists withdraw from the contest after the shortlists are announced, due to force majeure circumstances, they will not be removed from the shortlist, but they will not be considered for further stages of the contest.
Upon T4 Education’s request, Finalists will have to provide examples of evidence and letters of reference to support their nomination, and may also have to participate in any multimedia activities to showcase their work. T4 will be responsible for all charges related to the showcasing and promotion of the Contest.

Terms & Conditions for Winners

We define ‘Winners’ as those adjudged to have been voted as the recipient of any of the World Education Medals in any given year.

In addition to the Terms and Conditions for all Finalists, which have been accepted:

T4 Education awards the Winner with the World Education Medal for Students, World Education Medal for Educators or World Education Medal for Leaders accordingly. These are honorific titles, to amplify and give visibility to the work these individuals are carrying out, through various activities, with the final aim of uplifting education.
Winners of the World Education Medals will be invited to attend the official Medalist presentation in January 2026 in London. T4 Education will offer financial support to cover return flights and two nights’ accommodation, based on a means-tested assessment, for students, educators, and non-profit leaders. Winners are responsible for securing any necessary travel documentation, including passports and visas, and for complying with all travel and health regulations.
During the period of a year following the announcement, the Winner shall not conduct themselves (including by act of omission) in such a way as to bring education or T4 Education or HP Inc. into disrepute (as may be determined at the sole discretion of T4 Education).
The Winner must not use this honour, directly or indirectly, for any purpose that may bring the education sector into disrepute (as may be determined at the sole discretion of T4 Education) or for any illegal activity.
The Winner acknowledges that T4 Education has the right to publicise and broadcast the winner’s name, voice, and likeness, the fact that they won, and all materials incidental thereto.
Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms and Conditions, T4 Education reserves the right to require the winner to drop out the title they have been conferred with, if, at any point after the award of the corresponding Education Medal to the Winner, it is discovered that: (a) any of the nomination material was false or misleading in any way, (b) the Winner was not in fact eligible or (c) that any of these Terms and Conditions have otherwise been breached.
T4 Education reserves the right to terminate the Contest without awarding the Medal if no eligible winner is found or claims the Medal within the required time.

These Terms and Conditions are subject to modification by T4 Education in its sole discretion and will be binding upon all participants. Any change or modification will be updated on our website, which will apply from the date on which they are published.

This Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. Each of these Terms & Conditions is subject to applicable law.

If any Term or Condition or part-Term or Condition is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed deleted, however shall not affect the rest of these Terms and Conditions, in its validity and enforceability.

This Contest and these Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales, without regard to any conflicts of law principles. Any and all claims or disputes arising out of or in connection with this Contest or these Terms & Conditions shall be subject to non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Date of last amendment: July 18th 2025