For the first time, this year we are charging for entries. The fee is £100 per entry for the first five entries from a single institution, at which point a cap will be applied. So, whether your institution submits five or 25 entries, the total charge will not exceed £500. (Please note that no additional taxes are applicable.)

In line with THE company policy, entrants from countries designated by the World Bank as “low income” will not be charged. When an entry or entries are ready to submit, entrants from Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen should email theawardsarabworld@timeshighereducation.com to obtain a Voucher Code.

Our pricing model is designed to be fair to all entrants, and we hope that it will continue to produce the institutionally diverse shortlists we are proud to publish every year and which are crucial if these awards are to continue representing higher education across the Arab World as a whole.

THE Awards Arab World is a flagship event for us, but we have rarely done more than recoup our costs incurred over the full eight- or nine-month process. So, while we have avoided charging in the past, rising prices have made it necessary to introduce this modest fee to maintain our high standards and preserve the awards’ reputation as the “Oscars of higher education”.

Needless to say, the ethos behind our awards remains the same – 21 years and many thousands of entries have only strengthened our belief that groundbreaking, inspirational ideas can originate in institutions of all shapes and sizes, across the length and breadth of the region. We want to continue to unearth your brilliant stories and showcase the very best for as wide an audience as possible.

In practical terms, if your institution does not currently coordinate entries through a central team, your awards process might now require some additional oversight.

For our entry system to recognise that submissions are from a single institution, and therefore apply the price cap where necessary, your entries should be submitted via a single THE Awards Arab World account. If you do not usually submit all your entries via a nominated individual’s account, we recommend that you set up a new account with a dedicated email address and then give access only to the people who are coordinating, writing, editing and submitting your institution’s entries. This way, all important messaging relating to your entries should not get lost in a flood of unrelated correspondence, as it might do if you were to use, for example, a generic marketing department email address.

Rationalising your submissions process can keep your costs to a minimum and help you to coordinate and support entries.

Please note that entries must be paid for by credit or debit card at the point of submission. There will be no option to receive an invoice as we commence shortlisting soon after entry window closes, and a transaction needs to be complete in order for its entries to be considered.