Early careers professionals came together in sunny Brighton to celebrate achievement, share best practice and recognise outstanding contributions to the profession.
Our annual ISE Awards remain the UK's leading celebration of excellence in the recruitment and development of early talent, recognising the organisations and people who make a meaningful impact to drive the sector forward.
Award winners were announced at our flagship ISE Student Recruitment Conference, where delegates enjoyed sea views, blue skies and some of the hottest weather seen in years.
The vibrant setting reflected the energy of the Gala Dinner with winners announced by the hilarious Babatunde Aléshé who even managed to persuade ISE’s placement student, Kosmos Martins to join him for a rendition of Sweet Caroline.
Change for 2026
This year saw a major revamp to include several exciting new categories that recognise innovation, collaboration and impact across the whole student employment journey and experience.
From attraction and assessment through to development and retention, the winning entries demonstrated how organisations are evolving their approaches to meet changing student expectations, employer needs and workforce challenges.
Once again, the standard of entries was exceptionally high with 113 submissions. Following a rigorous judging process, 54 finalists were shortlisted, with 14 winners ultimately taking home the top honours.
Award winners
A huge congratulations to all of our winners, those highly commended and finalists. Among those coming out on top were insurance group Howden who walked away with three awards (Innovation in Attraction sponsored by Prospects, Sustainability and Social Impact sponsored by Cappfinity and Outstanding Emerging/Alternative Talent Programme sponsored by Neueda).
Meanwhile Lloyds Banking Group took the titles of Outstanding Schools and Colleges Engagement (sponsored by Visionpath) and Outstanding Pathways to Early Careers.
New for this year was Early Talent Changemaker of the Year (sponsored by Unseen), which went to Clare Power whose leadership has not only transformed Police Now, but challenged what many thought was not possible in early talent hiring in terms of fairness and access.
Nationwide Building Society took the crown for the Most Successful Early Careers Strategy (sponsored by Neurosight) for its compelling context and the cohesion between the impact of strategy against the organisation's goals. The Coca-Cola Company was awarded Highly Commended in the same category.
Successful entrants combined clear strategic thinking with strong evidence of outcomes. Judges were particularly impressed by organisations that could demonstrate not only what they had achieved, but also how their initiatives delivered lasting value.
The awards would not be possible without the support of our sponsors as well as our 17 Panel Chairs and 108 volunteer judges from across the ISE community, whose expertise, dedication and commitment helped ensure a fair, robust and highly respected awards process.
A big thank you to everyone involved and once again, congratulations to all our winners, finalists and highly commended organisations for their outstanding achievements.