We enlisted the help of the following judges to help us choose the most deserving winners:
As the Market Director for KPMG's Education and Skills practice, Justine is responsible for the development of KPMG's work in this sector, encompassing schools, 14-19, higher education, and, increasingly the wider skills agenda linked to Northern Powerhouse and devolution. Justine also leads KMPG's work with some of the largest education providers nationally as well as being at the forefront of KPMG's work in the skills space.
Dan heads up the education team at SMRS. In this intensely competitive higher education marketplace SMRS help universities tackle their communication and branding challenges, delivering strategic marketing campaigns and strategic consultancy projects. Dan has been working in Higher Education for 18 years and provides insight and sector expertise to SMRS’s University clients. He has worked with both UK and International universities and has most recently created The Know (a forum through which HE’s Marketing leaders can connect and collaborate) and Firsthand (a campaign to share the best transformational stories from UK HE).
As the Postgraduate Students' Officer at UCL Students' Union, Jim is responsible for all campaigns around the academic, social, and pastoral issues for postgraduate students at UCL. Prior to this role, Jim himself was a Masters student studying Law at UCL, and before that worked in audit at PwC.
Rob is the Head of Skills at BBSRC and has strategic and operational oversight of BBSRC’s investments into doctoral training, working closely with the academic and industrial bioscience research communities, the UKRI Councils and other stakeholders. Prior to this, Rob completed his PhD and five years as a postdoctoral researcher in genetics.
Heading up the insights and student surveys portfolio at Advance HE, Jonathan leads the reporting and coverage of the high profile Student Academic Experience Survey (co-published with the Higher Education Policy Institute), and is responsible for the overall strategy for the UK Engagement Survey as well as the Postgraduate Taught and Research Experience Surveys (PTES and PRES). Jonathan is also working across the sector collaborating on the use of the UK Engagement Survey within Learning Gain pilots.
With over 20 years experience in the Postgraduate Education sector, Andy co-founded FindAUniversity back in 2001 after graduating from the University of Sheffield with an MSc in Information Management. Involved in all aspects of the business from programming to marketing, Andy helped to grow FindAUniversity from a couple of desks in a conservatory to one of the most recognised international brands in postgraduate student recruitment.
FindAMasters.com and FindAPhD.com are used by over 900 universities from 50 countries, providing a comprehensive source of global study opportunities. FindAUniversity’s growing events business includes running the UK’s busiest postgraduate fairs & marketing conferences for HE professionals.
Andy is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and is an investor in a number of other businesses within the sector.