Judging process
The awards process
The awards process below applies to the individual and group awards, however does not apply to the Volunteering Impact or Outstanding Contribution to Quality Management awards, which both follow separate processes.
How the CQI recruit judges
Three judges per category are recruited each year for the International Quality Awards. In each category, there will always be at least 1 judge who is new to the IQA process. Head Judges should have judged at least twice previously (in any category). We strive to ensure our judging panels are as diverse as possible, based on factors such as age, career stage, sector, gender, and location. All of our judges will have signed a copy of our Judging agreement and GDPR agreement prior to their involvement in the IQAs. Prior to judging, they meet for a kick-off call to agree their approach to the process.
Stage 1 - Shortlisting and consensus
Once entries are closed, members of the CQI staff team look over the entries to ensure they all meet the entry criteria for their relevant category. All eligible entries are then reviewed online by the judging panels, who score every entry against the criteria. A category’s judges will then meet for a consensus call to decided who they are shortlisting, based on the scores given. There will be no fewer than 2 and no more than 4 shortlisted entries per category.
Stage 2 - Interviews and consensus
Once judges have confirmed the shortlisted entries, CQI staff will arrange virtual interviews, which last 1 hour (or 1 hour 15 minutes for Quality Organisation of the Year). When all shortlisted entrants have confirmed their interviews, the CQI will announce the shortlist (this could include a News article, profiles on the CQI website, and posts of social media). Virtual interviews are held on MS Teams, and are recorded and transcribed. Judges complete written feedback forms and then submit them to the CQI within 3 working days of the interview. Once this process is complete for a category, judges will then meet and agree on their finalists, and submit them in writing to the CQI. Finalists and winners are communicated internally for the CQI Content and Marketing Teams to produce content for the build up to the awards ceremony; this may include media interviews and social media posts, as agreed to within the IQA Terms and Conditions. Marketing assets will also be shared with finalists to share.
Stage 3 - Award ceremony and winner announcements
All finalists will then be asked to attend the International Quality Awards, being held on 24th June 2027 as part of Quality Live. As per the Terms and Conditions of award entry, we ask that at least one representative of an organisation/shortlisted individuals are present at the awards ceremony (notwithstanding those who are unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances). The winners will be announced during the ceremony and not any earlier, and finalists and winners will then be announced on CQI online channels. Winners and finalists will be presented with their trophies and/or certificates during the ceremony. The CQI and relevant partners may be in contact after the awards ceremony for media comments/interviews and other content.
Managing conflicts of interest
In the case of a conflict of interest in the judging process, the CQI will act accordingly to ensure the legitimacy of the contest and to eliminate any conflict of interest as best as possible. When there is a judge who has a personal or professional relationship to an entrant (such as a being a colleague/manager or personal friendship etc), we will ask another qualified person to adjudicate, either in scoring the written application of the entrant, or standing in for the shortlisting interview. The judge with the conflict of interest will then not participate in the judging of the affected entry, and the additional qualified judge will take part in any consensus calls as necessary.
Have questions about the awards process?
Find answers to common questions about entering, judging and general questions about the International Quality Awards.
View frequently asked questions