How to enter the Better Planet Awards
A written report or a short video, one online form, and a deadline of Friday 23 April 2027. Here is exactly how it works.
The whole thing in four steps
Your students put together either a written report or a short video about their project.
We email to confirm we have received it.
A teacher fills in the online entry form and uploads it.
We let you know the outcome by 28 May 2027, whether or not you have won.
Step 1: Your students tell us about their project
Ask your students to tell us about something they are doing to promote recycling or sustainability at school. It might be your eco club, or any other group of students, and there is no minimum number and no maximum. The project can be one that has been running for years, or one they launch specially to enter.
They can tell us about it in one of two ways.
Neither is favoured over the other. Choose whichever shows the project best. A video filmed on a phone is absolutely fine, because we are judging the project and the way students tell its story, not the production values.
Whichever they choose, ask them to cover five things:
- What the problem was.
- What they decided to do about it.
- Who was involved, and who did what.
- What changed as a result.
- What they would do next.
Step 2: Permissions, please do not skip this
We would love to share what your students have done on our website and our social media. Before you submit, make sure you have parental permission for every student who appears in a photograph or a video.
We never publish students' names alongside photographs or video clips.
If you need one, you are welcome to use our permission form.
Step 3: A teacher submits the entry
Entries must be submitted by a member of school staff.
The form takes about ten minutes. It asks for your school's details, a named contact, a short summary of the project, and confirmation that you have the right permissions for any photographs or video. You then attach the report or the video.
If your video or photographs are too large to upload, send them to awards@betterplaneteducation.org.uk using WeTransfer or Smash. Put your school's name in the message, and tick the box on the form to tell us you have done so.
The deadline
Friday 23 April 2027
We cannot consider entries that arrive after this date, so do send yours as soon as it is ready. There is no advantage in waiting, and plenty of ways for a summer term to run away with you.
Common questions
Does it cost anything to enter?
No. Entering is free, as is everything Better Planet Education provides.
How many students need to be involved?
There is no minimum and no maximum. A group of four counts just as much as a whole year group.
Does the project have to be new?
Not at all. A project that has been running for three years is just as eligible as one started last week.
Our project did not go to plan. Should we still enter?
Yes, please do. An honest account of what went wrong and what your students learned from it is genuinely interesting to judge, and rarer than you would think.
Can we enter more than one project?
Yes, as long as each entry is about a genuinely different project. Please submit a separate form for each.
Can primary schools enter?
Not this year. The Better Planet Awards 2026–27 is for secondary schools in England.
Who will see our entry?
The judging panel and the Better Planet Education team. We may share photographs, video clips or extracts from winning and shortlisted entries on our website and social media, never with students' names attached and never without double-checking with the school first.
What can we spend the prize money on?
It is your school's to spend as it chooses. We would love to hear what you do with it.
When will we hear?
By Friday 28 May 2027. We contact every school that enters, whether or not it has won.
Who do we ask if we are still not sure?
Email awards@betterplaneteducation.org.uk. A real person will reply.
Ready when you are
Your students have done the work. This part takes about ten minutes.
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