Recognition with rules.
What The HE Sector Awards is, the mandate it answers to, and — just as deliberately — what it is not.
“The awards program must remain evidence-based, transparent and independently judged.”
The founding principle of The HE Sector Awards
A platform built to honour the sector.
The HE Sector Awards is a national and international awards platform recognising excellence, leadership, innovation and impact across higher education. It exists for providers, leaders, academics, researchers, staff and students.
It is part of the HE Sector family within the CAQA Groups ecosystem — alongside The HE Sector, the family’s publication, and the HE Sector Directory. Category and criteria design draws on the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021, the benchmark the sector already answers to.
Who the awards are for.
Providers, leaders, academics, researchers, staff and students — the whole ecosystem of higher education, institutional and individual, national and international.
Explore the institutional and individual category frameworks, or see how judging is kept independent.
What The HE Sector Awards does not provide.
Clear boundaries protect the value of the recognition. These belong elsewhere in the family — or nowhere at all.
- General higher education news. Sector news and analysis belong to The HE Sector, the family's publication.
- Commercial directory listings. Provider and specialist listings belong to the HE Sector Directory.
- Regulatory consulting. TEQSA, HESF and registration advisory is the work of AHEG, the family's higher education consultancy.
- Course development. The awards platform recognises courses; it does not build them.
- Provider rankings sold as awards. No ranking products dressed up as honours.
- Guaranteed awards or paid winner status. Recognition here cannot be bought. Sponsorship never influences results.
Sector news lives with The HE Sector. Listings live with the HE Sector Directory. Consulting lives with AHEG. All are reachable through the CAQA Groups family launcher at the top of this page.
Higher education status
The HE Sector Awards is an independent, evidence-based recognition program. It is not a higher education provider, university, institute or regulator, and does not confer academic qualifications, registration or accreditation. Winning, entering or being shortlisted for an award does not amount to registration, accreditation or a regulatory approval of any kind.
Part of the CAQA Groups family — a Career Calling International initiative (ABN 53 162 651 238). This affiliation is a corporate/marketing relationship only and does not make CAQA, The HE Sector Awards or any related brand a registered higher education provider, university, institute or regulator.