National search to find Teacher of the Year goes live

Teachers from a variety of educational institutions are eligible for the award including primary, secondary, higher education and early years teachers

Nominations are now open in a national Teacher of the Year competition. Led by fintech Miconex and sponsored by group collecting platform GiftRound, the competition has £1250 in local gift cards as the prize.

The teacher who is crowned as Teacher of the Year, and their school, will each win a £500 Town & City Gift Card or Scotland Loves Local Gift Card. One person who nominated the Teacher of the Year will also win a £250 local gift card.

It is free for people to nominate their Teacher of the Year, and all types of teachers are eligible including primary and secondary school teachers, higher education teachers, early years teachers and special educational needs teachers in the UK. A separate Teacher of the Year competition will run in Ireland.

Running from 13th May until 31st August, teachers nominated in the Teacher of the Year competition will be celebrated through press stories. Educational institutions are being encouraged to share the competition with families on their newsletters. The Teacher of the Year will be announced in September 2024.

Miconex’s local gift cards can be spent with local businesses, encouraging a ‘shop local’ ethos and locking spend into local economies.

Colin Munro is the managing director of Miconex and said: “At Miconex we work alongside many educational institutions who use our local gift cards in innovative ways to support students, incentivise students, or reward staff, giving students and staff ultimate local choice while positively impacting their community.

“Schools, colleges and universities are at the heart of our communities, and with the Teacher of the Year competition, we’re shining a light on the positive impact that educational institutions and teachers have on students, families and the wider community.”

The Teacher of the Year competition is sponsored by group collecting platform GiftRound. Founded in 2018, GiftRound gives people an easy way to collect money for various occasions, including end of term gifts. Town & City Gift Cards are available to buy on the GiftRound store.

Craig Forsythe, CEO & founder at GiftRound, said: “We’re delighted to sponsor the Teacher of the Year competition so we can bring recognition to the many hard working teachers across the UK and Ireland. Teachers’ gifts are amongst the most popular collections on GiftRound so we know how appreciated teachers are by parents and children. We hope that people take this opportunity to nominate a teacher that has made a positive impact on their child’s education or their school community, and we look forward to celebrating with the winner of the Teacher of the Year in September.”

Nominate a teacher in the Teacher of the Year competition at teacheroftheyear.co.uk