Submissions are welcome from across COSLA’s member councils and their partnerships, although a maximum limit of THREE applications per council per category will be allowed.

Where the application is from a partnership, a lead Council should be nominated to submit the application on its behalf.

Yes. You are welcome to apply to the awards regarding a project that you have put forward previously, provided that it did not win a COSLA Excellence Award in a previous year.

Your application can relate to a project or work of any size. We’ll make our decision based on how successfully you have met your objectives. We’re not assessing the scale of your project but the approach you have taken and the impact that you have had. However, projects that have made a substantial difference will inevitably score highly; and scalability (as opposed to scale) may be something our judges look at when comparing projects.

Your application can relate to changes or improvements that are currently taking place, or to a project that has been completed but is now delivering results. However, it’s very important to cover both innovation and the actual or projected impact this will deliver.

There is a max word count for the Executive Summary of 200 words. For others, we’d advise to be as focused and precise as possible in the information that you provide.

We assess your project through the application form alone and so it's important to remember that assessors don’t know your organisation or project.

We’ll get in touch and ask you to clarify anything that is not clear, so please keep your answers concise and relevant as possible.

Using plain English and the avoidance of acronyms/jargon will help ensure we can process your application quickly and with a clear understanding of your project.

The awards are limited to strictly 3 applications per category per organisation.

An application for the same project/team cannot be submitted to more than one category in a single year.

We will contact you if you are selected as a finalist, to arrange the presentation to the judges, and will be on hand to answer any questions.

Please note: we will only respond using the email address you supply on your application form, so please ensure this is accurate.

No, it’s completely free to apply. Short listed applicants are also offered complementary tickets for the awards ceremony.

No, all applications need to be submitted using our application form.

The main online application form will be made available on our website on Monday 8th April, 2024. Click here to find out more and apply.

If you would prefer to use a word document version of the form, or need help completing the online application form, please email christine@cosla.gov.uk

**The extended deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 10th June 2024**

Judging will take place over the summer, shortlisting to a final three in each category.