JUDGING has taken place in the prestigious Newsquest Golden Apple Awards - as organisers look forward to celebrating all the best of education in the county.

The Golden Apple Awards 2024 will celebrate all the best of education throughout the county and will this year be held on Thursday, October 10 at the Castle Green Hotel, Kendal.

Following hundreds of nominations from right across Cumbria, judges sat down to sift through all of the amazing entries ahead of the shortlist being announced in the near future.

Chair of Judges, Cherry Tingle, CEO of Energy Coast UTC: "It was a great pleasure, and honour, to judge this year’s Golden Apple Education Awards for Cumbria.

"This year we had almost 250 nominations in 13 different categories – with 46 nominations in one category alone! The nominations covered all areas of education and we had nominations from a range of staff, students, parents and members of the public.

"It was very humbling, but also inspiring, to see so many nominations of such incredibly high quality. There are so many people doing such wonderful things in our county.

"Thank you to the judges, to Newsquest, to people who nominated others, but most of all to every single nominee – you do an amazing job.

"Judging was incredibly difficult and anyone shortlisted as a finalist should be very proud indeed."

The awards are once again being ran in partnership with headline sponsors, The University of Cumbria, with category sponsors including Cumbria Education Trust, Energy Coast UTC, Lakes College West Cumbria, Furness College, BAE and NRL.

Dr Ruth Harrison-Palmer, director of the University of Cumbria’s Institute of Education, Arts and Society, said: “It is always an honour to judge these county-wide awards and together as a panel we continue to enjoy reading the nominations, of which there has been a record-breaking number this year.

“It is such a delight and so heart-warming to hear of the fantastic work, opportunities, impact and achievements being made daily in and across the county of Cumbria and beyond that are transforming and enriching the lives of learners, young people and children.

“Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to consider and submit entries. At the university, we’re looking forward to sharing in the celebrations with everyone at the awards evening later this year.”