Awards 2025 FAQs 

Nominations are open from Monday 10th March at midday (the first working day after International Women’s Day!) until Friday 2nd May at midday.

We will announce the Shortlist on Wednesday 3rd September. That day, we will email every nominee with the results.

For ten out of the eleven categories, the key under-lying test is ‘are they working in defence of the United Kingdom?’ If yes, that’s fine. They don’t have to be a UK citizen to qualify.  

The eleventh category, the International Award, is open to any individual women or female groups involved in the defence of their own country outside of the UK.

Please note that Winners of any category are excluded from nominations for any Women in Defence UK award for 2 years.

Anyone can nominate an individual or team, however, entries will not be accepted from the partner, spouse or other close family member of a nominee.

Yes, you should make sure that you have consent from your chosen nominee or point of contact for a team, and that the individual, and all members of the relevant team, are happy for their personal data to be processed by Women in Defence UK and its partners for the purposes of the Awards.

The following categories are open to individual women only:

• Emerging Talent

• Innovation and Sustainability

• Inspirational

• Most Collaborative

• Outstanding Contribution

• Resolute Spirit

• Unsung Heroines

Two of the categories are open to individuals of any gender and/or teams or groups:

• Equity of Opportunity

• Champion for Maximising Talent

The International Award is open to individual women and female groups who are working in defence of their own country.

The Inclusive Teamwork category is only open to teams.

Yes you can. There is no limit on how many nominations you can submit, but you can’t submit essentially the same citation for different categories. Please choose one category for one nomination – no ‘hedging your bets’! If we think the citation would be a better fit in another category, we will move it and let you know.

Nominating someone is simple, just go to the Women in Defence 2025 Awards Nomination Proforma but we advise that you read this first!     

To nominate, follow these easy steps on the form:   

1. Provide the contact details of your nominee, please note the need to confirm that you have their agreement to share their details.    
2. Tell us briefly why you think they deserve to be nominated (the citation part of the nomination form).   
3. Provide your own contact details. 

The citation part of the nomination form is broken down into three elements:    

1. An overview of why you are nominating this individual or team (maximum of 200 words).   
2. An explanation of how they have demonstrated the criteria for this award category (maximum of 200 words). The criteria for each award category can be found here.   
3. Examples of the results they have achieved as supporting evidence (maximum of 200 words).   

You should only include information that is up to the classification of ‘Official’. Information that is ‘Official Sensitive’ or higher must not be included.

AI can be used to create all or part of the citation. If used, it is the nominator’s personal responsibility to ensure that all company or organisational security, privacy and information management protocols have been followed. We ask for transparency if any AI has been used – you will see a question as part of the nomination procedure. As with all citations, however they are written, we also ask nominators to verify that the activities, actions and impact of those actions as described in the citation are factually accurate.

The use of AI will not be included in the citation pack that goes to the judges.

Please remember that the citation must reflect a true and accurate account of the attributes, achievements and impact of the actions of the individual or team. The nominator will be asked to verify this is the case.

Even if the form allows you to enter more words, the citation sent for judging will be shortened if it exceeds this limit, which could mean that it ends mid-sentence.

The judges refer to the category criteria when judging submissions. They look to see how the activity/behaviour/impact meets the criteria for each category.

The key is to capture their attention early, be concise and provide context. It may be obvious to you why an achievement is so worthy of recognition, but our judges may not have the same background or experience so please explain the significance.   

Providing context to the citation (i.e. sphere of work, day to day tasks, key challenges, etc.), and tangible evidence of the outcome or effect that this had on others will strengthen the nomination hugely. Our judges may not be familiar with all parts of the defence enterprise so avoid, or at the very least explain, acronyms.  

As many as you can add! Great evidence helps the judges to decide between candidates. Don’t forget to avoid acronyms!

We will email you and your nominee as soon as we’ve processed the nomination. This will usually be within three working days of receipt, although as the volume of nominations increases towards the end of the nominations window, this can take a few days longer. If you are at all concerned, please email us on awards@womenindefenceuk.co.uk

So that we can reach with you with any queries, please supply your telephone number, email address and postal address.  We need the same information where possible for your nominee.

Please email us at awards@womenindefenceuk.co.uk and we will be able to help.

Don’t worry, during processing we go through every submission and ensure it is in the most appropriate category. If we decide to change the category of your nomination, we will let both you and your nominee know via email.

If your nominee does not agree to publicity, they must inform Women in Defence UK as soon as they are notified of their nomination by emailing us at

awards@womenindefenceuk.co.uk. Their preferences won’t be shared with any judging panel and will not affect their chances of reaching the shortlist or being selected to be a finalist.

Please contact us at awards@womenindefenceuk.co.uk