Application assessment process

Please note: Applications for the Gold Award 2008 competition are now closed

The assessment of applications begins after the closing date of the competition and is undertaken by a panel of judges, theme experts, and champions.

A number of steps are followed during the assessment process before eventual winners can be announced.

The theme experts and champions undertake an initial assessment of each application.  A list of the better applications is presented to the panel of judges who consider their merits in turn and draw up a short-list of up to six applications per theme.  Short-listed entrants are known as finalists.

Each finalist the hosts a site visit to give judges and experts an opportunity to scruitinise the assertions made in applications, investigate the submitted approaches in more detail, and meet some of the people behind the cutting-edge work.

Winners are then decided based on all of the collated evidence - application forms, initial assessments, and assessment visits.  Up to three winners per theme are selected.

An award ceremony is held for winners, finalists, and guests from across Government, social housing, and other relevant sectors to attend.  This ceremony officially marks the beginning of the winners' knowledge sharing programme.

Refer to the application guide for a more comprehensive description of the assessment process.

The knowledge sharing page provides more information on how winners are sharing their best practice across the housing sector and ways in which other housing associations can get involved.