Deadline: June 27, 2026
Applications are open for the WISE Prize for Education 2026-2027. A global award program that identifies outstanding education innovations and provides the funding, mentorship, and development support they need to reach scale. The WISE Prize for Education 2026–2027 cycle centers on a single, unified challenge.
The Prize is not a conventional award. Every finalist enters a structured 12-month development program — receiving dedicated funding, expert mentorship, and hands-on support to develop their solution. The $1 million prize pool is awarded at the WISE 13 Summit at the close of that development year, not at the point of selection.
Priority Areas
Applications must address the challenge of delivering significant and measurable improvements in learning and/or life outcomes and must address at least one of these five priority areas.
- Reach to marginalized and underserved learners: Particularly in fragile and crisis-affected contexts where conventional education systems are absent, disrupted, or inequitable.
- Effective and responsible use of AI and disruptive technologies: Solutions that harness new technologies in ways that are genuinely effective, contextually grounded, and ethically sound.
- Culture and language as a foundation for identity, belonging, and engagement: Solutions that place cultural and linguistic identity at the center of how learning is designed and delivered.
- Strengthening core skills: literacy, numeracy, and foundational competencies: Practical approaches that deliver measurable improvements in the skills learners need to access further education and opportunity.
- Support to learner wellbeing: mental, emotional, and physical: Solutions that recognize the whole learner and address the conditions — inside and outside the classroom — that affect the ability to learn.
Funding
- Finalist Funding ($100–125K USD): Each finalist receives between $100,000–$125,000 USD to develop their solution into a minimum viable product over 12 months, alongside tailored mentorship and coaching.
- Prize Fund ($1,000,000 USD): A $1 million prize pool is split across the top three winners at WISE 13 to support the further scale and evidence-generation of their solutions.
Eligibility
- Open to organizations anywhere in the world.
- Individuals are not eligible to apply.
Eligible Organisation Types
- Universities, colleges, and academic networks
- Schools and school networks
- Civil society and community organizations
- Government and public agencies
- International and intergovernmental agencies
- Private-sector companies
- Non-profit entities
Application
Submissions are made via the WISE Prize application portal. All submitted applications are reviewed and graded by the WISE team.
For more information, visit WISE Prize for Education.
