Chief Adjudicators reports

In 2021, 86 submissions were received for the Sword of Honour awards and 80 (93%) of these were adjudged to have reached the pass standard. There is no quota of Swords to be awarded and nor will there be in future years.

If every applicant meets the minimum criteria, every applicant will be awarded a Sword of Honour.

A maximum of 60 marks are available for the written aspect of the Sword of Honour application. Applicants must score a minimum of 45 marks to remain eligible with a minimum of two individual responses being scored within the top mark band (11-15 marks). Submissions become ineligible for a Sword of Honour should any individual responses be scored within the lower mark band (0-5 marks). With the pass standard set high (45 out of 60), it is important to score well on each question. One or two weak answers will put the pass standard out of reach.

As in previous years, the highest-scoring applicants answered all aspects of each question and adhered closely to the marking scheme and it was evident that the advice to read the prior year’s Chief Adjudicator’s Report had been taken. This allowed them to give a much more complete answer and so access the top mark band for each question. Notwithstanding this improvement, applicants are again reminded to read the Chief Adjudicator’s Report from the previous year prior to completing the application as this report provides helpful insight, comments, and direction on what is required when completing the application; the webinar hosted earlier this year and available online is another helpful guide.

In 2021, 15 submissions were received for the Globe of Honour awards and 73% of these were adjudged and reached the pass standard.

There is no quota of Globes to be awarded and nor will there be in future years. All applicants who meet the minimum criteria required will be awarded a Globe of Honour.

2021 has again been another challenging year. While the impacts of the global pandemic have varied by country and sometimes company/project, it still continued to impact on every sector, size and type of business. Let’s hope 2022 is more positive for everyone concerned.

It is therefore commendable that the quality of all Globe submissions in 2021 were overall of a high standard. However due to the slightly higher cohort of applications, there was a wider range of quality in the submissions. Due to the relatively small number of Globe applications compared to the Sword of Honour, the report is limited in scope. However, reference to the Sword of Honour Chief Adjudicator’s Report which also provides valuable insight into how to make a good submission is applicable to both award schemes.