Award Nomination Form Template (UK)
Updated on 9 August 2026
An award nomination form is submitted by someone other than the candidate: a colleague, manager, or client puts a name forward for recognition. That's a materially different process from a self-submitted award application, because the nomination collects personal information about someone who may not know it's being submitted at all — a situation UK GDPR addresses directly.
The common free version of this form is just a nomination text box. This template adds what the process actually needs: who is nominating, their relationship to the nominee, any conflict of interest, and a UK GDPR notice covering information collected about a third party.
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Award Nomination Form
This nomination is submitted to on for the .
Award criteria
- Judging criteria:
- Submission deadline:
Nominator
- Name:
- Role / department:
- Relationship to nominee:
Conflict-of-interest disclosure:
Nominee
- Name:
- Role / department:
Nomination narrative
Data notice
This nomination includes personal information about the nominee submitted by someone other than the nominee. will notify the nominee that this information was collected, and its purpose, within a reasonable time consistent with Article 14 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation — at the latest by the time they become a finalist. This information will be used for judging purposes and retained for .
Nominator
Date:
Record who is nominating, not just who is nominated
A nomination is only as credible as its source. Recording the nominator's name, role, and relationship to the nominee lets a judging panel weigh the nomination appropriately.
Ask about conflicts of interest directly
A manager nominating a direct report, or a nominator with a personal relationship to the nominee, isn't automatically disqualifying — but disclosing it lets the judging panel account for it and keeps the process defensible.
Give the nominee a proper Article 14 notice
UK GDPR Article 14 specifically covers personal data collected about someone from a third party rather than from the person themselves: the organisation generally must tell the nominee what data was collected, the purpose, the legal basis, and the source, within a reasonable time and at the latest within one month, or at first contact if the data will be used to communicate with them sooner. A nomination process that never tells the nominee any of this is exactly the situation Article 14 is meant to cover.
In practice, this usually means notifying the nominee promptly — for example, as soon as they become a finalist — rather than waiting until a public announcement, and explaining plainly that they were nominated, by the process (not necessarily by whom, if the nominator asked for confidentiality), and how the resulting data will be used.
Allow self-nomination as an explicit choice, not a workaround
Some programmes allow a candidate to nominate themselves through the same form; others don't. Stating the rule explicitly avoids the odd case of someone technically completing a 'nomination' about themselves when the programme never intended that route.
Judge on substance, not on volume
A candidate on a large, vocal team will naturally attract more nominations than an equally deserving candidate on a small or quiet one. Judging on the strongest nomination narrative against the published criteria — not on how many nominations were received — keeps the process aligned with its actual purpose.
Decide how multiple nominations for the same person are handled
Popular candidates often receive more than one nomination in a cycle. Deciding upfront whether these are merged, treated as a supporting signal for the strongest narrative, or simply deduplicated avoids an inconsistent, ad hoc decision when it actually happens.
Set a retention period for unsuccessful nominations
Because a nomination form holds personal data about someone who didn't submit it, a clear retention and disposal practice matters: how long unsuccessful nominations are kept, who can access them, and when they're deleted. A stated retention period, rather than nominations simply accumulating, is both good data hygiene and consistent with UK GDPR's storage-limitation principle.
Section-by-section guide
- Nominator details
- Identifies who is submitting the nomination and their relationship to the nominee.
- Conflict of interest
- Asks the nominator to disclose any personal or reporting relationship that could affect impartiality.
- Nominee details
- Identifies the person being nominated.
- Nomination narrative
- The case for the nomination, matched to the published judging criteria.
- Article 14 data notice
- States when and how the nominee will be told their data was collected, consistent with UK GDPR Article 14.
UK compliance notes
Give the nominee an Article 14 notice
Where personal data about someone is collected from a third party rather than from them directly, UK GDPR generally requires telling the data subject the purpose, legal basis and source within a reasonable time, at the latest within one month or at first contact.
ICO / UK GDPR — Article 14
How to complete the nomination
- Add nominator details. Enter the nominator's name, role and relationship to the nominee.
- Disclose any conflict of interest. State any reporting or personal relationship that could affect impartiality.
- Add nominee details. Enter the name and role of the person being nominated.
- Write the nomination narrative. Explain the case for the nomination against the published judging criteria.
Frequently asked questions
Can someone nominate themselves using this form?
Only if the programme explicitly allows it. This template includes a self-nomination toggle so the rule is stated on the form rather than left ambiguous.
Do we have to tell the nominee they've been nominated?
UK GDPR Article 14 generally requires telling someone whose personal data was collected from a third party, within a reasonable time and at the latest within one month, unless a specific exemption applies. In practice, notifying the nominee once they become a finalist is a common way to meet this.
Does the nominator's identity have to be disclosed to the nominee?
Not necessarily — you can tell the nominee they were nominated and how the data will be used without naming the nominator, particularly if confidentiality was requested, though this depends on the specifics of your process and any conflicting disclosure obligations.
Does a nominator need to disclose a personal relationship with the nominee?
Yes. It doesn't disqualify the nomination, but disclosing it lets the judging panel weigh the nomination appropriately.
Should the candidate with the most nominations automatically win?
No. Judge on the substance of the strongest nomination narrative against the published criteria, not on how many nominations were submitted.
How long should we keep nomination records for candidates who don't win?
Set a stated retention period rather than letting nominations accumulate indefinitely. This is both good data hygiene and consistent with UK GDPR's storage-limitation principle.
What if a manager wants to nominate their own direct report?
That's not automatically a problem, but it should be disclosed as a conflict of interest so the judging panel can weigh the nomination with that relationship in mind, rather than the relationship only coming to light after a decision is made.
Can the nominee object to being nominated?
Yes — being nominated doesn't obligate anyone to take part, and a nominee who would rather not be considered should be able to say so and have the nomination withdrawn without any negative consequence.
Do we need a separate nomination form for each award category?
It's usually clearer to use one form per award, since the judging criteria and eligibility rules can differ between categories, and a shared form risks a nominator applying the wrong criteria to the wrong award.
Related templates
Disclaimer
This template and guide are for general information only. They are not legal or data-protection advice, and no solicitor or the ICO has reviewed or approved them. Confirm your organisation's own UK GDPR obligations for information collected about a third party before using this form.
