The 2025 Excellence in Education Awards have once again highlighted South Africa’s growing appetite for innovation in the classroom, celebrating educators and students who are redefining how learning and creativity merge through technology.
Hosted by iStore Education, this year’s awards attracted a record 225 submissions from 32 schools across five provinces, with 62 projects shortlisted for international review. The result is a showcase of ingenuity that reflects how technology is being used not as a gimmick, but as a genuine tool for learning transformation.
The finalists, announced on 20 October, will gather at the Awards Evening on 5 November to discover the overall winners across categories such as Creative Excellence, Curriculum Excellence, and Tech Excellence, as well as the Combined Category for senior learners.
A global panel with local impact
Judging was handled by a panel of Apple in Education specialists from around the world, including Alicia Bankhofer (Austria), Daniel Sundaram (India), Laura Wright (Netherlands), Jacob Woolcock (UK), Mark Andersen (UK), and Bronwyn Desjardins (Mauritius).
UK-based Apple educator Jacob Woolcock praised the quality of South African entries:
“I’ve spent a very enjoyable time going through the entries in the Tech Excellence category and I am absolutely blown away by the creativity and passion shared by these students.”
Similarly, Desjardins described the judging process as “an absolute joy”, adding that many projects demonstrated “deeply moving and thoughtful uses of Apple technology, filled with originality and purpose.”
Creativity across the curriculum
Entries ranged from animated storytelling projects to digital science experiments and data-driven sustainability studies. Among the younger finalists were Rallim Preparatory’s retelling of “The Three Little Pigs”, Dorothea Special School’s “Superheroes Adventure”, and Parklands College’s “Future Farming: From Seeds to Sales”, each demonstrating how Apple tools like iPad and BookCreator can turn ideas into interactive experiences.
Older learners showed equal flair. The Durban Girls College team, with their iPad-based curriculum project iPlanet, and St John’s College’s StudyPal app reflected how secondary schools are embracing design thinking, coding and content creation as core parts of learning.
Recognition that inspires innovation
The Excellence in Education Awards don’t just recognise achievement; they encourage experimentation and collaboration across schools. As part of the prize, winning teachers will receive iPads, along with two student collaborators per project — a gesture that reinforces the link between access to tools and creative confidence.
According to iStore Education, the continued growth of the competition shows that South African classrooms are not merely adopting technology but reshaping how it’s used. From stop-motion animations to student-built apps, the finalists are proof that meaningful learning happens when curiosity meets capability.