We entered the Investors in People 2025 Awards because it was an opportunity to test and showcase how we support our people across the globe, and to learn where and how we can develop even further. Creating a partnership with Investors in People enabled us to strengthen the name of QS in external markets through recognition from a respected international programme, while also providing a structured benchmarking and self-assessment of our employee offering against international best practice.
The awards process gives us expert feedback that we have used to drive continuous improvement, and that external validation supports our employee value proposition. In turn, this helps us attract and retain talent and gives QS a clear competitive advantage. Entering was also about boosting employee morale by celebrating our people-centered work and demonstrating our ongoing commitment to colleague development and wellbeing.
Crucially, we wanted to hear more directly from QSers. As part of the entry, we ran a global survey which attracted 70% participation and we held focus group discussions involving 125 colleagues across all levels, business units and regions, ensuring the submission reflected the voice of our workforce globally.
Overall, the Awards provided a credible, employee-informed platform to validate our strengths, identify opportunities, and raise QS’s profile as an employer of choice.
Being shortlisted for an Investors in People 2025 Award has created meaningful recognition for the deliberate work of our company in building a supportive, values-driven workplace. For the People team it has been energising: it validates our focus on colleague development, engagement and wellbeing and shows that those efforts are visible and valued beyond QS. Across the organisation the shortlisting has boosted morale and pride, reinforcing the voice colleagues shared during our entry process across all levels, divisions and geographies.
Investors in People’s feedback was affirming and constructive. The feedback we received acknowledged our clear commitment to empowering and valuing people, and highlighted the strong, impactful examples we provided around staff development and engagement. It also encouraged us to strengthen our story with more measurable outcomes and to hone in direct staff testimonials or short case studies to bring colleague experiences to life. We’ve taken those suggestions on board and are already acting on them.
To build more robust evidence of impact, we are enhancing our outcome-tracking and reporting. In line with that work, we voluntarily report our gender pay gap and have seen sustained progress: in the last two years we achieved more than a 10% reduction in both our median and mean pay gap, at 11.6 and 10.3 percentage points respectively, and the proportion of women in the upper pay quartile increased by 6% over the same period. These improvements show that our targeted, consistent action delivers real change. We are also expanding the data we collect on retention, employee satisfaction and performance, through our recent migration to Workleap Officevibe.
For QS, award shortlisting adds external credibility and elevates our employer brand globally. Beyond recognition, expert feedback will drive practical changes, share learning across the business and keep fairness and opportunity central to our People strategy so colleagues worldwide.
Winning an Investors in People 2025 Award would be powerful external validation that QS meets the high standards of IIP. More importantly, winning would be a public commitment to our People First approach and the values that guide everything we do. It would recognise how we live our values of being independent in our thinking, ambitious in our goals, and helpful to colleagues and customers.
It would also recognise our authenticity in staying true to our mission: supporting people anywhere in the world to realise their career goals through higher education and make a meaningful contribution to society.
For colleagues, the award would be a source of pride and motivation, reinforcing our goal to enable our people to bring the best of QS to our customers every day. Our People team has focused this year on celebrating the success of QSers, and supporting continuous learning to improve what we do every day. This award would embody our collective ambition to realise this and set standards that are world-leading. Such recognition helps embed the behaviours we value, strengthens morale, and encourages the development and accountability that deliver real service and impact across the organisation.
Externally, the accolade would elevate our employer brand in global markets, helping us attract and retain talented team members who share our values and mission. It would underline that our commitment to people translates into quality outcomes for customers, partners and stakeholders, supporting our ambition for transformative impact at scale.
Winning would also create momentum to accelerate practical improvements: scaling successful programmes, deepening how we measure outcomes, and broadening the stories we tell about people development and impact. Above all, it would be a clear signal that QS is committed to continuous improvement, keeping fairness and opportunity at the heart of our People strategy so that everyone can grow and be rewarded for their contribution.
Being part of the Investors in People community is highly important to QS. Investors in People is a globally renowned organisation whose high standards and credibility help validate and strengthen our people practices.
Investors in People offers more than accreditation for us, it’s a partnership. The feedback and benchmarking it provides are invaluable for enhancing our employee offerings and driving continuous improvement. That external insight helps us refine learning, wellbeing and development programmes so colleagues can grow and perform at their best.
The accreditation’s global nature was also a key factor for us when researching a partnership. As a truly international organisation, we sought an organisation that was renowned internationally and that reflects our global impact rather than a regional endorsement.
Engaging in Investors in People awards and events gives us opportunities to share learning, benchmark against peers, celebrate our people, and raise our employer brand internationally. Participation supports our aim to enable our people to bring the best of QS to our customers every day and helps us to deliver transformative impact at scale.
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