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Student Staff Awards 2026

Wednesday 20 May 2026
8 student staff winners stood posing together with their certificates.

Photo taken by @carlphotouk Carl Goodwin

Congratulations to all our Student Staff Award winners

On Tuesday 12 May, LSE Recruitment and Admissions hosted their annual award ceremony, ‘The Student Staff Awards 2026’. The event recognised and celebrated the achievements of LSE student staff who have supported Student Marketing, Recruitment, Study Abroad and Widening Participation activities as Student Ambassadors, Mentors, Tutors, Content Creators and Bloggers.

The contribution of these students is invaluable to LSE’s Recruitment and Admissions activities. As representatives of LSE, they share first-hand insights, information and guidance, helping to inspire future generations of LSE students from the widest range of backgrounds, both in the UK and globally. They also contribute to the School’s Access and Participation Plan to open opportunities where they might not otherwise be available.

The Awards

A total of 62 students were nominated across ten categories by staff, participants on Widening Participation programmes and in the case of the ‘Student Staff Choice Award’, by fellow student staff. The awards were presented at a small internal celebration, with a Welcome from Simon Peatfield, Interim Director of Recruitment and Admissions.

The Winners

The below students were successfully selected as winners of the following awards:

  • Student Ambassador Outstanding Contribution to Widening Participation - Waiz Khan, Year 2, BSc Politics
  • Student Ambassador Outstanding Contribution to Student Recruitment and Study Abroad - Jaiden Thomas, Year 2, BA History
  • Postgraduate Student Ambassador Outstanding Contribution - Hugo Coulon, MSc Accounting and Finance
  • Pathways to Law Mentor Outstanding Contribution - Elif Bilek, Year 2, LLB Law
  • Pathways to Banking and Finance Mentor Outstanding Contribution - Ethan Paynter, Year 2, BSc Economics
  • Thrive Mentor Outstanding Contribution - Nathan Ofosu Forson, Year 2, LLB Law
  • Future Maths Tutor Outstanding Contribution - Ella Wong, Year 1, BSc Economics and Economic History
  • Student Blogger of the Year - Yvonne Cho, LSE General Course
  • Student Content Creator of the Year - Indira Ray, Year 3, BSc Psychological and Behavioural Science
  • Student Staff Choice Award - Mazen Makki, Year 4, BSc Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Indira Ray was awarded the Content Creator of the Year Award for the second year in a row, having been selected winner for the same award in 2025. She received two glowing nominations, one of which reads,

“Indira Ray is the most prolific and dare I say most enthusiastic Student Content Creator we've ever had at LSE. Her bread and butter is producing incredibly high-quality video content on complex research from the institution and high-profile events and making these topics accessible to lay audiences on social media. This is no small feat, and Indira always does this with creativity and enthusiasm. I'm constantly bowled over by her skill and, as she is now about to graduate, I can think of nobody more deserving of this award.”

Content creator of the year posing with a certificate.

Photos taken by @carlphotouk Carl Goodwin

Nathan Ofosu Forson was awarded the Thrive Mentor Outstanding Contribution Award and received two heartfelt nominations for his contributions to LSE Thrive- a free, sustained 10-month access programme for Year 12 students of Black heritage who live in or close to London and are interested in applying to study at LSE.

“Nathan is an absolute superstar - he brings so much energy to the work we do and has helped us to re-design sessions such as the ACSprentice session at our third Thrive campus visit last year. He has grown in confidence in his role and consistently brings energy and initiative to all the events. He makes our participants feel welcome with engaging icebreakers and has been a role model to new and continuing mentors!”

Nathan responded to winning the award with heartfelt words about his experience of being a Thrive Mentor,

“I love being a Thrive Mentor because it has not only helped me grow personally but also allowed me to help the next generation of students grow too. To be even a comma in another underrepresented student’s story, helping them get to that next stage, is what makes the role so rewarding.”

Winner of award, black male student wearing blue cardigan making speech at podium.

Photos taken by @carlphotouk Carl Goodwin

Recruitment and Admissions would like to thank all student staff for their contributions throughout this year- particularly those that were nominated for an award, the runners-up and winners. The work our student staff do is invaluable to LSE and they should be proud of all their achievements!

Find out more

To find out more about the work of our teams and opportunities available to current students please visit the below webpages: