Where an organisation, whether private or public sector, has been using the Excellence Model for some years and has really managed to embed a culture of excellence and continuous improvement, it can apply for one of the Excellence Awards that are given annually. The applicant organisations will have carried out continuous self assessments, but for the award scheme they will also be assessed externally by a team of qualified assessors who base their findings partly on a 75 page submission from the organisation, plus the outcome of site visits.

Scoring is done using the RADAR system, and is out of 1000, but even award winning organisations would not generally expect to score much greater than 700 (70%), whereas most organisations starting out in using the model would probably be looking at a score of perhaps just 200 to 300 if measured in this way.

The Excellence Awards are considered a highly prestigious accolade for any business and will clearly send a message to both potential customers as well as to those competing in the same market.

Summary :

• The Excellence Model is the basis for applying for the UK and European Excellence Awards
• Applicant organisations will usually have been using the model for some years
• Applicant organisations will often be at or near the top of their respective markets
• The award confers prestige on the organisation and a "beacon" to others