Fresh accolade for World's Best School contender
A campaigning London-based educator which has been calling for education reform since it launched five years ago has been named online school of the year at an awards ceremony aimed at disrupting the status quo.
Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA), based in Brixton, picked up the accolade at 2025 Edufuturists Uprising Awards.
Edufuturists is an organisation set up to challenge how people view education with the mission to create a system that empowers every learner to thrive. The Uprising awards have been held for the last six years as a way of recognising and celebrating education trailblazers, and those pushes boundaries.
Hugh Viney, founder and CEO of MVA, said: “We could not be more proud to have picked up this award. It is a reflection of the amazing students, parents, teachers and mentors who make our community what it is.
“Every day, we see the power of doing school differently, and it’s an honour to be recognised for that. Education is changing, it has to, but it must do so more quickly. We’re proud to be one of the schools leading that change, with flexible learning, personalised support, and a belief that every child deserves to thrive.
“A huge thank you to the Edufuturists for celebrating the future of education, and to our brilliant team who made this moment possible.”
MVA is redefining online education with a student-centred model that includes live lessons, weekly one-to-one mentoring, and an engaging virtual and real-world community, to offer students a real alternative to traditional schooling.
The school was founded in 2020 with just a handful of pupils. Now it has an enrollment of more than 1,000. Amongst its campaigning activities, the school has submitted evidence to government education reviews highlighting flaws in the current system.
Accredited by the Department for Education and with a glowing Ofsted report, MVA recently became the first UK online school ever to be named a Top 10 finalist for the World’s Best School Prizes. It is in the running for the Innovation award.