National Clinical Impact Award 2026 round is open - BASHH guidance and signposting

08 April 2026

The 2026 National Clinical Impact Awards (NCIA) round opened on 01 April 2025 and the window for applications will close on Wednesday 20 May 2026 at 17:00.  Any applications after this time will not be considered by the Advisory Committee on Clinical Impact Awards (ACCIA).  

The NCIAs replaced the previous National Clinical Excellence Awards and application for NCIAs is open to medical or dental practitioners working as a consultant doctor or dentist, an academic GP or clinical academic who are fully registered with the GMC or GDC with a licence to practice.  Applicants need to have met the eligibility conditions for at least one year, on 1 April in the award year in which they are applying.  Therefore, for 2026, this would mean meeting the conditions for at least one year on 1 April 2026.  If you are unsure about your eligibility you can email accia@dhsc.gov.uk if you work in England, and accia@wales.nhs.uk if you work in Wales.

BASHH is not able to provide citations and rankings any more as these have been discontinued by ACCIA, nor are organisations permitted to edit or directly critique the application.

However, BASHH is able to signpost members to generic training and tools (see below) to assist with applications and provide general guidance. 

Therefore, we are providing the following information to help with applications for a NCIA:

• Applications need to be made via the ACCIA portal and eligible individuals can register via the - ACCIA portal.
• The 2026 ACCIA guidance can be accessed via the following link Clinical Impact Awards: guidance - GOV.UK - this provides information on the 2026 awards including guidance for applicants, employers and assessors, eligibility criteria and a link to register and log into the awards portal.  Please read all of this information thoroughly.  
• ACCIA have produced this guide to act as a first introduction for applicants, giving them an overview of the process, what assessors are looking for when scoring an application and the importance of the different elements of the guidance. See also BASHH's 'Top Tips' document.
• The ACCIA home page can be accessed via ACCIA home page and the ACCIA Secretariat can be contacted via 020 7972 4608, or by emailing accia@dhsc.gov.uk for awards in England, or accia@wales.nhs.uk for awards in Wales.

You may also find it helpful to speak with local colleagues who have experience of CIA or CEA applications and if you would like to contact BASHH for support about application queries or the process then please contact admin@bashh.org.