The Academic Excellence Award recognises outstanding academic achievement. It is awarded by the University of Ulster. It is worth £1,000. There are six recipients of the award each year. They come from the six university faculties. Those are Art, Design and the Built Environment; Arts; Computing and Engineering; Life and Health Sciences; Social Sciences; and the Ulster Business School.
One award is given per faculty. It is given to the student who achieves the highest average mark in their first year of study.