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EDWartens Named National Winner at the UK StartUp Awards 2025
EDWartens was named National Winner in the Engineering and Manufacturing category of the UK StartUp Awards 2025. What that recognised, and what it does and does not mean for learners.
EDWartens was named National Winner in the Engineering and Manufacturing category of the UK StartUp Awards 2025. The award recognised EDWartens as a business: an engineering training company that grew from in-house training in 2013 into a UK-headquartered organisation teaching industrial automation and AI. It does not accredit any course or certificate.
EDWartens at the UK StartUp Awards 2025
In 2025, EDWartens was named National Winner in the Engineering and Manufacturing category of the UK StartUp Awards. The awards run in stages: applications across a range of categories in the spring, regional finals across the UK in June, and a national final at Ideas Fest in September. Our About page lists the win alongside another recognition:
- UK StartUp Awards 2025: National Winner, Engineering and Manufacturing.
- [Great British Entrepreneur Awards](https://greatbritishentrepreneurawards.com/) 2025: Finalist.
We are glad of both. They matter most to the people who built the organisation, and they say something about how it has been run. They do not change what a learner gets, and we would rather be clear about that than leave it implied.
Where EDWartens came from
EDWartens is the training division of Wartens, which began in 2013. Our About page records that EDWartens was started because Wartens could not find engineers skilled enough for its own projects. The organisation expanded to the Middle East in 2018 and to the UK in 2021, where Milton Keynes is now the headquarters. The wider group is described in The Wartens Ecosystem Explained.
What has changed since
Since the award, edwartens.com has become a global online academy. It now offers complete free courses across PLC, SCADA, HMI, drives, robotics, DCS, instrumentation, electrical design, industrial networks, safety, IIoT, and a track of 12 AI courses for engineers.
Each course is free in full: video lessons by independent YouTube creators, credited on every course page; written notes with worked examples; a practice task in each module; and one final assessment of 15 questions drawn from the whole course, with a 60% pass mark. The courses run in vendor trial or free software with simulators, so no hardware is needed. Wiring and commissioning on real equipment still need hands-on time, which a workplace, a college lab or a vendor course can provide; online vs classroom PLC training explains how to combine the two.
What the award does not mean
The award is not an accreditation. It does not make any EDWartens course a vendor course, and it does not change what the certificate is.
The only paid item on edwartens.com is the optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued after you pass a course's final assessment. It carries a unique code and a QR code that anyone can check at edwartens.com/verification. Are free PLC certificates worth it? explains what employers actually check. It is not a Siemens, Rockwell or other vendor certification, and it is not a university, government or accredited qualification. It is a small one-off fee, US$8.99 for a beginner course, and How Much Does an EDWartens Certificate Cost? explains what is free and what is paid.
Judge the courses yourself
An award is a reason to look, not a reason to trust. Every course is free in full, so you can read the module list, the notes and the credited lessons before you decide whether a certificate is worth buying. Siemens TIA Portal is where most people start with PLCs, and Python for AI and Engineering Data is the first step on the AI track. The free course catalogue has the rest, and a free account saves your progress.
If someone shows you an EDWartens certificate, you do not need to take it on trust either. Enter its code at edwartens.com/verification, or scan its QR code, and the page shows whether it is genuine and which course it was issued for. How to verify a training certificate covers the same check for any provider. That check, not an award, is what an employer should rely on.
Questions about the award or the company can go to info@wartens.com.
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Questions
Which award did EDWartens win?
EDWartens was named National Winner in the Engineering and Manufacturing category of the UK StartUp Awards 2025, as listed on the edwartens.com About page.
What other recognition has EDWartens received?
The About page also lists a finalist place at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2025.
Does the award make the EDWartens certificate accredited?
No. The award recognises the business. The EDWartens Certificate of Completion remains a certificate of completion: not a vendor certification, not accredited, and not a university or government qualification.
How can I judge a course for myself?
Open the course page and read the module list, the notes and the credited lessons. Every course is free in full, so you can check the teaching before deciding whether a certificate is worth buying.
Sources
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
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