Apprenticeship Connect Awards

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Each year we celebrate the achievement of our learners and the commitment of the employers we work with at our annual awards ceremony. Our awards recognise the quality of training, support infrastructure dedicated to mentoring, the opportunities given to stretch and challenge employees and the progression offered during and after our apprenticeship programmes. We also award our learners for outstanding achievement and commitment. 

Nominations for our 2020 awards are open from 9am Thursday 10th December 2020 and close at midnight on Monday 18th January 2021. Nominations will be accepted from employers working with us and individuals studying with us, as well as Apprenticeship Connect employees. Further details about who can submit nominations for each of our awards categories and the nomination criteria can be found below.

All entry forms are accessible via this page, with the links to enter where applicable under each category below.

AWARD CATEGORIES

LEARNER AWARDS

The Marsha Hicks Apprentice of the Year: Awarded by Apprenticeship Connect to the learner who has overcome significant challenges, produced outstanding work and has made an exceptional contribution to their workplace. This award celebrates a learner who demonstrated outstanding commitment to their apprenticeship programme and completed during the 2020 year. This award is nominated and chosen by Apprenticeship Connect.

The Outstanding Work Award: Awarded to an Apprenticeship Connect learner for producing work of an outstanding quality. This award celebrates the effort, drive and determination of our learners. This award is nominated and chosen by Apprenticeship Connect.

The Employers Choice Award: Awarded to the Apprenticeship Connect learner who made an outstanding contribution to their workplace during their apprenticeship programme and completed their programme in the 2020 year. This award celebrates the ambition, determination and commitment of our learners. For this award, we are accepting nominations from employers supporting our learners only.

Click here to nominate

EMPLOYER AWARDS

Our employer awards celebrate:

• The quality of training provided by the employer which supports the apprenticeship programme 
• The support infrastructure dedicated to mentorship for apprentices
• The opportunities given to stretch and challenge apprentices
• The opportunities given for progression of apprentices

For all of our employer award categories below, nominations will be accepted from Apprenticeship Connect past and present apprentices, employers who have previously employed or currently employ an Apprenticeship Connect apprentice, third party representatives of an employer (e.g. a PR agency) and Apprenticeship Connect employees.

To be eligible for one of the employer awards, the businesses nominated must have at least one learner on programme with Apprenticeship Connect in December 2020, or have had a learner complete or due to complete within 2020.

Please note, each business may apply for one employer award category only.

Apprenticeship Connect Newcomer of the Year: This award is open to employers of all sizes who enrolled their first apprentice with us in 2020.

Apprenticeship Connect Employer of the Year (0-50 employees): This award is open to employers with 0-50 employees.

Apprenticeship Connect Employer of the Year (51-200 employees):  This award is open to employers with 51-200 employees.

Apprenticeship Connect Employer of the Year (201+ employees):  This award is open to employers with 201+ employees.

Click here to nominate

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Entries: 

• Entries can be made online using the relevant submission form from 9am on Thursday 10th December 2020 and must be submitted by midnight on Monday 18th January 2021.

Judges: 

• All categories are awarded on the decision of our chosen panel of judges.
• The entries are judged independently without reference to any other scorer.
• Judges will be absent themselves from any discussions where they have a vested interest.

• Judges will grade each element of the entry form and submit a total score for each entry.
• The three entries with the highest score in each category will be shortlisted and notified of their entry status by Monday 25th January 2021.
• In the event of a tie, other judges are asked to evaluate these entries again to determine a winner.
• The judges’ decision is final, no correspondence will be entered into and no reasons given for decisions.  

Winners: 

• Should the entry be selected as the category winner, the information included within the entry may be used to formulate a case study. Sensitive information will not be made public and the case study will be approved by the relevant parties before it is released. Additionally, a formal consent statement will be included within the award entry form detailing the conditions of use.
• The shortlisted entries will be invited to attend a virtual awards ceremony where the winner of each category will be announced during the week of 15^th February 2021.

• Winners and shortlisted nominees may promote their achievement, but they must clearly state the year the award was won and include the graphic provided by Apprenticeship Connect in all promotions.