The week of February 6th was National Apprenticeship Week, a week to promote and celebrate the use of apprenticeships to develop colleagues from across all areas of Queen Mary.  A number of events took place including a Big Assembly on all things apprenticeship; a chance to learn more about becoming a workplace coach; and an event on technicians' development.

The final event of the week was the first QMUL National Apprenticeship Week Celebration: an event to celebrate our past and present apprentices, as well as the invaluable work of the managers and mentors who support them. 

Professor Colin Bailey, our President and Principal, presented awards across a range of categories:

Manager Recognition Award: This award is for a manager who has strongly supported their staff apprentice during their apprenticeship.

• Highly Commended: Julie Macdonald
• Winner: Rebecca Hunter

Mentor Recognition Award: The award recognises Queen Mary mentors who provided expert and inspirational advice and guidance to a staff apprentice, and demonstrated commitment to supporting their mentee’s development.

• Highly Commended: James Winch
• Winner: Rebecca Warne

Apprenticeship Champion Award: This award recognises a colleague who has gone above and beyond in promoting apprenticeships as a means of staff development.

• Winner: Kate Thornton

Rising Star Apprentice Award: This award recognises a recruited staff apprentice who has made impressive progress in their career to date, and has the potential to go even further.

• Winner: Fahmida Akthar

The Apprentice Recognition Award

This is awarded to a member of staff upskilling through a staff apprenticeship who has made an exceptional contribution to the service.

• Highly Commended: Alex Challis
• Winner: Kosala Wickramasekara

Interested in apprenticeships for yourself or your team?

 33 colleagues are currently on an apprenticeship, a number we hope to see increase in the next few years to come, as we make wider use of our Apprenticeship Levy funding.  We also have over 30 procured learning providers, who can provide apprentices with the training they need across a broad range of programmes.

Apprenticeships are available from GCSE-equivalent to postgraduate level, across a range of over 600 programmes, to both new recruits and existing staff.  The Organisational & Professional Development team can work with you to identify what’s right for you, or which apprenticeship programmes are suited to particular roles on your team.  Please visit the Apprenticeships pages to learn more.