The achievements of apprentices, employers and training providers across the county will be celebrated at an awards evening later this year.

The Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards, a joint effort between Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Worcestershire County Council, will take place at West Midland Safari Park in November.

The return of the awards was announced at the end of National Apprenticeship Week 2023, which highlighted apprenticeship success throughout Worcestershire.

Entries to the awards have now opened with apprentices, employers, schools and training providers in Worcestershire being encouraged to submit their entries or nominations via the online nomination process before the July 14 deadline.

2023 Worcestershire Apprenticeship Award categories:

Apprentice Awards

• Intermediate Level Apprentice of the Year

• Advanced Level Apprentice of the Year

• Higher Level Apprentice of the Year

Employer Awards

• Small Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (< 50 employees)

• Medium Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (50 – 249 employees)

• Large Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (> 250 employees)

Support Awards

• School of the Year

• Training Provider of the Year

• Apprentice Ambassador of the Year

The celebration event will culminate in the two overall awards of ‘Worcestershire Apprenticeship Employer of the Year’, and ‘Worcestershire Apprentice of the Year’. 

Gary Woodman, chief executive of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “With the awards open for entries, this is the perfect chance to celebrate all those involved with apprenticeships as we have categories for both small and large apprenticeship employers, apprentices of all levels and recognition for our schools and training providers who promote apprenticeships.

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“I’d like to encourage any Worcestershire apprentices, employers of all sizes, training providers, schools and apprenticeship ambassadors to get their entries in.”

Councillor Marc Bayliss, the county council’s cabinet member for economy, infrastructure and skills, added: “National Apprenticeship Week was a great celebration of everyone involved in making apprenticeships a success and I was pleased to see so much support locally.

“It was the perfect end to the week to launch the 2023 Worcestershire Apprenticeships Awards so that we can continue to recognise the fantastic individuals and organisations involved with delivering apprenticeships in Worcestershire.”