With entries to the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards 2025 set to draw to a close in the next couple of weeks – the awards’ hosts are calling for the county’s businesses to get nominations in for the exceptional apprenticeship trailblazers in their workplaces.
With this year’s National Apprenticeship Week well underway, OxLEP Skills – along with the rest of the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards Committee – are calling for the county’s businesses to give their apprentices and apprenticeship advocates the recognition they deserve, by entering them into this year’s Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards.
The prestigious awards – now in their ninth year – offer individuals and organisations from around the county the opportunity to highlight the positive role apprenticeships have had, and continue to have, on them. With this year’s awards evening set to take place at the world-renowned Blenheim Palace on Thursday 22nd of May, those looking to enter or nominate worthy candidates for the awards have until midnight on the evening of Monday 24th of February to get entries in.
Since its first event in 2017, the awards have created a significant platform to highlight the importance of apprenticeships within the Oxfordshire economy and its wider labour market, as well as the opportunities that such schemes can bring to young people and those looking to re-engage with employment opportunities.
The awards are organised and managed by OxLEP Skills on a not-for-profit basis, with the generous support of a number of sponsoring organisations.
The 2025 headline sponsor is The Hill Group, who will choose the overall Apprentice of the Year from the winners of the five apprentice awards. The award categories are sponsored as follows:
- Intermediate Apprentice of the Year – Abbott Diabetes Care
- Advanced Apprentice of the Year – NielsenIQ
- Higher / Degree Apprentice of the Year – Siemens Healthineers Magnet Technology
- Special Recognition Award – Milestone Infrastructure
- Rising Star Award – Popham Hairdressing
- Shining Star Award – IST INTECH
- Apprenticeship Ambassador Award – Grundon Waste Management
- Inspiring the Future Employer Award – Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Skills Champion Award – The Engineering Trust
- Training Provider Individual Award – Oxford Brookes University
- Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (<250 employees) – Olamalu
- Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (250+ employees) – Assure UK
OxLEP Skills add that they are also grateful to have the support of High Spec Composites, Darke & Taylor, Jonas Software UK & Europe, Oxford North, Activate Learning, the South East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire Advanced Skills and the University of Oxford.
Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive at OxLEP – said: “Every year the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards provide an incomparable opportunity for those in the county that are leading the way in championing apprenticeships, to receive the recognition they truly deserve.
“Winning an Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Award is a highly-respected accolade – and could have the power not only to reward those worthy candidates – but propel them to higher levels of success in their career. We would strongly encourage employers and individuals showcasing the success of apprenticeships in the county to consider entering – and to do so as soon as possible, to avoid missing out on this opportunity.”
This comes as this year’s National Apprenticeship Week continues across the UK – with the week-long celebration of ‘all things apprenticeships’ focusing on the power of these opportunities as ‘Skills for Life’.
An awareness week education and training providers, employers and apprentices alike can get involved in – a key focus of this year’s National Apprenticeship Week is considering the multiple touchpoints of apprenticeships and the impact they can have at any point in someone’s career.
Through OxLEP Skills’ Apprenticeship Levy Pledge Initiative – funded through the Social Contract Programme, from the government’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund, via Oxfordshire County Council – a team of dedicated Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Advisors are in place to support employers to take on apprentices, upskill their existing teams, or pledge unspent apprenticeship levy.
Nigel added: “Having made over £3.6m in apprenticeship levy funds available for Oxfordshire, the Apprenticeship Levy Pledge Initiative provides businesses within the county looking to take on an apprentice – whether as an opportunity to take on new staff or upskill existing employees, or with unspent levy to pledge – with the support to put their skills ambitions into practice.
“This National Apprenticeship Week, we are urging employers to look into the role apprenticeships could play in transforming their businesses – who knows, maybe one day they too could be nominated for an Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Award.”