For National Apprenticeship Week 2021 (#NAW2021), we decided to take a look back at some of our previous apprentices and where they are now

Emily Joyce

Emily completed her level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship back in 2015, in the department of physics. She was one of six apprentices across the whole university at this point! Although she moved departments, Emily hasn't left the University since.

Read Emily's full case study on what she's up to now.

 Networking is a key area of professional development in the working world, which departments within the University of Oxford value greatly. Having a strong network - or community - of people within a similar field as you can truly benefit your learning and development opportunities. 

Over the past 2 years I have been completing my Level 3 Laboratory Technician Apprenticeship at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. 

My role as a services technician includes a wide range of tasks such as making agar plates and media, mycoplasma testing, washing glassware, helping in stores with accepting deliveries, and then phoning the relevant group to collect the packages. During my Apprenticeship I also had opportunities to spend time in different areas of the department including the electron microscope facility, flow cytometry facility and one of the labs in my department which is led by Jordan Raff. I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to explore these areas in my department as well as doing my day to day role. 

Natalie Davis, Apprentice Laboratory Technician

Finishing my Apprenticeship... 

It feels so strange to be writing about finishing my Apprenticeship, the past 2 years have gone by so quickly! The Apprenticeship that I completed had two separate grades to it, one of which is the BTEC level 3 in Applied Science in which I got a D*D* (distinction *). Then the overall Apprenticeship grade which was from my end point assessment (EPA) . For me this involved a whole day of being assessed which was an observation of me working and carrying out different tasks, a professional discussion and then a case study test to apply my knowledge. At the end of this day I was very happy with how it went and I was very glad when I found out I had passed overall.

How do I feel now I have finished? 

What I am doing now.... 

I am very lucky in the fact I have been able to keep my same job. The wait to find out whether I was keeping my job seemed like a very long time due to the current pandemic situation but I was very relieved and happy when I found out I had my job still. This has been such a positive end to my Apprenticeship and I am very grateful to still be working here. 

Is there any differences to my job now? 

Well the  obvious difference is that I have a different title which is now ‘Teaching and Services Technician’. Another difference is that I am now part of the Athena SWAN committee in my department, representing the professional support staff. Otherwise my job is exactly the same, just with the added bonus of a pay increase. 

4 years ago when I was in the last year of my A Levels and making that decision whether to go to university, I  never would have dreamed of working at Oxford University. Yet here I am those few years later having completed my Apprenticeship and have a full time job - all at a place I never would have imagined working. 

Read Natalie's case study on our website!

 Apprentice Teya Agnese, in the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS), was recently nominated in the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards for the 'Intermediate Apprentice of the Year'. We are so pleased that Teya not only managed to win this award, but then went on to receive the overall 'Oxfordshire Apprentice of the Year' Award 2020. This is a huge achievement and so well deserved!

The sponsors of the intermediate award, Abbott Diabetes Care, chose Teya as the winner because, "her enthusiasm for the programme infected the whole department she worked in. Her enthusiasm and passion to do things different and to drive on in the Apprenticeship scheme had really impacted the whole department in a positive way".

The sponsor of the overall Apprenticeship Award, High Spec Composites, chose Teya as the overall winner. They also said: "[Teya's] application really did stand out to us because she goes above and beyond in her role." They also mentioned the fact that Teya has designed and implemented her own blog which really helps to spread awareness and benefits of Apprenticeships to a wider audience.

We asked Teya how it felt to win both the intermediate award and then the Oxfordshire Apprentice of the Year award...

"I felt over the moon to have won the Intermediate Apprentice of the Year, so when I kept watching and High Spec Composites announced at the end of the broadcast that I had also won Oxfordshire Apprentice of the Year too I was speechless… and (as my family and I were watching the broadcast of the awards ceremony in the kitchen) I leaped off of my chair and did a little celebratory dance with them. I feel so honoured to have made it this far in my apprenticeship, and I am truly grateful to have such a supportive team by my side".

The Awards took place online, on Thursday 1 October and can be viewed on OxLEP's Youtube page. 

You can also see a full breakdown of the award winners on the Oxfordshire Apprenticeships page.

Teya recently won the '2nd year Apprentice Award' at our own University of Oxford Apprenticeship Awards in March. See more about this on our blog post.

Read more about Teya's Apprenticeship story on our website. Read the case study here!

07/10/2020

We are thrilled to announce that for the second year running, the University of Oxford has placed within the Top 50 for Rate My Apprenticeship’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers Table 2020-21! 

We are really proud of this achievement - particularly as the table is based solely on honest reviews from some of our fantastic apprentices across all departments and divisions. Our apprentices contribute so much and we are really pleased that they see the University as one of the top Apprenticeship employers.

The Rate My Apprenticeship awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of apprentices, schools & colleges, employers and training providers in Apprenticeships. To find out more, visit: https://www.ratemyapprenticeshipawards.co.uk/