Top employers for young people revealed at The School Leavers Awards 2019

The winners for the School Leavers Awards 2019, organised by AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk, have been revealed. The School Leavers Awards is unique, in that the majority of the winners were nominated due to feedback given directly from apprentices enrolled on their programmes, rather than relying on an independent judging panel.

 

The finalists — which featured some of the most well-known organisations in Britain — attended the prestigious awards ceremony at Grosvenor House in London on 23rd May, where Tess Daly revealed and congratulated the winners.

 

Mcdonalds won a string of awards including the headline category, Top Employer for School Leavers. It also won Best On-The-Job Training, Best Job Satisfaction, Top Employer – Hospitality & Tourism, and Top Employer – Small School Leaver Intake.

 

Mazars won The Diversity & Inclusion Award for offering its apprentices access to its internal networks for different faiths and cultures, as well as a dedicated disability/mental health network.

 

There were also fourteen industry-specific categories including hospitality, engineering, IT, FMCG, retail and more. In addition to winning Top Employer – IT & Technology, IBM also received the School Leaver of the Year award, courtesy of its apprentice Luke Hillier.

 

The School Leavers Awards was launched in 2012, by AllAboutSchoolLeavers, to help young people make informed choices about their career paths. It also rewards and recognises employers who offer apprentices the most prosperous employment opportunities, encouraging a high quality of school leaver programmes.

 

In addition to rewarding the best companies, this year AllAboutGroup added five categories for training providers. White Hat received Best Training Provider and Best for Assessment and Feedback. AMRC won Best for Personal Support; Performance Group, Best Teaching; and Escalla, Best Learning Experience.

 

Jack Denton, director and co-founder of AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk, said:

 

“The quality of entries this year has made choosing winners very difficult — exactly what we wanted to achieve from setting up the awards. It is also encouraging to see employers offering mentoring and support for young people on their programmes, as well as teaching about diversity.

 

We made some changes to the awards this year to improve the rankings. By opening a separate rankings and awards for training providers, we allow young people to delve deeper than ever into what their life could be like as an apprentice. As our rankings are decided by the feedback we receive from apprentices, it helps young people get a flavour of what it’s really like to work and learn as an apprentice, and who offers the best opportunities.”

 

Companies wishing to enter the School Leavers Awards 2020 can register their interest on the website.

 

AllAboutGroup is also running an event How Good is Your Apprenticeship Programme? To encourage employers to assess their current programme and identify opportunities for improvement. The event is on 2nd July in London and is free to attend, simply register on Eventbrite.

 

Photo credit: Jérôme Favre