Through our partners and sponsors we jointly aim to:
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Celebrate the achievements of the county's apprentices at all levels of apprenticeship;
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Recognise the critical role played by employers, providers, parents and others in enabling and supporting apprenticeship provision;
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Promote and advance the social and economic role, impacts and contribution made by apprentices, providers and apprentice employers;
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Work with key partners and sponsors to deliver a unique prestigious celebration ceremony for graduates, their families and employers;
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Collaborate and share good practice in order to improve and raise the profile of apprenticeships as an education and training option;
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Maximise the partnership's collective influence to advance and increase apprenticeship activity through advocacy and lobbying;
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Extend the Apprentice Graduation concept to other counties;
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Engage with other organisations to access additional funding to support the annual Apprentice Graduation Ceremony.
Organising Board Partners 2024
The Careers & Enterprise Company work to inspire and prepare young people for the fast changing world of work, The Kent & Medway Virtual Apprenticeship Graduation Ceremony allows people to see the large amount of opportunities within the world of apprenticeships.
Canterbury Christ Church University is proud to collaborate with the Kent and Medway Apprentice Graduation ceremony partnership in celebrating the achievements of our region’s apprentices. From engineering and chartered management, to nursing and social work, our apprenticeships offer a dynamic, industry-led route to higher education, unlocking individuals’ potential while developing skills and talent for the South East. The Apprentice Graduation ceremony is an invaluable opportunity to recognise the importance of these pathways for both apprentices and employers.
CITB is a proud sponsor of the Kent & Medway Apprenticeship Graduation, we recognise the value of apprentices and their impact on creating a skilled, competent, and inclusive workforce. CITB offers apprenticeships through our National Construction Colleges whilst offering grants to support the recruitment and upskilling of staff within the industry through apprenticeships. We welcome the opportunity to celebrate the apprentice, provider and employer success whilst taking the opportunity to raise the awareness of the various roles and pathways within the construction industry.
CXK has engaged in the planning and development of the Apprenticeship Graduation. We understand the importance and benefits of apprenticeships to both the apprentice entering the work place and the employer recruiting and training staff. The Apprenticeship Graduation is a fantastic way to celebrate the success of recent apprentices completing their apprenticeships and recognise the role employers have contributed.
The Education People are passionate about apprenticeships and wants to recognise the value apprenticeships bring to young person and showcase their achievements. It’s also important to acknowledge the employers who are committed and support their apprentices in achieving their goals.
Kent County Council is passionate about apprenticeships and as an apprenticeship levy payer have been able to invest in high-quality training to develop our skilled workforce and recruit apprentices. We are committed to helping prepare Kent's young people. As well as supporting KCC apprenticeships, we are also working with Kent businesses to maximise apprenticeship opportunities across the county. We can transfer up to 25% of our apprenticeship levy funds which gives us an opportunity to support employers to improve the knowledge and skills of the wider Kent workforce. This is why we also offer expert advice and support from start to finish, as well as signposting to relevant funding. We are pleased to be able to support this event and the achievements of our apprentices.
The Kent Association of Training Organisations (KATO) was a founding partner of inaugural ceremony. KATO has supported the on-going importance of maintaining the ceremony's presence even throughout the covid pandemic's impact on the event by ensuring an online virtual graduation took place in 2020 and 2021. KATO supports the ceremony actively promoting it to its wide training provider membership and acting as the event account holder.
Medway Council as an organisation places huge value on apprentices and apprenticeship programmes. We are delighted to be supporting the graduation for another year. It is extremely important to continue to showcase the importance of apprenticeships, their value to our economy and recognise the hard work all apprentices have demonstrated, in order to successfully complete and achieve their apprenticeship this year.
Rule 5 Solutions is a business and education consultancy which became involved with the graduation ceremony through its work with the Kent and Medway FE colleges. Rule 5 Solutions has project managed the ceremony since 2022. Its founder has a long background working in employer engagement in the FE sector for over 20 years, including managing apprenticeship strategy, development and quality improvement. Rule 5 Solutions fully understands the importance of the ceremony in recognising the huge contribution to the economy and county's business community made by thousands of amazing apprentices.
The health and care sector are on an exciting journey that will transform how they work together across Kent and Medway. We have an ambition to make Kent and Medway a great place to work, live and learn. The most important part of this ambition is the people who work in this sector. Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity to widening access into more than 350 job roles. They provide high quality, flexible and professional pathways that will improve patient care. Across clinical, professional and non-clinical programmes we have apprentices from Level 2 through to Level 7. They bring innovation, fresh thinking, system working, live projects and have the ability to build lifelong careers. The Graduation Ceremony allows us to acknowledge, celebrate and champion future health and care apprentices.
KFE colleges provide apprenticeships to the whole county, from Level 2 to Higher Level across a wide range of industry sectors and subject areas, annually to over 2,500 young people and adults. Kent and Medway’s FE colleges are extremely proud of their role in delivering apprenticeships and the role they play in the technical skills agenda. The FE colleges engage with thousands of employers every year who know that Apprenticeships are a high quality and highly valued solution for businesses, and apprentices seeking the best way to develop their skills, careers and employability now more than ever.
Our Event Sponsors 2024
The Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce is proud to support the Graduation Ceremony once again. Through its work in supporting the county's businesses the Chamber recognises the key role that apprentices play in so many of our employer organisations. Our Local Skills Improvement Plan was developed with input from key stakeholders and consolidates this understanding across so many industry sectors. The Chamber congratulates all the apprentices graduating at the ceremony this year, confident that they should be proud of their achievements and equally their contribution to the success of their employers' businesses and to the county's economy.
The South East Apprentice Ambassador Network (SEAAN) consists of a group of employers and apprentices whose aim is to encourage new employers to recruit apprentices and young people to choose apprenticeships as a career path. Apprentice Ambassadors are voluntary roles and they champion and support marketing, publicity and events to raise awareness of apprenticeships. They also provide mentoring and support for employers looking to recruit apprentices for the first time.
East Kent Colleges Group is one of the county's three FE colleges with 6 major campus sites across south and east Kent including Ashford, Broadstairs, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Sheppey. The college achieved OFSTED Outstanding in March 2023 and has had a long commitment to employer engagement and to apprenticeships. One of the largest apprenticeship providers in the County the college's apprenticeships range across multiple sectors and levels. Since the inaugural ceremony in 2019, EKCG has been a key supporter also helping produce the ceremony programme each year.
Grain LNG Importation Terminal is part of the National Grid Ventures portfolio and is of strategic national importance to UK energy infrastructure and it’s security of supply with the ability to meet over 20% of UK gas demands. We are the largest terminal in Europe and eighth largest in the world by tank capacity with a site that spans over 600 acres in total. Grain LNG aims to be the foremost LNG importation terminal in the world, with a first-class team delivering high performance for our customers, communities and National Grid, through unparalleled safety, reliability and efficiency. This requires a high standard of workforce to run and maintain the terminal and the contribution the Advanced Apprenticeships we’ve invested in and run has enabled us to give local young people an opportunity to learn new skills and provided us with our own home grown talent for the future of the terminal.
Impact Futures joins as a sponsor for the first time in 2024. Impact Futures is a national training provider, successfully delivering apprenticeships and vocational qualifications since 2008, as well as providing comprehensive, expert apprenticeship recruitment solutions for businesses. Working with a wide range of employers who are exciting, innovative, and deeply committed to seeing their staff develop Impact Futures is a perfect partner already engaged in promoting and delivering apprenticeships. Clients range from NHS Trusts, large corporate, childcare and healthcare groups to national charities.
IPS Apprenticeships is part of IPS International, a long established training provider which has worked in the county for many years. IPS apprentices have been a strong presence at all of the graduations since 2019 and continue to provide many examples of apprentices that break the mould in their industries. As a key provider in Kent and the south east IPS recognise the importance of celebrating apprenticeship achievements across multiple sectors.
The JGA Group provides apprenticeships in communications & marketing disciplines as well as public sector roles such as policy officer, systems thinker and service designer. JGA is a quality focused, flexible and national market leader for several apprenticeships and hold the Queen's Award for Enterprise (Promoting Opportunity).
MidKent College is one of the county's three FE colleges with major campus sites in Maidstone (Kent) and Gillingham (Medway). The college offers a wide range of provision from entry to higher level to 16-19s and adult learners. Every year over 6000 students from Medway, Maidstone and beyond choose MidKent College to continue their studies and prepare for their future career. Ofsted describes MidKent College as a 'student-centred College' where every decision, in every area of the College, is focused on how it benefits each student including apprentices. The college has been a successful apprenticeship provider for decades and is delighted to support the graduation, especially as it takes place at the heart of its Medway catchment area at Rochester Cathedral.
NOCN Group is an educational charity whose core aims are to help learners reach their potential and organisations thrive. The group includes business units specialising in regulated UK and international qualifications, end-point assessment, assured short courses, SMART job cards, assessment services, consultancy and research. Our heritage, rooted in up-skilling workers for redeployment in industrial Britain informs our social mobility agenda and our charitable status. Supporting the Apprentice Graduation Ceremony fits perfectly with our ethos and aims given the social and economic skills and mobility they provide as well as the access to careers and development that might not otherwise be open to all.
Having expanded in recent years, North Kent College has become a large provider with major general FE campuses in Dartford, Gravesend and Tonbridge. It also includes Hadlow College with its predominantly land based focus. Apprenticeship provision is a major part of its work and the college’s apprentices have been involved with the graduation since the 2019 inaugural ceremony. This year Hadlow College is providing floristry support too.
Wire Belt Company Limited has been recruiting apprentices since 1978 and have built our long-term employment strategy using this, the foremost method for work-based training. Wire Belt have been a sponsor of this prestigious event since its inaugural ceremony in 2019 and are delighted to be doing so once again this year. It is fantastic to see the students being acknowledged with a formal graduation ceremony acknowledging the hard work and commitment to learning that are the essential elements to graduate as an apprentice.
