Outstanding students celebrated with awards evening

Burton and South Derbyshire College held its Further Education and Apprenticeship Awards on Thursday 15th September at Pirelli Stadium.

Outstanding students, their families and guests celebrated the exceptional skills and qualifications achieved in the past academic year. Hard work and dedication to studies were recognised, along with talent, success and achievement across many vocational areas.  

The wide-ranging award categories included a selection that were based around the College’s Skills Promise: a variety of skills and qualities that students gain in addition to their qualification that will give them a head start in their career and make them stand out when applying for jobs. The Skills Promise encompasses the range of skills that employers are looking for, from creative thinking, being a team player and showing resilience, to being a good communicator, being good at solving problems and showing initiative.  

The ceremony was presented by compere, Mark O’Sullivan, and a range of local businesses sponsored the awards evening, including Mors Smitt, Gaskell Safety, Hilton at St. George’s Park, Burton Albion Community Trust, Haven Care Group, The Do Club, Alive, Hardy Signs, Autoclenz, Playtonic, Top Hat, Forest Holidays, Ginho Group and Hexagon Leasing. 

In addition, Mark was joined on the stage prior to the awards ceremony by college patron representatives, Gavin Scothorn, Managing Director of Alive; Fran Williams, Head of People at Playtonic Games; Daniel Nikolla, Marketing Manager at Hardy Signs and Shaun Gray, European Managing Director of Ginho Group, who discussed their roles as motivators, role models and industry representatives to college students.

The overall FE Learner of the Year Award for 2022 went to ESOL student, Ly Duong who has overcome challenges and barriers to achieve her learning goals. Meanwhile, Accounting Apprentice, Bethany Wain won Apprentice of the Year 2022 for the work she did to secure a permanent position within the Financial Accounting team at East Staffordshire Borough Council.

Principal of Burton and South Derbyshire College, John Beaty said: “It was fantastic to host a celebration of achievement and success for our students. At Burton and South Derbyshire College, we are passionate about encouraging people to reach their full potential. The event was an excellent way to celebrate outstanding achievements and recognise those learners who go above and beyond to reach their educational and career goals.”