We are delighted to introduce Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) Skills as the sponsor of the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards 2021 School Engagement Employer Award. This is a new category for this year, developed from the Work Experience Award last year and designed to recognise the value that employers bring to young people through engaging with local schools and colleges, offering virtual or face to face work experience, workplace encounters and careers insights.

OxLEP champions our county's economic potential, driving a dynamic economy that boasts many world-class assets. The OxLEP Skills team work with educators and employers across the county to facilitate careers and enterprise activities that help young people prepare for the world of work.

Skills Hub Manager, Sally Andreou, explains why employer engagement is so important to young people in schools and colleges and how it relates to Apprenticeships.

Meaningful encounters with employers are a fantastic way for young people to get an idea of what the world of work is like. It also gives them the opportunity to find our about job roles they may not have heard about before and try out something they think they would like to do - potentially an Apprenticeship.

Working in partnership with the Careers & Enterprise Company, our Careers Hub brings employers and educators together through the Enterprise Adviser Network to inform and inspire students in schools. Our Enterprise Coordinatprs work with secondary schools and colleges across the county to support them with planning and delivery of careers and enterprise activities.

For this Award, we are looking for employers who have gone the extra mile to inspire the next generation through engaging with local schools and colleges. It may be that they have done something innovative to help ensure this engagement has been able to continue at this difficult time.

Join the conversation

Join us for Oxfordshire Apprenticeships Hour (#OAHour) on Twitter @OxonApprentice from 1pm every Thursday for latest on the Awards and join in the conversation using the hashtag #OAAwards2021.