National award for outstanding police apprenticeships

Staffordshire University, working together with its Regional Police partnership, has scooped a national award for its police apprenticeships.

group of people stood holidng an award

Staffordshire University colleagues and representatives from the Regional Police partnership celebrate their 'Protective Services Apprenticeships Provider of the Year' win

We pride ourselves on our collaborative approach to working with employers, in this case regional police forces, and it’s fantastic to have our trailblazing work in the delivery of apprenticeships and work-based learning recognised.

Professor Raheel Nawaz, Pro Vice-Chancellor

The Annual Apprenticeship Conference awards ceremony, delivered in partnership with City and Guilds, attracted a record 380 nominations across 20 categories, with 21 winners announced.

Staffordshire University was announced overall winner in Protective Services Apprenticeships Provider of the Year category for its work with Staffordshire Police, Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police on the delivery of the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA).

Currently 1545 student officers are enrolled on the PCDA, with more than 600 having celebrated their graduation since 2019, making Staffordshire University the largest provider of police apprenticeships in the country.

Nick Howe, Director of the Institute of Policing at Staffordshire University, said: “As a partnership, we have a shared ethos of building knowledge, skills and behaviours in our apprentices to meet the evolving demands of the job and the longer-term vision for UK policing. Student officer success is at the heart of everything we do.”

The awards ceremony was attended by Staffordshire University Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Raheel Nawaz who has helped launch work-based learning programmes including degree apprenticeships across three continents and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for his groundbreaking work.

He added: “We pride ourselves on our collaborative approach to working with employers, in this case regional police forces, and it’s fantastic to have our trailblazing work in the delivery of apprenticeships and work-based learning recognised.”

“Last year our University was visited by Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Rt Hon Robert Halfon who has also shown keen interest in research led by Staffordshire University which demonstrates how degree apprenticeships are helping to level up opportunities for young people and contributing to greater productivity.”

  • Staffordshire University continues to be one of the largest providers of degree and higher apprenticeships with over 3,000 on programme. Staffordshire University offers degree and higher apprenticeships for a wide range of sectors, including nursing and health, digital, engineering, psychological wellbeing, social Work, leadership and management. The University works with large and small, public and private sector organisations across the country to deliver an excellent industry-focused experience to apprentices and employers.
  • Last month Staffordshire University secured more than £974,000 from a total £12 million Office for Students fund made available to higher education providers for developing degree apprenticeships.

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