Apprenticeships Norfolk Awards FAQ's

Eligibility:

• To be eligible for the apprentice awards, the apprentice must live or work in Norfolk and either have been on an apprenticeship programme or completed their apprenticeship between 1st January 2025 and 31st December 2025.
• To be eligible for the employer awards, the organisation must have employed an apprentice at some period between 1st January 2025 and 31st December 2025 and have a trading address in Norfolk. 
• To be eligible for the 'Advocate Award', the organisation will strongly advocate for apprenticeships & the apprenticeship route (e.g. school/educational settings) - note this is not an employer/provider award. 

Submitting a nomination

• The awards are open to nomination by individuals, training providers, employees and employers, and apprentices can also nominate themselves.
• You can make a nomination between 9am on Monday 20th October 2025 and 5pm on Thursday 27th November 2025. Any entries received after the deadline will not be considered. 
• You can complete and submit as many separate nominations as you like, but you can only make one nomination for one category at a time using this form.
• Before making a nomination, you should check with the apprentice, employee or employer/organisation that they are happy to be nominated and that they are willing to participate in the awards process and associated marketing/publicity. 
• Nominations must adhere to the character limit (2,000 characters per question) and no further information submitted by email or attachments will be considered for judging.
• For Apprentice awards, judges will be scoring nominations against a variety of factors including; examples of personal growth, motivation, key performance achievements, maximising development opportunities, and being a role model to others.
• For Employer awards, judges will be scoring nominations against a variety of factors including; why the employer has invested in apprenticeships, the employers commitment to off the job training with best practice examples, and how apprenticeships have helped the employer to meet their skills needs.
• For the Impact Award, judges will be scoring nominations against factors including: examples of how an apprentice made a significant impact on the team they work in, the role that they do, or the people they support. How they have expectations of themselves or grown into their role, or contributed in an impactful way to the way things are done in the organisation, or the culture and dynamics.
• For the Achievement in Exceptional Circumstances Award, judges will be looking for examples of resilience, determination, and positivity through additionally challenging or unprecedented circumstances; including challenges, barriers or personal adversity.
• For the Manager or Mentor award, judges will be looking for the manager or mentor of an apprentice who has thrived in this role, supporting an individual or group of apprentices throughout all aspects of their apprenticeship journey and becoming an apprenticeship champion or advocate throughout the business and beyond.
• For the Contribution to Green Apprenticeships Award, judges will be looking for the exceptional work of an individual or business towards promoting and championing green skills in Norfolk, through Apprenticeships.  This could include an individual on an apprenticeship, an apprenticeship employer, or an organisation that is supporting Green apprenticeship.
• For the Apprenticeship Advocate Award, judges will be looking for the organisation to show clearly how they have advocated apprenticeships successfully, including clear examples of the positive impact it has brought to their target audience

Following the nomination submission:

• Following the nomination deadline, a panel from Norfolk County Council will shortlist between 3 and 10 nominees from each category.
• Shortlisted nominees will be scored by a judging panel of Norfolk County Council staff and the headline and/or category sponsor; 3 finalists will be selected; a winner, and 2 highly commended runners up.
• Finalists for the awards will be notified in December 25/January 26
• Unsuccessful nominees will be notified in January 2025.
• Finalists for each category will be invited to the Apprenticeship Norfolk Awards 2026 ceremony, held during National Apprenticeship Week on 11th February 2026.
• The awards ceremony is an invite only event. Finalists will also be invited to bring 2 guests.

• Full details on the awards ceremony will be available to finalists and invitees closer to the time.

Make a nomination now by clicking here

If you would like to view the nomination questions in advance, you can access a PDF of the Apprenticeships Norfolk Awards 2026 - Nomination Form (PDF, 5 MB) for your perusal - however please note we can only accept nominatons submitted on the Microsoft Forms link above.

If you require additional support, the Apprenticeships Norfolk Team are on hand to assist. You can contact us on 0344 800 8024 or email [email protected]