Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers league table launches

The Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers rankings will celebrate some of the country’s most outstanding apprenticeship employers and will assist potential apprentices, parents and careers advisers to identify the best apprenticeship opportunities with the highest performing apprentice employers in England.

New in 2020, the annual Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers rankings will showcase the very best of England’s large apprenticeship employers, alongside the Top 50 SME apprenticeship employers. These employers will be recognised for providing some of the most successful apprenticeship programmes over the previous 12 months.

These new rankings have been developed in partnership with High Fliers Research, who will independently assess and compile the new national leader board of top apprenticeship employers.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

Delivering high-quality apprenticeships is a vital part of our commitment to level up skills and opportunity across the country.

This new league table is a chance to showcase how apprenticeships have transformed businesses and changed lives. There are hundreds of employers of all sizes, up and down the country, providing people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to learn new skills and have successful careers.

This list will help everyone, from young people to career-changers, to make informed decisions about their future and unleash their full potential. I encourage all eligible employers to apply.

Apprenticeship employers in every industry and employment sector – from accountancy, fashion and law, to teaching, nursing and engineering – are invited to enter for the rankings. Entries for 2020 are open from today, Thursday 12 March, with the results to be announced at a special launch event for apprenticeship employers in the summer of 2020.

There are two apprenticeship employer categories for the 2020 rankings:

• Large employers – for organisations with 250 employees or more, that employ a minimum of 25 apprentices
• SME employers – for organisations with fewer than 250 employees that employ a minimum of 5 apprentices

Keith Smith, Director, Apprenticeships Group, ESFA said:

We know there are outstanding employers, of all sizes, delivering apprenticeships in all sectors. For us, the Top 100 large employer and Top 50 SME employer rankings will give recognition and thanks to those who show great commitment to apprenticeships. The process they will follow will enable them to highlight their dedication to creating apprenticeship opportunities.

I look forward to hearing the announcement of the Top 100 large and Top 50 SME apprenticeship employers in the summer.

Employers will submit entries by 5pm on Thursday 9 April and a follow-up telephone interview with each entrant will take place. Employer data will be independently verified and employers with the highest scores will be ranked. The final rankings will be announced this summer.

More information about the process can be found by visiting the Top Apprenticeship Employers website.