QA Excellence Awards 2025

Celebrating Talent in Apprenticeships - Short list announced

In today’s fast-evolving apprenticeship landscape, QA stands at the forefront. With a proud heritage and the largest community of apprentices in the UK, we’ve helped more than 55,000 apprentices kickstart and accelerate their careers. Our commitment goes beyond delivering exceptional digital and tech programmes—we work closely with forward-thinking employers to create meaningful, career-shaping opportunities that make a real difference to individuals, businesses, and industries across the country.

The QA Excellence Awards mark an exciting milestone—our first celebration of apprenticeship excellence in England. This special event recognises the outstanding contributions of apprentices and employers, who are helping to shape the future of work through innovation, talent, and dedication.

We’re excited to unveil the shortlisted finalists for the QA Excellence Awards. See below for the full list of finalists, each of whom has demonstrated exceptional commitment and impact in their field.

Employer Categories

  • Government Employer of the Year
  • Met Office
  • Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Sellafield Ltd
  • Enterprise Employer of the Year
  • AXA UK
  • Co-operative
  • Greencore
  • NatWest Group
  • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Employer of the Year
  • Capgemini
  • Cyclife UK
  • Deutsche Bank
  • Salesforce
  • Public Sector Employer of the Year
  • Birmingham City Council
  • Dudley Council
  • Transport for Greater Manchester
  • University of Birmingham

Apprentice Categories

  • Rising Star
  • Bharathi Sudanagunta, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
  • Heather Newton, Amazon
  • Lia Challenger, Cyclife
  • Olamuyiwa Olawole, ITV
  • Apprentice of the Year - Advanced (Level 3)
  • Charlotte Otoole, Dudley Council
  • Christopher Brown, Wolseley
  • Eris Rusnak, Sharp
  • Kacper Grabowski, DHL
  • Lewis Collyer, NFU Mutual
  • Apprentice of the Year - Higher (Levels 4 & 5)
  • Brian Seery, Ministry of Justice
  • Haydn Brown, NatWest
  • Hollie Moore, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Rebecca Ratcliffe, Ministry of Justice
  • Apprentice of the Year - Degree (Levels 6 & 7)
  • Anthony Priest, Aldermore
  • Bharathi Sudanagunta, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
  • Molly Bliss, Ministry of Defence
  • Olamuyiwa Olawole, ITV
  • Apprentice Ambassador of the Year
  • Gary Raymond Pickup, Salford City Council
  • Hannah Thurogood, United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory
  • Oliver Cooney-Allen, Deutsche Bank
  • Oliver Gallagher, United Utilities Plc

We’re excited to meet all the finalists and come together to celebrate the incredible impact of Apprenticeships at the ceremonial evening on the 24th of October.