Apprentice wins national medal

Dec. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- Every shipyard in the UK submits nominations, and shortlisted entrants undergo a rigorous selection process, including a week long course and evaluation in Northumberland, followed by an interview of the final six in London.

“The course in Northumberland was extremely demanding,” explains Tom.  “We were presented with a wide range of challenges, aimed at testing our leadership and teamwork skills as well as individual capabilities.  The tasks ranged from physical trials such as overnight hikes and raft building, to ones which tested our endurance and mental capabilities.”

Jill Carr, Head of Pendennis General Apprenticeship Scheme, said: “It is representative of the high standard of our course that four of our apprentices were selected to be part of the initial assessments in Northumberland.  Only 12 other apprentices from throughout the UK were invited to attend this week.  We are extremely proud of Tom’s achievement as the winner of this historic award.”

Tom completed his apprenticeship in conjunction with Cornwall College: “Tom was always incredibly hard working and committed throughout his apprenticeship. I’m delighted for him that his efforts have been recognised by this prestigious award and wish him all the best in his career with Pendennis Shipyard.” said Vaughn Curnow, Liaison Officer with Cornwall College Business, who worked with Tom throughout his studies.


The General Apprentice Scheme at Pendennis has an excellent reputation with several awards gained over the past few years, including ‘Winner of the Year’ in the National Training Awards in 2009. The scheme continues to gain recognition not only due to the dedication and organisation of the apprentice management team, but also because of the high standards and hard work of the young people on the course.

At the recent Faculty of Technology Awards at Cornwall College the following awards were presented to apprentices from Pendennis Shipyard: Matt Angove was awarded "Student of the Year" in Level 2 Engineering; Sam Proud was presented with "Most Improved Student" in Level 2 Electrical; Andrew Heard was named the "Most Improved Student" in Level 3 Electrical and Dan Buckland was given the "Endeavour Award" in Level 3 Engineering.

After completing his apprenticeship in September, Tom is now employed as an engineer at Pendennis and is currently working on the Winter refit of SY Adela.

The selection process to choose the winner of the medal was very demanding.  “We had to guard a flag throughout the night on one occasion,” said Tom, “and on another morning we were subjected to interviews at 4am. Although it was a tough week it provided a unique opportunity to develop new skills and gain confidence in dealing with challenging situations.”  

If you’re interested in finding out how an apprenticeship can help you, or if you run a business and would like to talk to a liaison officer you can find more information on Cornwall College’s website www.ccb.cornwall.ac.uk or call 0800 731 7594.

# # #

Courses in management, marketing, IT, accounting, retail, hospitality, environment & manufacturing.

"The course was truly fantastic, one of the best I’ve been on. Everything was interesting, well explained & very useful." Adrian Richards, Penzance.