Apprentice of the Year Award
The 2024 award is now closed. Please email registers@rsb.org.uk to be notified when the award opens in 2025.
The RSB is running its Apprentice of the Year award for the 5th consecutive year. The award has been set up to celebrate and recognise apprentices' contributions to their teams and the wider bioscience community. The award also forms part of the RSB's wider work supporting technical staff and their contribution, through our support of the Technician Commitment and Technician Action Plan.
The award applications are divided into two sub groups:
- Group 1: Levels 3 and 4 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Scottish levels SCQF 5-7. Irish levels 5 and 6.
- Group 2: Levels 5+ in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Scottish levels SCQF 8+. Irish levels 7+.
Applicants should be enrolled on, or have recently completed (last 12 months), an apprenticeship in a technical role, with a strong basis in biological sciences. This will typically, though not exclusively, involve designing and/ or conducting biological experiments, the preparation and management of biological reagents/samples/analyses, or the management of biological resources, such as biobanks or instrumentation.
If you are unsure which group to apply to, or have any questions on the application process, please get in touch.
The Group 1 award recognises apprentices who are:
1. Actively developing technical scientific knowledge and expertise in day to day work or projects
2. Acquiring and effectively applying personal/professional development to their bioscience role
3. Making a positive impact and inspiring others and/or demonstrating effective teamwork
The Group 2 award recognises apprentices who are:
1. Applying professional technical scientific knowledge and expertise in new areas of work or projects
2. Acquiring and effectively applying personal/professional development to their bioscience role
3. Making a positive impact and inspiring others and/or demonstrating effective teamwork and collaboration
How to apply
The award is open to all bioscience apprentices in the UK currently working within the bioscience sector. Applications from apprentices who completed their apprenticeship <1 year ago at the point of applying will be accepted - if you are applying after completion of your apprenticeship, examples given must be from during your apprenticeship.
Individuals can enter the award by downloading the appropriate application form for their apprenticeship level. Download links can be found at the bottom of this webpage.
Applicants are asked to answer the three application criteria questions and demonstrate through a written submission in no more than 300 words per answer how they have demonstrated that quality through their activities.
Applicants must complete the application themselves and include a supporting statement from their employer of up to 150-words.
Applicants are allowed to include one optional image, data table or graph to support their application, and this is not included in the word count. Any information exceeding the word count will not be taken into consideration by the judges.
Prize
Both the Group 1 and Group 2 winner will receive £250 in prize money, alongside one year’s free RSB membership and free Registered Science Technician/Registered Scientist (RSciTech/RSci) professional recognition, if they submitted a successful application.
In addition, both Groups may have a possible “Highly Commended” winner, who will receive a year’s free RSB membership and free Registered Science Technician/Registered Scientist (RSciTech/RSci) professional recognition, if they submitted a successful application.
Please get in touch if you have any questions.
Application forms
Past Winners
Click on the links below to view our news stories about the award winners from the past three years.