Busy Bees began to offer apprenticeships in 2003 to ensure a pipeline of high-quality staff for its 329 nurseries. A decade on, the programme’s success led to the creation of its sister company, Busy Bees Training Academy. 

In 2017, the training provider, based in Staffordshire, achieved an 89 per cent success rate for all apprenticeship programmes, compared with a UK average of 65 per cent. And it no longer simply focuses on meeting the staff needs of Busy Bees: it trains apprentices for more than 100 external organisations.

In total, 3,765 learners have upskilled through the apprenticeship route, with 879 school leavers recruited on to an apprenticeship between 2012 and 2017. Busy Bees Training Academy currently chairs the early years trailblazer group, working with employers to develop apprenticeship standards from level 2 through to level 6 - a progression route that particularly impressed the judges.

Partnering and holding events with organisations such as the Job Centre, the Prince’s Trust, Sport 4 Life and gypsy and traveller outreach services, Busy Bees Training Academy gives long-term unemployed young people a “clear and exciting career path in childcare”. Last year, every apprentice who completed their level 2 programme went on to become a nursery practitioner.

The judges said: “What are particularly impressive are the pathways this scheme offers all the way to level 6, in an industry that has traditionally not operated at that level. It is really meeting the needs of the sector, and is also supporting other nurseries.”

City of Glasgow College was highly commended in this category.

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