Apprentice of the year announced

London South Bank University student wins Construction Services apprentice of the year award

A London South Bank University (LSBU) student has won a prestigious Construction Services Apprentice of the year award at the BAME Apprenticeships Awards 2020.  A second, female engineering LSBU apprentice has also been highly commended.

Romario Cazaubon, who is currently enrolled on a five-year Quantity Surveying degree apprenticeship with Mace Group, took the top prize for Construction Services apprentice.

Dionne Alder, who is enrolled on a Civil Engineering apprenticeship with Southwark Council as her employer, received a ‘highly commended’ from the judges.

Both students are studying part-time on their respective degree courses at LSBU’s School of Architecture and the Built Environment (BEA), while completing their apprenticeships.

LSBU is one of the leading UK universities for apprenticeships with currently around 2000 apprentices enrolled, working for over 650 employers.

LSBU currently offers a variety of apprenticeships with employer sponsors, across a range of sectors – from building services, engineering and chartered planning to nursing, screen skills, management and digital marketing.

Since apprenticeship schemes were first introduced at LSBU four years ago, the University has enrolled over half (51%) of all apprentices from a BAME/multi-ethnic background: 16% black, 27% Asian, and 8% mixed race. Of these applicants, 43% are female, working in typically male-dominated professions, such as building services and engineering, as well as typically female dominated professions such as healthcare (55%).

In 2019-2020, out of a total of 1600 LSBU apprentices, 38% degree/higher apprentices were women, with 28% studying for careers in architecture, building services and planning (17% in quantity surveying, 9% in engineering, 6% in architecture and 6% in chartered planning) with 7% in business management.

Alison May, Group Director of Apprenticeships at LSBU, said: “It’s very exciting to hear that our Quantity Surveying student Romario Cazaubon has won Construction Apprentice of the Year Award at the BAME Apprenticeships Award 2020. And it’s great news that Civil Engineering undergraduate, Dionne Alder, has been ‘highly commended’ in the same category.

“For LSBU, one of our apprentices winning this award is further proof that the University excels at setting up graduates for successful future careers.”

The BAME Apprenticeship Awards 2020 were presented at a virtual ceremony on Wednesday 11 November.