Tia Whelan, a 20-year-old student at Leicester College, has won the major Apprentice of the Year award at the national Association of Colleges’ Student of the Year Awards 2019.
The award was presented to Tia at the annual AoC conference gala dinner earlier this month.
She completed a three-year plumbing course at Leicester College before starting her property maintenance operative apprenticeship at UK Gas Services. Tia now takes on her own work experience students and has visited 10 schools and colleges over the last six months to speak to students about the construction industry and promote the programme to female students.
She said: “I honestly can’t believe that I’ve won the AoC Apprentice of the Year. I’m so grateful for Tina Jivraj at Leicester College for her support and am really chuffed. Thank you so much for the award. I’m over the moon.”