Winners announced at the School Leaver Awards 2017

The awards celebrated everything from company culture, social media, career progression and training – as decided by school leaver trainees from 100 UK organisations – at a celebrity-hosted event held at London’s Waldorf Hilton Hotel. 

The UK’s top employers for school leavers were revealed last night, when the results of a nationwide survey were announced at an awards ceremony in London’s Waldorf Hilton Hotel, hosted by comedian Ed Byrne. 

AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk’s School Leaver Awards 2017, sponsored by EY and supported by Laing O’Rourke, announced the winners of 36 categories  – including skills development, career progression, training and company culture – as decided by surveys completed by apprentices and school leaver trainees from 100 UK organisations.

Young people working in the school leaver training world were asked to complete employee satisfaction surveys, covering every aspect of their working lives, from job satisfaction and career progression, to company culture and work/life balance.

In the fifth annual ceremony, GoldmanSachs was named Top Employer for School & College Leavers, and Alistair Wheeler of BT won the School Leaver of the Year award.

AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk’s School Leaver Awards 2017, sponsored by EY and supported by Laing O’Rourke, announced the winners of 36 categories  – including skills development, career progression, training and company culture – as decided by surveys completed by apprentices and school leaver trainees from 100 UK organisations.

Four of the 36 categories were shortlisted by an industry panel, for example the School Leaver of the Year award, and the Most Innovative Recruitment Campaign award – recognising organisations’ forward thinking recruitment methods using modern techniques such as WhatsApp campaigns and online media.

Two of the categories – Best Website and Best Social Media – were shortlisted by a student panel made up of a cross-section of the AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk student database.

Industry-specific categories acknowledged the top employers in their particular fields, for example Top Employer – Public Sector, Top Employer – Engineering and Top Employer – Accounting & Professional Services.

Award winners, runners up and finalists in full:  

Top 100 Employers for School Leavers 

1    Goldman Sachs
2    Bentley
3    Schroders
4    Savers
5    Capgemini
6    Mace
7    Softcat
8    Superdrug
9=    BP
9=    Kennedys
11    The Juice Academy
12    Eversheds
13    Severn Trent Water
14=    Arup
14=    KFC 
16=    Nomura
16=    Virgin Media
18    Haymarket Media Group
19=    EY
19=    Plymouth City Council
21    WSP
22    Smith & Williamson
23    TUI 
24    A4G
25=    Menzies
25=    JLL
27    PKF Cooper Parry
28    Hazlewoods
29    Hill Dickinson
30    Laing O'Rourke
31    Basildon Borough Council
32=    MHA MacIntyre Hudson
32=    PwC
34    Irwin Mitchell
35    Shoosmiths
36=    Lloyds Banking Group
36=    NATS
36=    Robins and Day
39    Barclays
40    GSK
41    The Skills Company
42=    Mercedes-Benz
42=    Transport for London
44    Lovewell Blake
45=    Morgan Sindall
45=    National Grid
47    Currie & Brown
48    NG Bailey
49    Busy Bees Training Academy
50=    BDO LLP
50=    Royal Mail Group
52    The National Physical Laboratory
53    Anchor Trust
54=    Gordons
54=    Heineken
56    Kone
57=    BT
57=    British Sugar
59    Teledyne e2v
60=    Alstom
60=    Morrisons
62=    Nestle
62=    STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
64    Renault Trucks
65    London Borough of Hillingdon
66=    Grant Thornton
66=    National Audit Office
68=    Harrods
68=    Arcadis
68=    Mediacom
71    Fidelity
72    Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains 
73    3M
74=    BAM Nuttall
74=    Mazars
76=    Marks & Spencer
76=    Volvo Trucks
78    Toyota
79    City of Lincoln Council
80    Leonardo Helicopters
81    CGI
82=    Enterprise Rent-A-Car
82=    Greene King
82=    IBM
82=    Tata Steel
86    Aecom
87    Balfour Beatty
88    Thomas Cook
89    Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
90    Arvato
91    John Deere
92    Jaguar Land Rover
93    DSTL
94    Nottingham City Council
95    Autonet Insurance
96    Markerstudy Group
97    Civil Service
98    Fujitsu
99    Moore Stephens
100    Gist

School Leaver of the Year

Alistair Wheeler, BT
Ben Maynard, IBM
Harry Edwards, EY
Bradley Whiting, GSK
Hannah Black, Severn Trent Water
Sam Coulson, GSK
Chris Achiampong, IBM
Hamzah Ahmed, National Grid
Alex Blatch, Nomura

Top Employer for School Leavers
Goldman Sachs
Bentley
Schroders
Savers
Capgemini
Mace
Softcat
Superdrug
BP
Kennedys

Best Intermediate Apprenticeship
Savers
Superdrug
John Deere
Plymouth City Council
Mercedes-Benz
JLL
Basildon Borough Council
Shoosmiths
NATS 
Robins and Day

Best Advanced Apprenticeship
Bentley
KFC
Softcat
The Juice Academy
PKF Cooper Parry
Arup
Virgin Media
Toyota
Haymarket Media Group
Plymouth City Council

Best Higher Apprenticeship
Severn Trent Water 
Bentley
Kennedys 
Nomura
Transport for London
Lloyds Banking Group 
EY 
Smith & Williamson
National Grid 
TUI 

Best Degree Apprenticeship
Goldman Sachs
Capgemini
Mace
Eversheds
PKF Cooper Parry 
Barclays
Currie & Brown
Lloyds Banking Group 
Nestle
Aecom

Best School Leaver Programme
Schroders
Mace
BP 
A4G
Menzies
Hazlewoods
Laing O'Rourke 
MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Shoosmiths
PwC

Best Sponsored Degree
PwC
Morgan Sindall
Morrisons
CGI 
Balfour Beatty
Aecom

Top Employer - Small School Leaver Intake
Goldman Sachs
BP 
Kennedys 
Eversheds
KFC 
Nomura
Haymarket Media Group
Smith & Williamson
TUI 
A4G

Top Employer - Medium-sized School Leaver Intake
Bentley
Schroders
Capgemini
Mace
Softcat
The Juice Academy
Severn Trent Water 
Arup
Plymouth City Council
WSP

Top Employer - Large School Leaver Intake
Savers 
Superdrug 
Virgin Media
EY 
PwC
Lloyds Banking Group 
Barclays
Mercedes-Benz
Transport for London
National Grid 

Top Employer - Accounting & Professional Services
EY 
Smith & Williamson
A4G
Menzies
PKF Cooper Parry 
Hazlewoods
MHA MacIntyre Hudson
PwC
Lovewell Blake
BDO

Top Employer - Automotive
Bentley
Mercedes-Benz
Renault Trucks
Volvo Trucks
Toyota
Jaguar Land Rover

Top Employer - Banking & Financial Services
Goldman Sachs
Schroders
Nomura
Lloyds Banking Group 
Barclays
Fidelity
Autonet Insurance
Markerstudy Group 

Top Employer - Construction
Mace
Arup
JLL
Laing O'Rourke 
Morgan Sindall
Currie & Brown
BAM Nuttall 
Balfour Beatty

Top Employer - Energy & Utilities
BP 
Severn Trent Water 
National Grid 
Aecom

Top Employer - Engineering
WSP
NATS 
NG Bailey 
Heineken 
Kone
British Sugar
Alstom
Arcadis
Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains 
Leonardo Helicopters
Tata Steel

Top Employer - Hospitality & Tourism
KFC  
TUI 
Greene King 
Thomas Cook

Top Employer - IT & Technology
Capgemini
Softcat
Virgin Media
BT 
CGI 
IBM
Arvato 
Fujitsu

Top Employer - Law

Kennedys

Eversheds

Hill Dickinson
Irwin Mitchell
Shoosmiths
Gordons

Top Employer - Public Sector
Plymouth City Council 
Basildon Borough Council
Transport for London
London Borough of Hillingdon
National Audit Office
City of Lincoln Council
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
DSTL 
Nottingham City Council
Civil Service 

Top Employer - Retail
Savers 
Superdrug 
Robins and Day
Morrisons
Harrods
Marks & Spencer
Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Top Employer - Science & FMCG
GSK 
The National Physical Laboratory
Teledyne e2v
Nestle
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
3M

Best Recruitment Campaign
Severn Trent Water
The Skills Company
Marks & Spencer
EY
CGI
Mazars

Most Innovative Recruitment Campaign
EY
Severn Trent Water 
Marks & Spencer
CGI
Mazars

Best School Engagement in a Recruitment Campaign
Severn Trent Water
The Skills Company
CGI

Best Social Media
National Grid
Jaguar Land Rover
JLL
PwC
Volvo
Laing O'Rourke
BDO
IBM
Severn Trent Water
EY

Best Website
Nomura
BT
Mercedes-Benz
Laing O'Rourke
EY
PwC
Mazars
TUI
BDO
CGI

Best Training
Goldman Sachs
Eversheds
Softcat
Savers 
Schroders
Mace
Bentley
The Juice Academy
Haymarket Media Group
Superdrug 

Best Training Provider
Softcat 
Superdrug 
Savers 
KFC 
Busy Bees Training Academy
Bentley
Goldman Sachs
Kone 
Capgemini
Smith & Williamson

Best University for a Sponsored Degree
PwC
Morgan Sindall
Morrisons
CGI 
Balfour Beatty
Aecom

Best for Skills Development
Nomura 
Goldman Sachs
A4G
Menzies
Virgin Media
Arup
Schroders
BP 
Softcat
Barclays

Best for Career Progression
Eversheds
Hill Dickinson
Nomura
Goldman Sachs
Bentley
Haymarket Media Group
Softcat
Arup
Kennedys 
WSP

Best Level of Support
Goldman Sachs
Mace
Kennedys 
Savers 
The Skills Company
Severn Trent Water 
KFC  
Eversheds
Hill Dickinson
WSP

Best Job Satisfaction
Bentley
Capgemini
Kennedys 
Basildon Borough Council
The Skills Company
Virgin Media
Morrisons
Goldman Sachs
Savers
Severn Trent Water

Best Company Culture
Eversheds
Bentley
Haymarket Media Group
Goldman Sachs
Schroders
Mediacom 
Capgemini
Mace
Arup
NATS 

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