South Gloucestershire and Stroud College is celebrating success at a prestigious awards ceremony.

It picked up the Large College award at the fourth Apprenticeships4England Apprenticeships Awards.

Members of SGS College's employer engagement team - Jill Jones, Trudy Hillier and Patrick Mcleod - were at the gala dinner to collect the trophy.

The awards recognise training providers and employers for outstanding examples of quality, best practice, innovation and excellence in apprenticeship delivery.

Patrick Mcleod, curriculum director for apprenticeships at SGS College, said: "I am thrilled to collect this award, which recognises the end-to-end service of our apprenticeship delivery.

"We work with some great employer partners, such as Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council and the NHS Blood and Transplant Service in the public sector.

"We also have very supportive private sector employers, such as CF Roberts, NKS Contracts Central Ltd and Allcooper.

"It is the opportunities and the care that these employers invest in our young people that makes our apprenticeship programmes such a success.

"Eighty per cent of the apprenticeship is delivered in the workplace, so this award really recognises the excellent contribution of our employers to apprenticeships."

This is the second time this academic year that the college has been recognised for outstanding work, having previously been rated the nation's number one college for employer satisfaction.

SGS College principal Sara-Jane Watkins added: "I am thrilled with this accolade as it recognises the considerable work of our apprenticeship team but also the college's ethos of working with employers to develop and deliver provision that has real impact on their workforce."

More than 60,000 employers gave their views to provide an insight into the experience they have had with their local college.

Picture: centre, left to right, Trudy Hillier, Patrick Mcleod and Jill Jones