Apprentice Becky Smythe and the college's council partnership, with 85 apprentices trained since 2020, are up for West Cheshire Chamber awards on 13 November.
Cheshire College South and West, which has a campus in Chester, is on the shortlist in two categories at the West Cheshire Chamber Annual Recognition Awards, and one of the two is for one of its own apprentices.
Becky Smythe, a Business Administrator Apprentice at the college, is shortlisted for the Young Person/Apprentice of the Year Award, sponsored by The HR Dept Wrexham & Chester. The college itself is up for the Excellence in Collaboration Award, sponsored by HF Owen Transport, for its partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council.
The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 13 November.
The apprentice
Becky is working towards a Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship while supporting the college’s Business Development Team, which handles apprenticeship recruitment and placements.
The college says she took on extra responsibilities during her apprenticeship and stepped into the Apprenticeship Recruitment Placement Officer role to cover an absence. She has since been given that job permanently.
It is her second award shortlisting of the year. Earlier, the college named her its Apprentice of the Year 2026 at its own Apprenticeship & Skills Awards, which is the moment in the photograph above.
The council partnership
The collaboration nomination is for the college’s long-running apprenticeship partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council. According to the college, it has helped 85 apprentices complete their apprenticeships since 2020, and 47 more are enrolled now.
The college says the arrangement has also given students a look at careers in local government, with council staff taking part in Careers Fairs and Apprenticeship Panels on campus.
What the college says
Helen Nellist, Deputy Principal and Deputy CEO of Cheshire College South and West, said:
“We are delighted to see the College recognised in two categories at the West Cheshire Chamber Annual Recognition Awards. Becky has made a fantastic contribution during her apprenticeship, while our partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council continues to create valuable opportunities for our students and apprentices.”
She added:
“We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for both nominations when the winners are announced. It would be wonderful to see Becky’s hard work recognised, and equally exciting to see the partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council celebrated. We’re really looking forward to the awards and to celebrating alongside all of the other businesses, organisations and individuals who have been shortlisted.”
What it means for you
If you are weighing up an apprenticeship rather than a full-time course, the council route is one of the larger local ones: 47 people are on it at the moment, according to the college. Details of the college’s apprenticeships and courses are on its website.
The college is bigger than it was a few months ago. On 1 August 2026 Cheshire College South and West and Macclesfield College formally merged into one organisation, which the college says now teaches nearly 15,000 students and 1,500 apprentices. Its campuses include Chester, Ellesmere Port, Crewe and Macclesfield. We looked at its summer exam figures in our A-level results round-up.
We will report the results after the ceremony on 13 November.
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