PlanBEE Awarded Queen Elizabeth Prize
PlanBEE honoured with Queen Elizabeth Prize
PlanBEE has been awarded the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education award, the highest national honour a Further Education College can receive. The award winners were announced at an event at St James Palace ahead of the formal celebration in the new year.
The award is granted every two years by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister after a rigorous and independent review process. It recognises the outstanding work of colleges and universities across the UK who demonstrate excellence, innovation, and deliver real benefit to the wider world.
We’ve been part of the scheme, which is delivered by Gateshead College, since 2017 and have hosted 20+ students over the years. To date we are proud to have employed 6 young people from the course through our degree apprenticeship programme to complete their degrees at university.
The course was launched in 2016 in partnership with Ryder Architecture to encourage people in the North East into the built environment and construction industry, solving the skills shortage in the industry. Over 70 businesses now back the programme which began in the North East and expanded into Manchester in 2020 and London in 2023.
PlanBee has delivered over 850 industry placements since it launched, giving students the chance to take on placements of four months at six different companies across different roles in the industry including architecture, MEP Design, project management and quantity surveying.
We’re delighted to continue taking part in the scheme in the North East, PlanBEE Manchester and PlanBEE London.