Pioneering Angelina named Work-based Learning Practitioner of the Year

Immediate: November 21, 2022

A talented practitioner who pioneered the delivery of the Digital Learning Design Apprenticeship Framework in Wales is celebrating after winning a coveted national award.

Digital internal quality assurer Angelina Mitchell, 28, who works for training provider ACT in Cardiff, was named Work-based Learning Practitioner of the Year at the prestigious Apprenticeship Awards Cymru 2022.

Originally from The Netherlands, Angelina said: “This award shows my learners and fellow assessors what can be achieved if you put your mind to it and work hard. I am delighted that others feel that I am making a difference.”

The Apprenticeship Awards Cymru showcase the outstanding achievements, during unprecedented times, of employers, apprentices and work-based learning practitioners.

Highlight of the year for apprentices, employers and work-based learning providers and practitioners, the awards are organised by the Welsh Government and supported by the National Training Federation for Wales (NTfW) and headline sponsor Openreach.

Lucy Wilkinson, ACT’s digital services route manager, explained that Angelina navigated the Digital Learning Design Apprenticeship Framework independently as, at the time, she was the only assessor for this qualification in Wales.

“Her drive and commitment to her continuous professional development within the digital industries is exceptional,” she added.

Angelina, who lives in Cardiff, has been immersed in technology since the age of four when she was given her first computer by her father, a software developer.

A former secondary school teacher of modern foreign languages, Angelina joined ACT as a trainee assessor in 2018 seeking for a new career challenge.

To understand her learners’ journey, she completed the apprenticeships that she delivers and learnt to speak Welsh so that she can deliver them bilingually too.

Her dedication to speaking Welsh saw Angelina, who is fluent in six languages, win the Work Welsh Learner of the Year Award (intermediate) from the National Centre for Learning Welsh

She is her team’s top performer – 90% of her learners complete their qualification and she achieves an 88% employer engagement rating.

Her personal qualifications include a Bachelor of Education degree specialising in French teaching, a Minor in Multi Media Design, Apprenticeships in Social Media for Business, Training Assessing and Internal Quality Assurance.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething congratulated Angelina and all the other award winners and finalists. “This Welsh Government has ambitious plans to make Wales an engine for sustainable, inclusive growth and give every young person the best possible start in the world of work,” he said.

“I believe apprenticeships are vital to this vision and that’s why we are investing £366 million over the next three years in the delivery of our apprenticeship programme. I am determined we do all we can as a government to help deliver the long-term economic benefits our young people deserve.

“We are a small country but we have big ambitions, and our aim is to foster a culture in Wales where recruiting an apprentice is the norm for employers.”

The Apprenticeship Programme is funded by the Welsh Government with support from the European Social Fund. For more information about recruiting an apprentice, visit: https://gov.wales/apprenticeships-genius-decision or call 03000 603000.

Picture caption:

Angelina Mitchell, Wales’ Work-based Learning Practitioner of the Year.