Back in February, we hosted a virtual graduation ceremony for our apprentices from Coventry Council, Vickie, Barry and Jodie, to celebrate their completion of the business analyst apprenticeship.

All 3 of our graduates achieved distinctions and obtained the BCS Business Analysis Diploma qualification & 1 Agile qualification. Our apprenticeship director, Mike Goodland hosted the event. We took a brief look at the journey our apprentices have been on for the past 18 months. You can watch the recording of the graduation ceremony below.

Important sections in the graduation video:

9:48 min to 13:24 min –  Joe Sanson, Transformation Programme Manager at Coventry City Council talks about the value the business analysis skillset has brought to design new services at Coventry City Council and help the council digitalise and improve its processes

14:05 min – 17:13 min – Vickie Gorrell, Business Analyst Apprentice at Coventry City Council, shares her experience on the BA Apprenticeships & how the flexibility of Metadata Training help her continue her studies during the Covid period. Vickie started the BA Apprenticeship as a Project Support Officer and got promoted to a Business Analyst role 3 months before she completed the apprenticeship.

17:39 min – 21:45 min – Barry Keegan, Business Analyst Apprentice at Coventry City Council, shares his experience on the BA Apprenticeship.

22:05 min –  24:12 min – Jodie Ward, Business Analyst Apprentice at Coventry City Council, shares her experience on the BA Apprenticeship. Jodie just came back from her maternity leave when she started her business analyst apprenticeship and she had to juggle her work at the council, with the BA Apprenticeship and raising a baby. She’s done that incredibly well and achieved amazing results for the council.

A huge congratulations to our apprentice graduates!

Barry Keegan

Barry had been thinking about moving into a business analysis role for a couple of years. He initially considered self-funding for the BCS qualifications but then he heard about the apprenticeship and being able to gain practical experience while studying. The apprenticeship coordinator in his organisation at the time matched his skillset and encouraged him to apply. Near the end of the programme, he secured a promotion as a Business Systems Development Officer in the Council, where the job role is much more project oriented with a large element of business analysis involved. The apprenticeship played a huge role in giving him that knowledge and skillset in order to secure that promotion. Barry talks about how he applies a BA mindset and uses the skills he learned to help solve problems in his day-today role working within user queries.

Vickie Gorrell

Before Vickie started the apprenticeship, she was working as a project support officer for Coventry City Council. She was interested in business analysis so when the opportunity for a BA apprenticeship came up in 2019, she put herself forward for the programme with the help of her manager at the time. She worked as a systems improvement officer whilst on the apprenticeship programme and in the October of 2020, secured the position of a business analyst in her organisation as she continued to complete the apprenticeship. She is now a qualified business analyst. Vickie talks about how the apprenticeship has allowed her to progress to the career she wanted without having to give up her day job to study somewhere else.

Jodie Ward

Jodie began the apprenticeship after returning from maternity leave. She was balancing her current role with completing her apprenticeship. She has previously been working on transformation programmes in Children’s Services, Residential Services and the Fostering Service. This includes helping to implement an online system for Residential Services and working to support Fostering Service projects. For the last 5 months, Jodie has been working on the ICT & Digital roll out of LFT Covid testing centres across Coventry. She talks about how the quality of teaching and the immense support network has helped her get through the past 18 months and essentially over the finishing line.

We wish you the best in your careers!

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