Employer Nomination Form
including Guidance Notes and
Eligibility Criteria
Equality and empowerment is at the heart of everything that NIACE does. Our aim is for as many
people as possible to be involved in and inspired by Adult Learners’ Week.
We want everyone to have access to Adult Learners' Week from the nomination form(s) through to
the awards ceremonies. This form should be compatible with most frequently used screen readers
and other assistive technology. If you require accessibility support please let us know and we’ll do
everything we can to help: email alw@niace.org.uk; tel 0116 285 9656 or text 07810 770399.
These notes are to support the nomination of an employer only. Please read these notes before
completing a nomination form.
Nominate a winning employer
The Adult Learners’ Week Awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding learning
achievements of individuals, projects, tutors and employers across England.
This year we are looking for employers who have invested in outstanding staff training and
development.
We want to hear from workplaces that have used learning to develop and utilise the skills of their
workforce to improve productivity, raise morale, increase staff retention and enhance their
business performance.
The employer may have helped its employees to:
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learn new skills for personal or professional development
achieve something they never thought was possible
completely transform their lives and the lives of those around them
gain promotion or change career direction
Your nomination will give the employer recognition for the outstanding support it shows to its
employees, celebrate the positive impact of learning on people’s lives, and boost the selfconfidence of the learners.
Winners of this category will demonstrate that their employees have made significant progress and
that the organisation has been enhanced by the training and development on offer. The impact
of the learning on the business is the crucial part of all of our winners’ stories and it is the outcomes
from this learning that makes the employer eligible for an award.
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Employer eligibility
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Awards are open to employers based in England only.
The employer must provide learning opportunities for adults who are aged 18 or over on 17
December 2014.
A learner’s statement must be included in the nomination.
There is no limit to the number of nominations that one nominator can make. However, we do
not accept nominations for one nominee from multiple nominators.
Nominations for employers that have been nominated in previous years, or employers that
have won awards as part of other awards initiatives, will be accepted.
Employers within the British Armed Forces can be nominated, but please provide information
about where the project is based in England.
Nominations for the employer award must be authorised by relevant management before
submission due to confidentiality surrounding the employer’s business activity.
Publicity
Adult Learners’ Week Award Winners attract significant press and media interest. The information
supplied in the nomination form could be used publicly to inspire others.
A private information box is included in the nomination form to be used for information that you do
not want to be made public. See Part 4 of the nomination form for further information.
Next steps
All nominations are shortlisted against a set criteria. Those shortlisted are sent to a selection panel
of judges, who represent the diversity of adult learning provision. All winners are selected by the
panel, which assesses each entry based only on the information provided on the nomination
forms.
Final decisions will be made by the end of April 2015. All winners and their nominators will be
contacted by May 2015. If you haven’t heard from us by this time, please assume that the
employer has not been chosen as an Award Winner on this occasion. Everyone nominated for an
Adult Learners’ Week Award will receive a Certificate of Achievement in June 2015.
Award Winners will be invited to regional or national Awards Ceremonies where each of them will
receive a learning voucher, valued between £200 and £1,000, and an Awards Certificate.
Nominate now by completing this form and returning it to alwnominations@niace.org.uk by the
deadline, 5pm Wednesday 17 December 2014, or nominate online at www.alw.org.uk/nominate
Please ensure that all compulsory sections (marked*) of this form are completed or we will
be unable to consider your nomination.
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Part 1: Information about the Employer (to be completed by the nominator)
Please complete the details of the employer/organisation you are nominating below, writing the
name as it should appear on the certificate:*
Employer / Organisation name*
Are you an employee of the employer/organisation you are nominating?*
Yes
No
If no, please let us know your relationship to the employer/organisation you are nominating:
Please provide your contact details below. (If you are from the employer/organisation you are
nominating please enter your work address.)*
First name*
Surname*
Job title*
Organisation*
Address 1*
Address 2
Town/City*
County*
Postcode*
Main contact
telephone/text number*
Alternative
number
Email address*
Part 2: Information about the employer/organisation you are nominating (to be completed by the
nominator)
Is the employer national or locally based?* Please tick one.
National employer
Locally based employer
If the employer is locally based, which region are they in? Please tick one.
Central England
Bedfordshire | Cambridgeshire | Derbyshire | Herefordshire |Leicestershire
Lincolnshire | Norfolk |Northamptonshire | Nottinghamshire | Rutland | Shropshire| Staffordshire
Suffolk | Warwickshire | West Midlands | Worcestershire
London and South East England
Berkshire | Buckinghamshire | East Sussex | Essex
Hampshire | Hertfordshire | Isle of Wight | Kent | London | Oxfordshire | Surrey | West Sussex
Northern England
Cheshire | Cumbria | Durham | East Yorkshire | Greater Manchester
Lancashire | Merseyside| North Yorkshire | Northumberland | South Yorkshire | West Yorkshire
South West England
Cornwall| Devon | Dorset | Gloucestershire | Somerset | Wiltshire
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If the employer is part of the British Armed Forces please tick here
If you have ticked the above question, please state where in England the learners are based:
Please provide the number of learners the employer has engaged with in the past three years.*
2012 (if applicable)
2013
2014
Please tell us about the workplace learning provided by your organisation/the employer you are
nominating.*
In the statement, please include:
 The contribution the learning has made to the employer’s business, including to the working
environment and to other colleagues (please provide any evidence).
 The business impact of learning and the progression of learners involved.
 Details about the balance of learning that takes place in the workplace and externally.
 Details of any innovation related to the employer’s provision.
 The learning, training and development opportunities provided and the structure/nature of
learning offered by the employer (please provide details of the overall approach to
workforce development).
 Why your organisation/the employer deserves an Adult Learners’ Week Award.
Maximum 5,000 characters, including spaces (approximately 800 words).
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How can you evidence the impact that the learning has had on the employer and its
business?
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Do you or the employer monitor and evaluate the success of the learning provided?
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What are you or the employer doing to sustain and further develop the learning provision?*
Maximum 3,000 characters, including spaces (approximately 500 words).
Does the learning lead to a qualification?* Please note that Adult Learners’
Week recognises all forms of learning, learners do not need to have gained
a qualification.
Yes
No
If yes, please provide details of the qualifications below:
Intermediate level
Apprenticeship
Advanced level
Apprenticeship
Higher Apprenticeship
Entry Level or Functional Skills
equivalent
GCSE D-G / NVQ Level 1 or
Functional Skills equivalent
GCSE A*-C / NVQ Level 2 or
Functional Skills equivalent
A/AS Level / NVQ Level 3
or equivalent
HE Certificate / Diploma
NVQ Level 4 or equivalent
Higher Diploma / First
degree NVQ Level 5 or
equivalent
Higher Degree or equivalent
Traineeship
Professional accreditation
Other OCN
Other Open University
Other (please state)
If known, please provide the name of the awarding body:
Please tell us the size of the organisation or employer you are nominating*:
Micro business (0-9
employees)
Small business (10-49
employees)
Medium-large business (250999 employees)
Large business (1000+ employees)
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Medium business (50-249
employees)
Please identify the main business sector of the organisation (please tick as many as appropriate)*:
Agriculture, horticulture and animal care
Arts, media and publishing
Business, administration and law
Construction, planning and built environment
Education and training
Engineering and manufacturing technologies
Health, public services and care
Information and communication technology
Leisure, travel and tourism
Retail and commercial enterprise
Other (please state)
Is the organisation a member of NIACE?
Individual member
Corporate member
No
Not sure
Publicity information:
Adult Learners’ Week Award Winners often generate local, regional and sometimes national press
and media interest. If the nominated employer is selected for an award, NIACE would like to liaise
with the winning organisation’s press/marketing team to publicise winners. Please provide the
relevant contact details below:
First name*
Surname*
Job title*
Main contact
telephone/text number*
E-mail address*
Chief executive or a senior member of staff:
The chief executive or a senior member of staff representing winning employers is invited to attend
our awards ceremonies. Please provide the relevant contact details below:
First name*
Surname
Job title*
Address 1*
Address 2
Town/City*
County*
Postcode*
Main contact
telephone/text number
E-mail address*
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Part 3: Learners’ journey to be completed by one or more learner(s)
We would like to hear from an employee about their learning journey. Please ask one or more of
the learners to complete this section to help us to gain a fuller picture of their learning journey. This
can also include quotes from learners.
Please describe the difference that learning at work has made to your working life. Also include
any wider benefits it has had on your life and the lives of colleagues, your family or the
community*. Maximum 5,000 characters, including spaces (approximately 800 words)
First name*
Surname*
Before returning this form to the nominator, please complete Part 4 (the learner’s declaration).
Part 4: Declaration (to be completed by the nominator and learner)*
Private information and publicity:
As we use the information that has been supplied in this form to motivate other employers to
undertake workplace learning, we want the employer and the learners who have provided
statements to be completely happy with what has been written.
Award winners often attract interest from local, regional and sometimes national press and media.
For winning organisations this may include: having a profile written about the organisation, having a
photograph taken for inclusion in the awards brochure and other publicity materials, being filmed
for a video about the organisation and/or being interviewed by the media for publicity. National
and regional winners will also be invited to attend an awards ceremony where they will be
presented with their award, invited to speak very briefly about their learning journey and be
photographed.
Please read this form very carefully and if there is anything at all that you do not wish to be made
public, please let us know in the box below. Please also indicate if the employer or any of the
learners do not wish to have a photograph taken or video made.
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Nominator’s declaration*: By submitting this form and ticking the box, I confirm that:
 I wish the employer to be nominated for an Adult Learners' Week Award.
I give my consent to NIACE to use the information in this form.
The information supplied in this form is correct to the best of my knowledge and that the
statements are true and accurate.
 The Chief Executive (or equivalent) and publicity contact have given permission to pass
on their contact details.
 The learner’s permission has been sought to include their contact details in the
nomination.
I confirm that the above declaration is true
I would like to be kept informed of NIACE
activities
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Learner’s declaration (to be completed by the learner from the organisation who completed Part
3)*: By submitting this form and ticking the box, I confirm that:
 The information supplied in this form is correct to the best of my knowledge and that the
statements are true and accurate.
 I agree to my name and information about my learning journey being passed on to third
parties, including the press and media, for publicity purposes only (please note we will not
share your contact details with anyone without your prior consent).
I confirm that the above declaration is true
I would like to be kept informed of NIACE
activities
The Adult Learners’ Week Awards follow NIACE’s Equal Opportunities and Data Protection policies.
For further information please visit www.niace.org.uk.
We aim to notify all winners and their nominators by May 2015. If you have not heard anything
from us by this time please assume that the employer has not been chosen as an award winner
on this occasion. Everyone nominated for an award will receive a Certificate of Achievement.
The closing date for entries is 5pm on Wednesday 17 December 2014
Please return this form to alwnominations@niace.org.uk
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