Member Article

College Student Wins Prestigious North West Award

An inspirational apprentice at Preston’s College has overcome her disabilities to be named Best Academic Achiever in NHS Health Education England’s North West Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technician Awards 2016.

After starting work as a Saturday girl at Accrington Pharmacy in 2009, Nicola Pennington decided to further her career by enrolling on a Level 2 Apprenticeship Course in Pharmacy Services in 2013. Towards the end of her course she was diagnosed with a visual impairment, linked to her existing hearing condition. Despite these challenges, she completed her Level 2 and was named Apprentice of the Year after being nominated by her Preston’s College assessor.

Nicola’s latest award follows her hard work in pursuing a Level 3 Apprenticeship at Preston’s College, which will enable her to become a Pharmacy Technician and register with the GPhC (General Pharmaceutical Council).

Victoria Johnson, pharmacy assessor and internal quality assurer at Preston’s College, said: “Despite her hearing and visual impairments and the personal challenges she faced following the sudden death of her father during the course of her studies, Nicola has excelled in her class work and assessments and richly deserves both her high marks and this prestigious award.

“She is an inspiration to her classmates and other apprentices across the College, demonstrating that a goal-oriented approach is critical to success.”

Nicola attended an awards ceremony at Manchester Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) along with her classmates and course assessors, Victoria Johnson and Jenny Bradshaw. She faced strong competition from pharmacy technician Apprentices from across the North West to win the award and has been congratulated by both the College and her employer, where she was greeted with a bouquet of flowers the following day.

Nicola added: “I still cannot believe that I received this award, it means so much to me to have my hard work recognised. I’m really grateful to Preston’s College for nominating me and adapting my learning to help me overcome my personal challenges and to Accrington Pharmacy for being so supportive over the past seven years.

“I hope my story will inspire other learners to pursue their ambitions regardless of any challenges they might face and I look forward to continuing my career development with Preston’s College and Accrington Pharmacy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Preston's College .