We are delighted to announce that Advance HE has been recognised by the prestigious Princess Royal Training Awards for Aurora, our leadership development initiative for women in higher education.
Now celebrating a decade of training excellence, The Princess Royal Training Awards honour organisations that demonstrate outstanding commitment to learning and development and highlight the tangible impact of exceptional training on both businesses and individuals.
Launched in 2016 in response to demand from employers for recognition of excellence in workplace training, more than 1,000 training programmes have been put forward for evaluation. Since then, 415 Awards have been presented to 274 organisations, who have collectively trained almost 1 million people, demonstrating the Awards’ far-reaching place in skills development across the UK and Ireland.
The 10th year of The Princess Royal Training Awards saw 143 applications, with 57 achieving the prestigious award.
“For the last 10 years, the Princess Royal Training Awards have stood as a beacon of excellence in learning and development.
“This year’s recipients have presented innovative approaches to challenges within their organisations which are highly representative of wider challenges within UK business and society, tackling problems including skills gaps and attracting quality applicants.
“We have also seen an increased focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as organisations explore ways to foster inclusive workplaces and ensure that disadvantaged or marginalised groups of workers benefit from high-quality training.”Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive of City & Guilds
"We are deeply honoured to receive a Princess Royal Training Award in recognition of our leadership development work for women in higher education. For more than a decade, Aurora has empowered over 15,000 women to develop their leadership capabilities across our sector, creating meaningful impact for both participants and their institutions.
"This award reflects Aurora's transformative influence on leadership development and Advance HE’s commitment to advancing women in higher education. We are immensely proud of Aurora and the remarkable achievements of our participants.
"I would like to extend special recognition to Sarah McSorley, who spearheaded the award application process. Her comprehensive analysis of longitudinal data and expertly crafted submission successfully demonstrated the best practices that drive Aurora's success as a best-in-class workplace training programme.
"We are very much looking forward to celebrating this prestigious honour alongside fellow Princess Royal Training Award recipients later this year."Barbara Bassa, Senior Consultant for Women in Leadership at Advance HE
In an interview recorded last year, with Kirstie Donnelly MBE, CEO of City & Guilds, HRH The Princess Royal praised the breadth and quality of the Awards’ training programmes and acknowledged the continued importance of City & Guilds’ training in society.
For a full list of this year’s recipients and their training programmes please see the 2025 recipients page.
