THE apprentice academy at the Aldermaston nuclear weapons plant celebrates its 60th birthday tomorrow.

To mark the milestone the academy will be holding an exhibition of its history and its role in the development of young people. The exhibition runs from tomorrow until Friday and admission is by invitation.

All apprentices, past and present, and their families have been invited to attend.

Over the years more than 4000 young people have successfully completed apprenticeships in fields such as electrical maintenance, electronic/control and instrumentation, precision machinist and mechanical maintenance.

The newly-named Skills Academy each year receives more than 300 applicants for an intake of just 40 places. Currently around 10 per cent of the company workforce is made up of former apprentices.

The academy has received a number of awards for excellence over the years which include Employer of the Year 2009 at the Learning and Skills Council’s South East awards, the award of Beacon status in 2009 and achievement of ‘outstanding provision’ by Ofsted in 2008.

AWE’s Head of Facility Services, Sian Butler, said: “At AWE we believe in maximising the potential of everyone who works on our sites. Our award-winning apprentice academy is a great example of this approach with many of those who start their careers here going on to hold senior roles within the business.”