Award-winning again: CGT Catapult Skills Programmes recognised in 2025
The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) are absolutely delighted to share that it’s Skills Team has been recognised as one of the 57 exceptional training programmes to receive the prestigious Princess Royal Training Award this year for creating a future-ready workforce for advanced therapies!
This honour, formally approved by HRH The Princess Royal, celebrates organisations that demonstrate exceptional commitment to learning and development. In this milestone year –celebrating both the Awards’ 10th anniversary and HRH’s 75th birthday, we are especially proud to be part of a community that showcases the transformative impact of training on people, performance, and organisational success.
The award recognises the positive impact the Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community (ATAC), Life Sciences Learner Hub and Skills Training Laboratories are having on learners and organisations across the wider advanced therapy and life sciences community, including within CGT Catapult.
Since first receiving the Princess Royal Training Award in 2023, the CGT Catapult has evolved its skills and training programmes to tackle critical talent shortages in the cell and gene therapy sector and beyond.
1. The Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community (ATAC) programme has supported almost 400 apprentices across the sector. There is an 80% retention rate across all apprenticeship programmes and 140 of 160 graduates have remained in the sector.
2. The Life Sciences Learner Hub has facilitated the completion of almost 9000 courses within the sector.
Building on this success, we are now expanding and supporting apprenticeship pathways into different medicine types including vaccines, biologics, mRNA and Oligonucleotides, as well as addressing skills gaps in manufacturing, quality, digital and automation (as identified by the 2023 Skills Demand Survey and 2025 Workforce Foresighting research). This is delivered through the Innovate UK funded Industry Skills Accelerator (ISA) in partnership with Cogent Skills and CPI (part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult), to build targeted training solutions to meet the evolving needs of this dynamic Life Sciences sector.
Kathy Varley, Head of L&D and Talent, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, said:
I’m incredibly proud to share that the Skills Team at Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult has once again been recognised with a Princess Royal Training Award 2025! This prestigious honour is a testament to the hard work, passion, and dedication of the team in developing talent both within our organisation and across the wider industry.
It’s a moment of pride not just for us, but for our industry and training partners who have pioneered, steered and engaged with these programmes - this recognition belongs to you!
Emilia Reyes Pabon, Apprentice Technician Scientist, Clinical BioManufacturing Facility, University of Oxford, said:
I am really proud to be part of the Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community.
The support and opportunities provided through ATAC and the Life Sciences Learner Hub have been invaluable to my development. From visiting laboratories across the UK to completing courses on presentation skills, data integrity, and bioprocessing techniques such as isolator use, bioreactor operation and chromatography principles, I have gained knowledge and practical skills that directly strengthen my role as an Apprentice Technician Scientist at the CBF. Having access to such a wide range of free courses with certificates of completion also gives me great evidence for my apprenticeship portfolio.
This award is a fantastic recognition of the positive impact these programmes are having on apprentices like me.
