Pendennis Shipyard apprenticeship graduate, Josh McKnight, has been awarded the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights Queen’s Silver Medal.

The Silver Medal originated in 1944 when King George VI, Permanent Master of the Shipwrights' Company, introduced an award for the Shipyard Apprentice of the Year. The national award receives over 100 applications from UK marine apprentices each year, but only 24 of the very best are selected for the gruelling assessment week in Kielder Water, Northumberland.

Following a number of trials, six are shortlisted to attend the education and charities committee for probing interviews about their experiences and their personal and professional goals. It is only at the end of these interviews that the winners are announced.

The standard of the Pendennis scheme is so high that four of the company’s apprentices were selected for the initial week’s trial, with two then shortlisted for the final interview stage, resulting in Josh being awarded the top honours, and fellow apprentice Rebecca Avery coming in fourth.

Both are now enrolled in the post-apprenticeship course at Pendennis, alongside full-time employment - Josh as an electrician and Rebecca as part of the engineering team.