Cambridge Spark Data Awards
2023
A celebration of outstanding individuals
About Cambridge Spark Data Awards
What are Cambridge Spark Data Awards?
Cambridge Spark is an education technology company on a mission to accelerate impactful professional education in technology. We enable organisations to achieve their business goals by educating their workforce in data science & artificial intelligence. Core to all of our programmes is a focus on the business impact of data and creating return on investment through the skills we teach. The Cambridge Spark Data Awards recognise outstanding learners, alumni and line managers, who have made a difference in their profession, demonstrated excellence in their approach to learning and made a positive impact with data in their careers and organisations in the past year.
Why should you enter the awards?
Awards are a great way of gaining recognition and respect among peers. They can help develop deeper relationships with customers, investors, suppliers, partners and networks. Not only can an award make us feel proud, but it also helps us figure out what we do well and why so that we can carry on doing it and use it to shape our careers for the better.
Who can be nominated for an award?
- Live apprentices on Cambridge Spark's programmes
- Achievers/Alumni who completed a Cambridge Spark apprenticeship
- Line managers who supported/have been supporting their apprentice to successfully complete an apprenticeship with Cambridge Spark
Who can nominate an individual?
Unless otherwise stated for a particular category, entries can be submitted by:
- Line managers nominating their apprentices
- Learners nominating themselves
- Learners nominating their colleagues on the apprenticeships
- Cambridge Spark data mentors and coaches wishing to recognise individuals
How can you nominate someone?
You can submit a nomination through our official submission form. Your nomination should explain in up to 500 words (maximum):
- How the nominated individuals meet the criteria, including quantifiable metrics where possible
- Why they should win the award
Detailed information for each award category including criteria and submission form can be found below.
An individual can be nominated for multiple awards.
What happens after nominations are closed?
- Our judging panel will meet to decide on the shortlist and winners in all categories
- All shortlisted individuals will receive an official 'Shortlisted for Cambridge Spark Data Awards' digital badge for demonstrating outstanding commitment and achievement in their roles
- Winners will be announced on 13th February 2023 in our blog post and across social media and will be invited to the next Cambridge Spark Celebration Dinner in March 2023 - an exclusive Formal Hall Dinner at one of the University of Cambridge colleges.
Key dates
13th January 2023
Nominations close
30th January 2023
Shortlist announced
13th February 2023
Winners announced
24th March 2023
Celebratory dinner
Awards Categories & Nominations
This award is for a Level 3 Data Citizen Apprentice who has developed data fluency skills enabling them to become more productive, use data in their daily work and make an impact on their organisation. This could range from finding efficiencies for themselves and for colleagues, being able to tell stories with data to help inform data-driven decision-making, to understanding the positive impacts of data for their employer. This award includes those on our standard Data Citizen programme as well as on the specialist Data-Driven Journalism and NHS Data Citizen programmes.
This award will be judged against the following criteria:
- Nominated individuals must be apprentices who are currently undertaking the L3 Data Citizen or L3 Data-Driven Journalism apprenticeship with Cambridge Spark or completed the above apprenticeships in the past 12 months (at the time of submitting the nomination) and who have contributed to the development of impactful and innovative data solutions within their team and organisation.
- The nomination summary should explain in up to 500 words (maximum) how the nominated individuals meet the below criteria, including quantifiable metrics where possible, and why they believe they should win the award:
- Demonstrated impact with data - tell us about the quantifiable benefits/impact the individual has delivered to their organisation through applying data skills in the past year. Examples of possible measures of impact: Hours of their time saved through automation and efficiencies; Hours of their team’s time saved through automation and efficiencies; Cost reductions through identifying efficiencies; Increased revenue through insight delivered
- Professionalism and Gold Standard - tell us how the individual has demonstrated a quality approach through personal values and working practices to ensure the successful use of data in their organisation. Examples of professionalism and gold standard: Following best practices; Working collaboratively with colleagues; Identifying innovative applications of data to benefit them and their employers.
This award is for the Level 4 Data Analyst Apprentice who has taken key skills taught in the apprenticeship (for instance Python, SQL and Power BI) and applied them to a positive impact in their organisation. Strong nominees will champion data analysis in their organisation and show innovative applications of data to benefit themselves and their team.
This award will be judged against the following criteria:
- Nominated individuals must be apprentices who are currently undertaking the L4 Data Analyst apprenticeship with Cambridge Spark or have completed the above apprenticeship in the past 12 months (at the time of submitting the nomination) and who have contributed to the development of impactful and innovative data solutions within their team and organisation.
- The nomination summary should explain in up to 500 words (maximum) how the nominated individuals meet the below criteria, including quantifiable metrics where possible, and why they believe they should win the award:
- Demonstrated impact with data - tell us about the quantifiable benefits/impact the individual has delivered to their organisation through applying data skills in the past year. Examples of possible measures of impact: Hours of their time saved through automation and efficiencies; Hours of their team’s time saved through automation and efficiencies; Cost reductions through identifying efficiencies; Increased revenue through insight delivered
- Professionalism and Gold Standard - tell us how the individual has demonstrated a quality approach through personal values and working practices to ensure the successful use of data in their organisation. Examples of professionalism and gold standard: Following best practices; Working collaboratively with colleagues; Identifying innovative applications of data to benefit them and their employers.
This award is for the Level 7 AI and Data Science Apprentice who is trailblazing data science, machine learning and AI in their organisation. Strong contenders will be making a material impact on the advanced data capabilities of their employer and championing data and AI across their team and organisation.
This award will be judged against the following criteria:
- Nominated individuals must be apprentices who are currently undertaking the L7 AI & Data Science apprenticeship with Cambridge Spark or have completed the above apprenticeship in the past 12 months (at the time of submitting the nomination) and who have contributed to the development of impactful and innovative data solutions within their team and organisation.
- The nomination summary should explain in up to 500 words (maximum) how the nominated individuals meet the below criteria, including quantifiable metrics where possible, and why they believe they should win the award:
- Demonstrated impact with data - tell us about the quantifiable benefits/impact the individual has delivered to their organisation through applying data skills in the past year. Examples of possible measures of impact: Hours of their time saved through automation and efficiencies; Hours of their team’s time saved through automation and efficiencies; Cost reductions through identifying efficiencies; Increased revenue through insight delivered
- Professionalism and Gold Standard - tell us how the individual has demonstrated a quality approach through personal values and working practices to ensure the successful use of data in their organisation. Examples of professionalism and gold standard: Following best practices; Working collaboratively with colleagues; Identifying innovative applications of data to benefit them and their employers.
- Demonstrated impact with data - tell us about the quantifiable benefits/impact the individual has delivered to their organisation through applying data skills in the past year. Examples of possible measures of impact: Hours of their time saved through automation and efficiencies; Hours of their team’s time saved through automation and efficiencies; Cost reductions through identifying efficiencies; Increased revenue through insight delivered
Note: Entries for this award can be submitted by line managers nominating themselves, apprentices nominating their line managers or Cambridge Spark data mentors and coaches wishing to recognise a line manager’s efforts.
This award is for an outstanding line manager who demonstrated leadership qualities in supporting their apprentice to successfully complete a Cambridge Spark apprenticeship and helped them to become a successful data professional.
The nomination summary should explain in up to 500 words (maximum) how the nominated individuals meet the below criteria and why they believe they should win the award:
- Demonstrated leadership qualities - tell us how the individual supported their apprentice in developing skills, knowledge and behaviours required to successfully complete the apprenticeship and apply new skills at the workplace
- Championing apprenticeship programmes - tell us how the individual has championed apprenticeship programmes within their organisation.
Note: This award is for Cambridge Spark learners undertaking an apprenticeship or those who have completed an apprenticeship with Cambridge Spark (alumni/achievers).
This award is for an outstanding individual whose employer has identified them as a future leader through the impact they are making with data. The award will be given to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding commitment and achievement in their work, and through their quality and professionalism stands out in their organisation as a high performer in data & AI and shows strong standards expected of a future data leader professional.
The nomination summary should explain in up to 500 words (maximum) how the nominated individuals meet the below criteria and why they believe they should win the award:
- Commitment and achievements - tell us about the individual's commitment and achievements
- Demonstrated impact - tell us about the impact, including quantifiable metrics where possible, the individual and their work is having on the organisation and their team
- Professionalism - tell us how the individual has provided an example to colleagues of the importance of the role of data in their organisation and the standards expected of data professionals.
Note: This award is for Cambridge Spark learners undertaking an apprenticeship or those who have completed an apprenticeship with Cambridge Spark (alumni/achievers).
This award is for an individual who has made outstanding contributions and led voluntary data initiatives either inside or outside of their work, such as community events, talks, hosting networking meetups, telling their story online, volunteering etc.
The nomination summary should explain in up to 500 words (maximum) how the nominated individuals meet the below criteria and why they believe they should win the award:
- Initiatives and achievements - tell us about the individual's data initiatives they delivered and what achievements they accomplished
- Future impact - tell us about the data initiatives the individual is currently working on that will create future impact within data communities

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- Demonstrated leadership qualities via their peer network alongside their progress across the wider components of their programme
- Regularly responded on Knowledge Base, Cambridge Spark's peer learning community, and whose answers were accepted by their peers because they've demonstrated understanding and completeness in their answers
Note: The nomination for this award will be submitted by Cambridge Spark Data Mentors & Coaches only. This award is not open to public nomination.
FAQs
Nominations will be accepted from apprentices' line managers, actual apprentices (active or alumni) and Cambridge Spark data mentors and coaches.
Nominations can be submitted via our online submission form by the deadline. Only fully complete nominations will be reviewed; incomplete nominations will be removed. Please refer to the relevant awards category, which outlines the key information you will need to supply for the nomination and also a link to the submission form. Alongside general information about the individual, you’ll need to address several key questions relating to the category.
Cambridge Spark's live apprentices, achievers/alumni who completed apprenticeships or line managers who supported/have been supporting their apprentices to successfully complete apprenticeships are all eligible to enter the awards.
Nominations open on 16th November 2022 and will close at 23:59 on 13th January 2023. Once the nomination process has been completed, all applications are reviewed to ensure they meet the general criteria. The applications are sent to our judges for an initial review ahead of the judging panel. The judging panel will meet to decide on shortlisted candidates and winners in all categories. Shortlists for all award categories will be announced on 30th January 2023, and winners for each category will be announced on 13th February 2023. All winners will be invited with their plus ones to our celebratory dinner happening on 24th March 2023.
"Cambridge Spark apprentices are helping to build the future in many diverse and exciting ways. Effective methods of deploying digital and data-driven solutions are more crucial than ever to remain on the cutting edge and I am delighted that our programmes offer a fantastic opportunity to equip individuals with the skills needed for continued success.”
Dr Raoul-Gabriel Urma, CEO, Cambridge Spark