An Ely teenager who found her perfect job – without leaving school – has become Cambridge Regional College’s 10,000th apprentice.

Jessica Ransome, 18, snapped up an apprenticeship in business administration at her old school after completing a BTEC in performing arts at Parkside Sixth Form College.

She began by doing temporary administration work at both Parkside and Coleridge Community Colleges in Cambridge – and impressed her new employers so much they decided to take her on as their first apprentice.

Jessica, who lives in Ely, was presented with flowers and shopping vouchers at a celebration event at the college to mark CRC’s 10,000th apprentice since 2001.

Laraine Moody, assistant principal and head of employer engagement at CRC, said: “10,000 apprentices is a landmark figure for the college and we are absolutely delighted that Jessica has helped us reach such a significant number.

“She is one of the many young people who are seeing the benefits of an apprenticeship as the path to a great career and is working hard to achieve her dream.

“CRC started offering apprenticeship programmes on a very small scale in 2001 and since then we have seen the numbers grow regularly, particularly in recent years as more and more employers recognise the business benefits of taking on apprentices.”

Jessica, described by her boss as “a joy to work with” because of her energy and enthusiasm, has already worked on mail merges, data input, document creation, archive, reception duties and helped plan, organise and run a senior citizens’ winter concert.