SOPHIE Burdass lost her voice but gained an apprenticeship after spotting the opening during a hospital visit.

Now the Ely teenager has become Cambridge Regional College’s 3,500th apprentice in training - a record figure for the college.

Sophie became the record-holder when she joined Cambridge University Hospitals as an administration apprentice – finding the job whilst being treated for her lost voice.

Whilst at Addenbrooke’s the 18-year-old spotted saw the college run stall and ended up as the newest member of the hospital’s work opportunities team.

Sophie, whose ambition is to be a nurse, said: “I didn’t know much about apprenticeships until I went to the stall that CRC had in the concourse at Addenbrooke’s.

“I was at Ely Sixth Form College studying sociology, psychology and health and social care but the ‘traditional’ way of learning wasn’t really suiting me.

“I thought a more hands-on approach would be better suited.”

Angela Hughes, who heads the apprenticeship programme at CRC, said she was delighted that Sophie had become the college’s 3,500th apprentice.

“Apprenticeships are a great opportunity for employers and apprentices – they are the gold standard of workplace training,” she said.