Welsh competitors celebrate success as 130 are set to compete at the Worldskills UK National Final

Students from across NPTC Group of Colleges are waking up this morning as finalists in the UK’s Biggest Skills Competition – the WorldSkills UK National Finals.

Nine students so far make up the 130 Welsh finalists with results still coming in.

NPTC Group of Colleges finalists are:

Beauty Therapy Practitioner	Ariyarnna Tidbury	Newtown College
Carpentry	Sammy Young	Neath College
Manufacturing Team Challenge	Lien Parry	Neath College
Manufacturing Team Challenge	Levi Harris	Neath College
Manufacturing Team Challenge	Kane Chadwick	Neath College
Painting and Decorating	Paul Mason	Neath College
Plastering	Jack Holmes	Swansea Construction Centre
Plastering	Jonathan Donaldson	Swansea Construction Centre
Welding	Morgan Eley	Neath College

Wales has maintained its top spot of having the highest number of competitors of all UK regions since 2015. This year, over one in four finalists are Welsh and with two categories still yet to be announced, it’s likely this number will increase.

The announcement follows a series of regional competitions that took place across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, hosting a string of talented young people.

WorldSkills supports young people across the world to take part in competition-led training, assessment, and benchmarking, with the competitors from national teams testing their ability to achieve world-class standards in an Olympic-style skills competition.

Over 5,000 young people registered to take part in this year’s WorldSkills UK competitions and have been competing since April, with competitors successfully demonstrating their skills to an incredibly high standard throughout the National Qualifiers.

The competitions challenge competitors in five different sectors to be named the best in their skills, including Construction & Infrastructure, Engineering & Technology, Health, Hospitality & Lifestyle, IT & Enterprise and Media & Creative.

The WorldSkills UK National Finals will be held across six venues in the UK, Barking & Dagenham College, Belfast Met College, Blackpool & The Fylde College, Cardiff & Vale College, Edinburgh College, and Middlesbrough College.

Edward Jones, Skills Ambassador at NPTC Group of Colleges said: “As always, we are delighted with the achievements of our students. This has been a fantastic experience for them to showcase their skills and compete and it’s wonderful to get back to competition after the pandemic. These students have successfully gone through the regional finals to get to this top level of competition, and it will serve them well in the future. Not only will it look good on their CVs when applying for jobs, but it demonstrates the skill set and talent they have that will equip them for their chosen career paths.”

Minister of Economy, Vaughan Gething stated: “The Welsh Government is committed to investing in our future generations. By providing our young people with opportunities to develop new skills, we’re providing them with the tools they need to build successful future careers. This will support them to be at the forefront of helping our Welsh businesses to innovate and grow.

“The WorldSkills competitions bring together some of the most creative, skilled, and driven young people in Wales, and help raise awareness of the power of skills to transform lives, economies, and society. So, I’m delighted that 130 Welsh competitors have made it to the finals. I wish all the competitors the best of luck, both in this important competition and for their future.”

WorldSkills UK, Deputy CEO Ben Blackledge, said: “I want to offer my congratulations to everyone who registered for our competitions this year, especially those who are now going on to compete in November’s finals.

“Our competitions and competition-based development programmes equip apprentices and students with the lifelong, world-class skills that will help increase UK productivity and competitiveness.”

Partly funded by the Welsh Government and run by a dedicated network of colleges, work-based learning providers and employer-led organisations, WorldSkills UK aims to inspire and upskill future generations by developing young people’s vocational skills while celebrating their achievements.

Competitions begin at a regional level with Skills Competition Wales led by the Inspiring Skills Excellence in Wales project, and progress through to national and international competitions.

For more information on WorldSkills UK and how to start your journey as a competitor, tutor or employer in Wales, visit https://inspiringskills.gov.wales