Their journey to Lyon began with a gold medal at the 2022 WorldSkills UK National Finals, securing them a spot on Team UK. Jason and Charlie went on to compete at EuroSkills in Gdańsk in 2023, where they earned another Medallion for Excellence, leading to their place at WorldSkills 2024. They were two of five students from Northern Ireland representing Team UK.
Apprentices and vocational students from across the UK showcased their world-class talents on the global stage, delivering a strong response to the Prime Minister’s vision of rebuilding Britain.
Team UK, selected, mentored, and trained by WorldSkills UK, has been recognised by global industry leaders as among the most skilled young people in the world, following their medal-winning performance at WorldSkills Lyon 2024—the ‘skills Olympics.’
Mel Higgins, Principal & Chief Executive of Northern Regional College and Worldskills UK Trustee said: “I warmly congratulate Team UK for their exceptional performance last week, particularly our former students, Charlie and Jason. It has been a pleasure to witness the remarkable sense of community and collaboration in Lyon. Along with the Chair of the Governing Body, Ken Nelson, I travelled to Lyon to see first-hand the incredible talent on display during the competitions. Jason and Charlie have shown exceptional hard work and dedication to this competition and they both should be immensely proud of their achievements alongside their Training Manager Karla Kosch who has led and developed the students with world class knowledge and expertise.”
Over 1500 young people from 69 countries competed over four days of tough competition in 62 different skills at WorldSkills Lyon. The event was watched by over 250,000 spectators.
WorldSkills Lyon 2024 took place from 10 -15 September. The next WorldSkills Competition will take in 2026 in Shanghai, China.