WorldSkills is a competition-based development programme, designed by industry experts, to enhance the practical skills and knowledge taught on vocational training courses. The skills competitions are designed to boost the competitors’ skills and confidence and assess their employability attributes against set criteria in a competitive environment. There is clear evidence to show that WorldSkills has a positive impact on competitors, with 90% of previous entrants saying their career progression improved after competing.
Ryan Crooks from Cullybackey is a trainee design engineer with Wrightbus and one of four engineering students at the Ballymena campus to qualify for the Industrial Robotics final. He previously completed a Level 3 BTEC Diploma in Manufacturing Engineering and a HNC in Business and is currently a Higher Level Apprentice doing a Foundation Degree in Manufacturing Engineering.
He said he has learnt a lot from participating in WorldSkills and would encourage others to get involved in the competition:
“Although robotics is not currently used widely in my area of work, participating in the WorldSkills UK/Skills Build competitions has greatly helped my robotics knowledge and this will help me with my Foundation Degree.
He added: “I would definitely recommend WorldSkills competition. Even if like me, you are competing in an area that you are not currently working in, it is always helpful to have knowledge in another topic.”
Last year, Northern Regional College’s engineering students at the College Ballymena campus had a clean sweep in the Industrial Robotics category at the national finals. Brennan Wilson and Louie Health won gold, Cameron Middleton and Adam Kirkpatrick were silver medallists and Jude Moore and Aaron Stevenson were bronze medal winners. Savannah Hodgins, who studied Creative Media Production (Digital Game Development) at Newtownabbey was a silver medallist in the 3D Digital Games Art category.
Cameron Middleton and Adam Kirkpatrick subsequently secured a spot on the UK national squad and travelled with Team UK to the international WorldSkills competition in Luxembourg in October this year.
Jack Carlisle, who is now doing a Computing degree at Queen’s University, Belfast, will represent the College in the IT Software Technician final. A past pupil of Cambridge House Grammar School, Jack did Level 2 Certificate in ICT at the College in Ballymena and progressed to do a Level 3 Extended Diploma in IT. He passed this vocational course, which is an equivalent academic standard of three A levels with flying colours.
“The Level 2 and 3 courses gave me a great foundation for progressing to university. I also developed vocational computing skills in IT support at the College and achieved a Microsoft Office Specialist qualification which will improve my future employment prospects.”
Jack added that participating in WorldSkills competitions had greatly enhanced his skills development: “I had to learn, at a very accelerated rate, how to set up networks between Windows machines using switches and routers, as well as how to configure the machines to allow for these connections and to resolve configuration/data transfer issues. If I had not been competing in the WorldSkills competition, I wouldn’t have had an incentive to put time towards learning about network technicalities and how they can be built in a commercial environment.
“Entering a technical competition like WorldSkills is a challenging experience but progressing through the different stages of the IT Support Technician competition has been enriching. I have learned much more preparing for this competition than I would have ever learned if I didn’t require a competitive level of knowledge of networking systems. If a student finds challenges exciting and are willing to take an opportunity to learn, the WorldSkills competitions are a great way to do it.
Gordon Kane, Curriculum Area Manager for Engineering and the College’s Skills Champion said:
“We are justifiably proud of all the finalists for what they have achieved so far. Reaching the national finals is a major achievement and their success reflects their commitment and dedication to the pursuit of excellence.”
He continued: “The College uses competition-based programmes like WorldSkills to raise standards in training which in turn will help drive economic growth. We hope that the success our students and apprentices have enjoyed so far in WorldSkills will encourage more young people to consider an apprenticeship and technical training as a route to great career success.”
Over 500 finalists will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in 62 different disciplines at the WorldSkills UK 2022 national finals which will be held at six venues across the UK in November. The winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by TV presenter Steph McGovern from her Packed Lunch studio Friday, 25 November.