Earlier this month, more than 400 students, apprentices and young professionals did battle in 63 disciplines at 22 venues across the UK in November to be recognised as the very best in the UK in their field.
Over 3,000 competitors registered for the prestigious vocational skills competition back in March 2021. To reach the national finals, competitors had to make it through the fiercely competitive regional qualifying rounds by completing a series of tasks in their specific skill area. When the marks from competitors across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were collated, the top eight secured a final spot a chance to qualify for the 2022 WorldSkills World Finals in Shanghai.
The national finals are traditionally held at the NEC, Birmingham but, because of Covid restrictions, this year’s finals were held in different locations across the UK.
With eight finalists – four teams of two - in the Industrial Robotics category either current or former Engineering students at Northern Regional College in Ballymena, the College was invited the host the Industrial Robotics final.
The Industrial Robotics finalists were Cameron Middleton, Adam Kirkpatrick (Hammer Basher and Sparky), Jude Moore, Aaron Stevenson (The Athletes), Brennan Wilson and Louie Health (2 Dudes and 1 Robot), Thomas Simpson and Julia Millar (The Cyborgs).
Judith Smyth, WorldSkills UK Innovation Network Project Manager and host centre lead for the Industrial Robotics final at the College’s Farm Lodge campus in Ballymena explained her role:
“I provided the liaison between College and the four WorldSkills judges from FANUC to ensure that all the paperwork and marking is consistent.
“I really enjoyed the experience and everyone has been so friendly which made my job easy to do.”
Judith added that she had been very impressed with the competitors’ level of focus and attention.
“Not only that, but from observing college life and a tour of some of the classrooms (at Northern Regional College), it’s evident that this is the case for most of the students. It’s obvious there is real dedication from both the students and the educators to achieve success in their studies. I will be sad when the week is over.”
The other students who represented Northern Regional College in the national finals are: Lydia Fletcher, second year Level 3 IT student at the College’s Coleraine campus, who qualified for the IT Software Solutions for Business final which was in Lanarkshire; and Savannah Hodgins and Jonathon Wilsdon who competed in the 3D Digital Games Art in Manchester and Web Design in Weston-Super-Mare respetively. Savannah and Jonathon have both progressed to Ulster University where Savannah is doing a BDes (Hons) in Animation and Jonathon is doing a BDes (Hons) in Interaction Design.
The medal ceremony will be hosted by Steph McGovern from her Channel 4 Packed Lunch Studio and streamed live between 4 and 6 pm on Friday November 26 at https://www.worldskillsuk.org/skills/national-finals-2021-ceremony/