WorldSkills UK Wales

Pink plumbing proves top!

Gemma Prosser proved her metal in the recent skillscompetition Wales final held at Coleg Sir Gar. The 20 year-old who’s studying at the Ammanford campus fought off competition from fourteen other candidates to win first place in the foundation plumbing skills competition!

Gemma decided to seek a career in plumbing after helping her partner who is already a qualified plumber. Thrilled with her win, she’s looking forward to developing her skills and entering higher level competitions like SkillPLUMB in the coming years.

Second place in this year’s plumbing competition went to Jonathan Hopkins from Neath Port Talbot College; whilst Jonathan Madley from Ystrad Mynach College took third position.

In the electrical competition, Coleg Sir Gâr students scooped all top three positions with Ryan Newman, first, Reece Sales, second, and Andrew Kirkbridge, third.

It was a great skillscompetition Wales final – check out our photo gallery on flickr. You might spot previous WorldSkills Squad UK member, Gareth Evans, who spoke to the competitors (as they nervously awaited their results) about his experience and how far a skills competition journey can take you.

Congratulations to all competitors and everyone involved in this competition!

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

The journey to the final

A number of plumbing and electrical engineering students will be preparing for next week’s test at the grand final of this year’s skillscompetition Wales. The event sees the winners from previous heats at Bridgend and Llandrillo colleges and Coleg Sir Gâr compete for the title of overall Welsh winner.

Take a look at their journey to the top…

 Good luck everyone!

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

It all adds up to success!

36 competitors, 12 teams, 7 colleges, 2 judges plus a good number of guests = a successful WorldSkills UK accountancy heat!

On 29 March, Gower College Swansea hosted the first of a number of WorldSkills UK accountancy heats that are taking place across the UK for this 2010/11 round. The venue? The impressive Sketty Hall in Swansea.

The first part of the day saw the competitors undertake a tough three-hour test in their teams as part of the WorldSkills UK competition. Each team was required to prove their technical knowledge and abilities in a variety of accounting skills such as processing sales and purchase invoices and petty cash transactions; whilst also being tested on their teamwork, communication and planning skills and their professional and ethical conduct. Whew! It was a tough three hours, but all teams survived and completed their tasks within the time allocation.

Catering students from Gower College Swansea prepared and hosted the lunch, providing much needed tempting treats for weary competitors and a number of not-so-weary guests. Refreshed teams and watching guests then spent the afternoon on a more light-hearted note with a ‘mastermind’ accountancy competition. Stephen Harrison, former Regional Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, did a splendid job as ‘Question Master’ and kept all teams, (who had not lost their competitive spirit), in check with their buzzers, bells and whistles!

Well done to all involved in creating this event! The results of the WorldSkills UK accountancy heat are currently being verified so we will announce the winners shortly. In the meantime, take a look at the photos of the day on our flickr gallery.

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

Winning web designers scoop top three places

A great skillscompetition Wales IT event at Gower College Swansea last week! Fifteen students from colleges across Wales went head-to-head in the closely fought web design competition.

After four intensive hours of testing their skills, Daniel Thomas from Gower College Swansea was declared the overall winner. He took home a cheque for £250 and a valuable work placement opportunity with a top firm. Richard Jones, Coleg Llandrillo Cymru, scooped the second prize worth £150, whilst Merryck Reynolds-Ibell, Gower College Swansea, won £50 as runner-up in third position.

 
Congratulations to all competitors who proved their metal in this tough competition that saw them tasked with designing a website on a given theme and constructing a number of pages and functions, including animation.

Competitors will be seeking to follow in the footsteps of David Bowen who entered this competition last year and has won a place on Squad UK with a possible chance to compete for Team UK at WorldSkills London 2011 in October.

The competition was managed by Gower College Swansea with support from e-skills (sector skills council for business and technology), who also formed part of the judging panel.

Whilst the web design competition formed the focus of the event, other activities provided a showcase for the sector. IT faculty heads from across Wales held a meeting at the college and later, joined the number of visiting students to sample the latest technology on offer and listen to student presentations that formed a backdrop for the main event. A big well done to everyone involved for organising a fantastic day for all. Take a look at our photos in our flickr gallery.

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

Top mechanics looking to progress to UK finals

Congratulations to Simon Davies, Gareth Morgan and Benjamin Morgan who took the top three places, respectively, in the recent SkillAuto competitions held at Coleg Glan Hafren.

 

The competition is growing from strength-to-strength with a record number of entries totalling almost 1,000 across the UK this year. These three lads will be hoping to join the best-of-the-best in the SkillAuto UK finals later this year, where competitors will have a chance of becoming part of the UK squad that will compete at WorldSkills Leipzig in 2013.

Coleg Glan Hafren’s Automotive Academy, which played host to this Welsh heat, is one of only eight Ford Apprenticeship Centres in the UK. The college offers over 30 automotive courses to over 600 students in total, so was particularly well equipped to stage this prestigious competition. We were also pleased to support this competition as part of our skillscompetition Wales programme.

We have some great photos of the competition on our flickr gallery and you can also view further video coverage posted on Coleg Glan Hafren’s YouTube channel.

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales