Skilled students set to take on the world

An incredible 22 students and recent graduates from New College Lanarkshire (NCL) have been announced as finalists in this year’s Worldskills UK national competition

The students are gearing up to defend the college’s title of “Best in the UK” at the prestigious competition-based development programme.

More than 500 finalists representing organisations across the UK will be vying for gold, silver and bronze medals at the competitions, to be held at centres in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland during the week beginning November 14.

Venues in Barking and Dagenham, Belfast Metropolitan, Blackpool and The Fylde, Cardiff and Vale, Edinburgh and Middlesbrough colleges will host the finals, covering 62 disciplines.

All of the finalists were among the top performers in their chosen disciplines following a series of regional qualifiers.

Designed by industry experts, Worldskills UK competitions aim to help young people grow personally and professionally by developing their technical and employability skills and boosting their confidence.

Competitors who impress under pressure could see themselves representing the UK at the “skills olympics” in France in 2024.

TV presenter Steph Mcgovern will announce the overall winners at her Packed Lunch studio on Friday, November 25.

Those who will be representing New College Lanarkshire in November are:

Lina Simasiute – beauty

therapy practitioner; Jamie Easton – commercial make-up; Stuart Price – construction metalwork; Valeria Dimitriev – culinary arts; Daryl Mcghie and Marcel Kozlowski – cyber security; Jordan Hutton, Shaun Coghill, Katarzyna Rajska, Matthew Orr, and Lorri Tollan – digital construction; William Graham – fire detection and alarm systems; Ryan Cranie, Steven Byrne, Liam Quinn, Kieran Mcdougall, and Nathanial Patrick– IT support technician; Nathan Young, Alexander Riddock, Martyna Pietrzyk, and

Lewis Marshall – mechanical Engineering: CAD; and Andrew Clark – web development.

Professor Christopher Moore, principal and chief executive at NCL, said: “I’d like to offer my congratulations to all of the students and apprentices from our own college and beyond who have been selected for t he national finals of this year’s Worldskills UK competiti on.

“Every year we have the privilege to witness the journeys our competitors make in showcasing their talents at

Worldskills UK qualifiers and finals, which sets them up for continued success in life and work as they progress on from New College Lanarkshire.

“Their success is made possible thanks to the dedication, hard work and enthusiasm of our staff at NCL, whose tireless efforts are reflected in our track record of attaining the title of ‘Best in

the UK’ on five occasions since 2013.”

Ben Blackledge from Worldskills added: “We are really excited to be taking the show on the road again this year.

We hope that seeing the finals in person, or catching up with our online content, will inspire more young people to develop their skills and have a go at one of our competitions next year.

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

More information on the competition, and the full list of finalists, is available via https:// www.worldskillsuk.org/news/ wsuk-finalists-2022/

Hard working Twenty-two New College Lanarkshire students have been announced as finalists in this year’s Worldskills UK