Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Top honour for college team
Students and staff from New College Lanarkshire are celebrating winning the top institution title at a major skills competition for a fifth time.
It retained its title as the UK’S best skills provision establishment after students from its Coatbridge, Motherwell and Cumbernauld campuses collected three gold, three silver, three bronze and six highly commended awards at last year’s Worldskills UK event.
Their success in the fields of digital construction, IT support and software, mechanical engineering, commercial make-up and electronic security systems meant the college topped the event leaderboard – and the award winners are now in the running to join the training programme for Worldskills 2022 in Shanghai.
New College Lanarkshire had 24 finalists competing at the event for top apprentices and learners – held at venues across the UK including its own Motherwell base – after they had earlier excelled in a series of summer qualifiers.
Their gold medallists were Izaac Bharwani, Paul Hudson and Clark Mcgeechan; while silvers went to
Jamie Easton, Fiona Stewart and Taylor Williamson, and bronze to Pawel Kudosz, Zoe Lazenby-carroll and Christopher Nairn.
Highly commended accolades in their respective disciplines went to Connor Bradley, Thomas Docherty, Greg Johnston, Lorraine Tollan, Imogen Wright and Piotr Zagajewski.
The results saw the Lanarkshire team finish top of the leaderboard, repeating the feat achieved in 2013, 2014, 2016 and at the last Worldskills competition in 2019.
College principal Professor Christopher Moore said: “The outstanding successes of our students has meant that New College Lanarkshire has retained its position as the number one institution in the UK for skills.
“This is a fantastic achievement and a clear demonstration of the skill and dedication of our staff and the talents and hard work of our students.”
New College Lanarkshire was also represented at the event by expert judges Barry Skea, Lisa Nicholson, Robert Balfour, Jenny Kydd and Michael Mcguire in their various disciplines.
Academic planning dean Matthew Smith, the college’s Worldskills lead, said: “I am so proud of all 24 students who competed in the finals in what was a challenging year with the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions; they trained so hard and really gave it their all.
“Being named number one in the UK for skills once again is a testament to them and to the hard work and commitment of staff who work tirelessly to ensure our students are ready for this competition.
“I’d like to thank all the staff who spent countless hours training and mentoring, as well as those who ensured that the Worldskills UK categories that were hosted at our Motherwell campus were a great success.”
Lanarkshire residents Joshua Valenti and Nathan Gray, who are students at City of Glasgow College, were also among the Worldskills gold medallists as part of the four-strong winning team in digital media production.
Martin Mcguire, the Worldskills director for Scotland, said: “Congratulations to all competitors from Scotland on another terrific medal haul at the national finals – it’s of great credit to them and their tutors, and a fantastic endorsement of our skills system.
“These young people are a real inspiration. They have excelled after one of the most difficult years anyone can remember and their dedication and drive has been second to none.”