Super College Students set for WorldSkills Finals

City of Glasgow College has announced a record breaking 27 finalists in this year’s WorldSkills UK skills competition national finals.

They will join 400 other students and apprentices across the country and battle it out to be crowned skills champions.

Currently top two in the medal league table, Team City will compete to win gold, silver and bronze in core disciplines across creative industries, hospitality and leisure, built environment, and business.

Paul Little, Principal and Chief Executive at City of Glasgow College, said:

“As an advocate for vocational excellence, I firmly believe these competitions help to improve skills levels and deliver economic growth, and we are very pleased to see them return this year in a format that reflects present circumstances. I am also delighted that City of Glasgow College is once again fielding such a strong team and we hope, of course, to repeat our previous successes.”

The students have just completed an intensive training event at the college’s City campus. The bootcamp session outlined what students should expect during the competitions, gave advice and practical examples on how to perform under pressure, raised awareness of the impact that diet and nutrition can make to performance, and provided guidance on how to develop a growth and winning mindset.

Margaret Darroch, Head of the WorldSkills Academy at City of Glasgow College, said:

“It is fantastic to have the national finals back, and our bootcamp is an essential element of preparation for this. It’s an intense and focused event, but one which the students benefit greatly from, as it helps ready them for the pressure of such high level competitions. Over the last year, the online training presented a challenge in terms of practicalities, engagement and motivation, but I’ve been blown away by the creativity of our competitors and trainers who resolutely maintained their enthusiasm and commitment.”

The WorldSkills UK competition based development programmes are designed by industry experts and enhance the practical skills and knowledge taught on training courses by assessing an individual’s employability attributes against set criteria in a competitive timed environment.

The programme has a real impact on those taking part, with 90% of previous entrants saying their career progression improved after competing and 86% stating their personal and employability skills had improved.

This year the national finals will take place in locations across the UK for the first time. From Industrial Robotics in Ballymena, to Heavy Vehicle Engineering in Cardiff, Cyber Security in Lanarkshire and Web Design in Somerset, the 2 venues cover all four corners of the UK.

The winners will crowned at a ceremony to be hosted by TV presenter, Steph McGovern, from her Packed Lunch studio on Friday 26 November.