City of Glasgow College Principal and Chief Executive Paul Little said: “This was a world-class achievement and I’m delighted that the tremendous hard work of our students and lecturers has paid off with such a significant show of medals.
“It really is fantastic for our world-class college to be recognised in this way. At City of Glasgow College our top priority is to equip each and every one of our students with the hard and soft skills that they will need from day one, as they enter the world of work.
“This unique competition plays a vital role in raising industry standards. To be at the top of that league table shows just how brilliantly our College is doing in preparing our students to be the best in their chosen career and making sure their talent and skills are recognised by employers as amongst the best in the world.”
City of Glasgow College received five gold medals in beauty therapy (body), confectionery, culinary arts, health & social care and plastering. It also won two silver medals, in network systems administrator and confectionery, and two bronzes, in culinary arts and network infrastructure technician, as well as a highly commended in confectionery.
Around 700 people attended the awards event, held at the Birmingham NEC. The competitions, which were held over three days involved competitors demonstrating their skills and knowledge in front of an audience of 75,000 people who were attending The Skills Show. The Saturday closing ceremony, which marked the culmination of national skills competitions finals, also saw the announcement of most of the UK squad ahead of the next WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi in 2017.
Six competitors from City of Glasgow College will now join members of Squad UK to participate in a training and development programme which will include the selection of Team UK ahead of WorldSkills. The development programme will include a series of milestones and benchmarks which Squad UK Competitors must achieve to progress.
The WorldSkills international competition sees around 1000 young people aged 18 to 25, from all over the world come together to compete for medals in more than 40 different skills including Electrical Installation, Welding, Web Design, Cooking and Bricklaying. WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 will take place from 14 to 19 October, 2017.
Dr Neil Bentley, CEO, Find a Future, which manages the UK’s entry into the WorldSkills Competition said: “I offer my huge congratulations to every young person who has secured a place in Squad UK at The Skills Show 2015.
“By competing in the WorldSkills Competition, the UK is able to share best practise in apprenticeships, further education and skills with countries around the world, raising standards on a global scale. Additionally, by using the knowledge gained from competing at WorldSkills, we know we are working to international benchmarks that will ultimately equip more young people to help UK business better compete globally.”
Links
The Skills Show