Apprentices on top of the World
SECTT apprentices celebrated two medal wins at this year’s WorldSkills UK LIVE
Two young SECTT apprentices returned home with medals after impressing the judges at this year’s WorldSkills UK LIVE competition.
Delighted Lewis Sim and Darren Kerr clinched silver and bronze respectively in the electrical installation category of the three-day contest.
A third SECTT apprentice, Blair Angus, also took part in the annual competition, which was held at the Birmingham NEC from Thursday 21 to Saturday 23 November.
To win a place at the final, the trio had to navigate a Scottish SECTT heat then take part in one of six SkillElectric UK regional heats, this year held at Dundee and Angus College in June.
The top eight performers from the UK regional heats then competed in the three-day challenge under the eyes of a group of industry experts.
Darren currently attends the Motherwell Campus of New College Lanarkshire and works with Prime Electrical. When not at Moray College UHI, Lewis is learning the ropes at McDonald and Munro, while Blair works for Wood Industrial Services and attends Ayrshire College.
Anne Galbraith, the CEO of SECTT, said: “Everyone at SECTT is delighted for both Lewis and Darren, who thoroughly deserved these accolades.
“All three of the competitors can be extremely proud of their performances – to reach the finals is in itself a fantastic achievement.
“They are a credit to their employers, their colleges and Scotland, and we wish them well for the future.”
This year’s success follows double delight in the 2018 competition, which saw SECTT apprentices Rhys Boni and Paul Anderson clinch gold and silver medals respectively.
Anne added: “Scottish apprentices have now won four of the six medals on offer at WorldSkills UK LIVE in the last two years, which is a fantastic advertisement for electrical training north of the border.”
This year’s WorldSkills UK LIVE saw more than 500 talented apprentices and students compete in more than 70 different disciplines, ranging from bricklaying to floristry. The winners in each category secured the opportunity to represent the UK at the WorldSkills Finals – known as the ‘skills Olympics’ – in Shanghai in 2021.
The event also attracted more than 80,000 visitors and featured over 200 different employers and training organisations, plus in-depth talks from industry leaders.
Ben Blackledge, Deputy CEO of WorldSkills UK, said: “This is a life-changing moment for these young people – they are the new generation of high flyers that will give UK employers a competitive edge.
“Taking part in WorldSkills UK competitions equips young people with the world-class skills that are needed to help UK businesses better compete globally “We couldn’t be prouder of each and every one of them – and the standard of competition could not have been higher.”
Silver
Lewis Sim
McDonald and Munro
Moray College UHI
BRONZE
Darren Kerr
Prime Electrical
New College Lanarkshire
