Elite skilled youngsters head to Budapest battle

The finest young skilled students from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have been selected to represent the UK at Europe’s most important and prestigious skills competition, it has been announced.

Among them is Gower College Swansea Hospitality student Collette Gorvett.

Team UK – which heads to the EuroSkills Finals in Budapest from 26 to 28 September – will comprise of 22 elite competitors skilled in a broad spectrum of disciplines from engineering to construction, digital to creative.

The EuroSkills Finals, which includes teams from across Europe, is the last before the UK is scheduled to leave the EU next year.  

Dr Neil Bentley, CEO of WorldSkills UK, which selects and trains Team UK to the highest international standard, said: “This will be a life-enhancing opportunity for these remarkable young people.

“After Brexit, our economic success as a nation will be dependent on our ability to close major trade deals and attract inward investment – and this will always hinge on demonstrating we have people with the right skills.

Team UK are the embodiment not only of the kinds of traits and characteristics that we should aspire for in a young workforce, but for the UK Government’s ambitions for Global Britain too.

“They are leaders of their generation – and will inspire many more to walk in their footsteps.”

Governments and industry will be watching with interest to benchmark how well Team UK performs compared to the country’s main European competitors.  At the previous EuroSkills finals, held in 2016 in Gothenburg – Team UK finished seventh.

To secure a place in Team UK, the apprentices and learners have been through an exhaustive selection process, taking part in the prestigious WorldSkills UK National Competitions, the finals of which are held at WorldSkills UK LIVE. 

European Policy makers, educators and industry partners will attend the event – along with (an expected) 80,000 spectators.

Team UK:

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

About WorldSkills UK

WorldSkills UK has been at the forefront of international skills development for 65 years through its membership of WorldSkills International, which organises the biannual ‘Skills Olympics’. 

Changing the national conversation around the prestige of apprenticeships and vocational skills, we create young medal winning, world-class, confident role models, from all backgrounds, who go on to inspire others to follow in their footsteps. 

We are an independent organisation that works with a network of experts from education and industry who have joined forces to help the UK go further, faster.

WorldSkills UK LIVE (formerly the Skills Show), which attracts more than 70,000 young people, is the country’s biggest interactive skills event – and takes place at the NEC, Birmingham in November (15-17).

For more information please visit www.worldskillsuk.org

MEDIA INFORMATION FROM DAN KIRKBY 07785 392735 dan@dkpr.co.uk