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Two Nescot students have been named in the UK squad for the next WorldSkills competition.
Ben Beckett, in the final year of his Computing degree and Isaac George, in the second year of his Level 3 qualification in Computing, are among the four listed in the IT Network Systems Administration category.
The pair will now compete to be part of the final team to represent the country in the international ‘skills Olympics’ to be held in Shanghai next year.
Frances Rutter, CEO and Principal at Nescot, praised the students for their hard work, and thanked the Computing teaching team for their support.
“To have two students in the UK squad is brilliant, and Ben and Isaac should be really proud of what they’ve achieved,” she said.
“As a college we take WorldSkills seriously because of how much the students benefit – from the technical excellence they develop to the soft skills they learn.”
WorldSkills UK announced the list of 137 apprentices and students who are part of the national squad on Wednesday (January 8).
The squad members are now part of the ‘talent programme’, which involves 18 months of intensive training and assessment before the final selection test next year ahead of the competition in Shanghai.
Ben has taken part in WorldSkills before, winning ‘highly commended’ in the Network Infrastructure Technician in the national finals in 2017, and being named in the UK squad ahead of Russia 2019.
Nescot has a proud history of success at WorldSkills regional, national and international competitions. In 2017 former Nescot student Shane Carpenter won a Medallion of Excellence in Abu Dhabi.
Shane also triumphed with fellow student Cameron Barr at EuroSkills the following year, as well as taking part in the Huawei ICT Competition Global Final.
“I’m excited to see another talented group of young people preparing to showcase their skills on the global stage,” said Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.
“I look forward to championing the talent and skills of our young people for many years to come.”
WorldSkills UK, and education and skills charity, is aiming to use the competition as a way of bringing innovation from across the world back to Britain to support growth, productivity and competitiveness.
Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, Chief Executive of WorldSkills UK, said it was ‘fantastic’ to see ‘such a strong squad’.
He added: “They will be flying the flag for the UK, demonstrating to the rest of the world that we are developing the high-quality skills needed to help us to trade internationally and attract inward investment across all of the UK to create and maintain jobs.
“Now, more than ever, we need to invest in excellence in training for the next generation if we are to remain competitive globally and help to create a thriving economy.”
More than 80 countries and regions across the world take part in WorldSkills, and leaders at the British charity believe the competition can help more young people to take up apprenticeships and technical education.