Young hopefuls battle it out at Loughborough University to represent the UK at global skills contest

Competitors hoping to represent the UK in the international WorldSkills event will be heading to Loughborough University this week, as the campus hosts one of the finals.

WorldSkills is the largest international skills competition in the world.  Held every two years in cities around the globe, the competition sees around 1,000 young people, aged 18 – 25, come together to compete for medals in more than 40 different skills including Electrical Installation, Welding, Web Design, Cooking and Landscape Gardening.

Places on the 40-strong UK team will be decided this week in heats across the country.  Loughborough will be hosting the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Milling final in its School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.  CNC milling machines make precise or production parts that are too complex to be made manually.

Once named in Team UK, the competitors will carry on training intensively before heading to WorldSkills which takes place in Leipzig, Germany from 2 – 7 July, 2013.  Team UK will be hoping to build on the success of the last WorldSkills Competition, held in London in 2011.  At that Competition, the UK won five gold, two silver, six bronze medals and 12 Medallions for Excellence in front of an audience of 200,000 which included Prime Minister David Cameron.

Loughborough’s Jane McCormack, Operations Manager for the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, said: “We are delighted to welcome the UK’s WorldSkills hopefuls to the University.  Engineering is at the heart of Loughborough and part of our heritage, so being able to support something that celebrates such skills is fantastic.”

Jaine Bolton, Chief Operating Officer, National Apprentice Service and UK Official Delegate to WorldSkills International said:  “I wish every entrant the best of luck as they compete to secure a place in Team UK.

“By taking part in international competitions, the UK is able to showcase the high levels of performance that can be achieved by individuals and organisations through high quality further education, skills training and Apprenticeships.  This provides the inspiration for young people and adults to be ambitious in their pursuit of skills to the highest level.”

Team UK will be announced at the end of March.

−ENDS−

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