<p>Last week, three of our wonderful <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu… </a>learners competed in the National <a href="https://www.worldskillsuk.org/">WorldSkills </a>Finals in computing, hosted in Middlesborough.</p>

<p>We were able to sit down with two of the competitors, Fin and Skylar, who told us all about their journey, training and success in WorldSkills; Skylar achieved Silver in the competition!</p>

<p>Both learners expressed an interest in WorldSkills after seeing the success of the previous cohort of Weston College learners who competed, including <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/news/top-country-ucw-student-represent-uk-inte… Kimmins who won gold</a>! They also each explained that it was a great way to work on their own skills to apply to their degree courses.</p>

<p>The whole competition spanned over a long period of time, with the qualifiers being in July. The qualifying round was a day with an issued web development task, with a time limit to complete it. Once the learners had confirmation they had passed this round, they began to revise until the finals, which took place this month (November).</p>

<p>Skylar explained the competition days: “The competition was very challenging. It was a set of five modules spread over three days, based up at Middlesbrough College in their new MC Digital building. The five modules included everything website development, from design work to client side scripting to server side scripting. As well as a speed round where time was of the essence. I felt very prepared due to the wealth of knowledge of previous competitors as well as the practise resource is we were given to help train us for the real briefs.”</p>

<p>While Skylar said that the JavaScript and PHP aspects were the best part of her day, Finley highlighted the speed module on the final day as his best part: “The smaller tasks within the short timeframe was quite fun and was a challenge to think of solutions without spending too much time on a single section given the time restraints.”</p>

<p>However, the competition days were not without their difficulties. Both learners touched on the aspect they found the most challenging; for Finley it was PHP module where he felt he could have benefit from more revision in that area, and Skylar found the design round the trickiest.</p>

<p>Despite the difficulties, all the participants did incredibly well, with Skylar achieving Silver overall! This is such a wonderful achievement, and she was absolutely thrilled, saying “It felt absolutely amazing to achieve silver in the website development competition. Knowing that I am the second-best student website developer in the UK feels absolutely amazing.</p>

<p>I found out the results through a virtual medal ceremony, live streamed by Steph McGovern from her studio where they announced all the winners of the competitions. I just couldn’t believe it when my name was called out!”</p>

<p>Both Skylar and Finley were very enthusiastic about the prospect of competing again next year, Finley commenting, “I am already looking forwards to the sign-ups. I entered this year, unsure if it was the correct choice, but after attending and reaching the finals, its been an amazing experience. I am excited to attend again!”</p>

<p>If you are considering following in their footsteps and entering WorldSkills, here is the first-hand advice from those who just competed: “Just go for it – you won’t know how far you can go or the extent of your knowledge unless you try, and it’s such a great learning experience. Even if you don’t get through to the finals, it’ll still look great on your CV!”</p>

<p>Both learners expressed huge gratitude to their teachers and tutors at University Centre Weston, Jason Hill, Jack Kimmins and Jack Cole, who have been so supportive throughout the whole process, including numerous training sessions.</p>

<p>Many congratulations to everyone involved!</p>

<p>It is the <a href="https://www.worldskillsuk.org/">WorldSkills</a&gt; National Finals next week (w/c 14th November). This event is the culmination of an exciting development programme, designed and assessed by industry experts, which judge an individual’s employability, personal and technical skills. There will be a total of 62 finals between 7 venues, and <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/worldskills">Weston College</a> will be running the Website Development Competition at the Middlesborough venue!</p>

<p>Three of our own computing learners, Finley, Mircea and Skylar will be competing, and we wish them the very best of luck, as well as five other finalists from all over the country. We are looking forward to seeing who takes home the trophy!</p>

<p>As well as boosting skills and confidence, if competitors impress under the pressure of the finals, they could being with a chance of representing the UK at the “skills Olympics” in France 2024.</p>

<p>Steph McGovern will announce the winners on Friday, 25th November in a special medal ceremony, live-streamed to the WorldSkills UK website, from her Packed Lunch studio.</p>

<p>Sandra Bull, the Dean of the Faculty, commented: “We are so proud of the learners going to compete in the WorldSkills National Finals – it is a huge achievement for the college, and is a testament to the talent and ambition that is created here. This achievement, of course, would not be possible without our wonderful staff, who give endless encouragement and support to our learners, so a huge thank you from me, to every staff member that has been involved with this opportunity. Good luck to every participant competing, we can’t wait to celebrate your expertise.”</p>

<p>We welcomed year 11 students into the Weston Digital Hub for a Digital taster day. Being one of the leading colleges in the UK for <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu… and digital studies</a>, we want to give as many students as possible, the opportunity to study with us and reach their individual ambitions. Through the taster day, we showcased our exceptional lecturers and facilities that assist our learners in becoming successful in the IT industry.</p>

<p>9 students from Hans Price Academy and 2 from Churchill Academy attended the taster day, to decide if Computing and Digital Technologies was the career route for them; every student that was asked said they enjoyed themselves, and 9 out of 10 said they would attend a Digital taster session again, with the 10th saying maybe.</p>

<p>One of the attendees stated: “This day was amazing! I wasn’t sure this subject area would be for me, but I was wrong, and now my aim is to do as well as I can in my GCSEs to get onto the Digital course!”</p>

<p>They continued: “I loved working as a team and learning to play different games I’ve never played before!”</p>

<p>As a result of attending the taster day, and having the opportunity to join the Esports Academy, all but one said of the students asked, said that they’d want to apply for Weston College.</p>

<p>Sandra Bull, Dean of the Faculty, said: “Here at Weston College, it’s crucial to us that every potential student is given the opportunity to explore every pathway that could lead them to their dream career. The taster day was incredible, and the engagement, passion at positive feedback from the attendees is the reason we continue doing the work we do. We can’t wait to welcome our next group of year 11s to have their taster day with the college.”</p>

<p>Find out more about upcoming <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/taster-days">taster days</a>, and other <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/news-and-events/events">events</a&gt;, via the links!</p>