NCG Hosts WorldSkills Regional Hairdressing Heats for the First Time

NCG has proudly hosted regional hairdressing heats for WorldSkills UK for the first time, with two of its colleges chosen as venues for the competition’s National Qualifiers. 

The first of four regional heats was hosted by Newcastle College on 7 June (the first time the competition has been hosted by a college in the North East) and Kidderminster College hosted the second heat a week later.

Students from three NCG colleges (Newcastle College, Kidderminster College and West Lancashire College) joined competitors from across the North East and Midlands at the heats to battle for a place in the WorldSkills UK hairdressing final in Belfast in November.  At each heat, all students were set a brief to be judged by a panel of industry experts made up of Richard Howell from L’Oréal, Robert Rousseau from WorldSkills and Christine Vokins.

In the North East heat, Newcastle College student Sophie Roxburgh achieved joint first place, tying on points with Grimsby Institute student Faye Trickett. They’ll both need to wait until all qualifiers have taken place to find out if the points they received will be enough to make them one of the top eight scoring competitors and earn them a place in the national final. 

Sophie, 24,  said: “I was really anxious about competing, I almost dropped out because I wasn’t confident with cut and colour, but my tutor was really supportive, and I’m proud of myself now for coming and making it through. I feel more confident in myself and I’m excited about the possibility of competing in the final in Belfast.” 

Judge Robert Rousseau commented: “When I’m judging, I’m looking at creativity, style and quality. I also want to see that students are being mindful of the process, that they’re not wasting time or product or forgetting to treat their mannequin heads as if they are real clients. I was really impressed with what I saw today.”