Local College plays host to UK’s top apprentices during National Apprenticeship Week 4 – 8 March 2019.

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) Lisburn Campus has been selected by WorldSkills UK to host the prestigious selection competitions to select the team of apprentices and students who will represent Team UK at WorldSkills Kazan 2019, in August this year. SERC will be hosting apprentices competing in painting and decorating and wall and floor tiling.

Known as the ‘Skills Olympics’, the WorldSkills Competition will see the world’s best apprentices and students battle it out to win Gold, Silver and Bronze in their chosen skill. The UK is currently tenth in the WorldSkills rankings following its medal success at the last WorldSkills Competition in Abu Dhabi in 2017.

To help celebrate the week, SERC will also be hosting ‘Have a Go’ sessions at their Lisburn Campus, from 2pm – 8pm on Wednesday 6 March during their Full-Time Open Day where young people will be able to try out welding, carpentry and joinery, plumbing and motor vehicle skills. On Thursday 7 March local employers are also invited to visit the College to find out about the range Higher Level Apprenticeship programmes on offer.

Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, Chief Executive, WorldSkills UK, which manages the UK’s entry into the WorldSkills Competition said: “SERC offers state of the art facilities for us to use to select the UK’s top apprentices and students to compete on the world stage.

“Working with training providers like SERC and businesses throughout the UK, we can transfer the insights gained from competing against other countries into the wider economy, driving up training standards in the UK to world-class levels, boosting productivity.”

Ken Webb, Principal and Chief Executive at SERC said, “We are delighted to be one of the host colleges for WorldSkills UK and look forward to welcoming competitors from around the world to Northern Ireland. The event will give us the opportunity to showcase how we nurture and train our young people to be the best they can be and perform on the world stage.

“SERC has witnessed many apprentices take their first steps on a journey that has led to success at UK National, International and WorldSkills competitions.  WorldSkills not only encourages competitors to improve their own skills but provides an example of the high-quality work being produced in training organisations and colleges across the UK.”