Cardiff and Vale College wins more gold medals than ever before in Skills Competition Wales

Cardiff and Vale College learners have won a record 19 gold medals at Skills Competition Wales – more than ever before.

CAVC students won 34 medals in total, including 11 silver and four bronze medals in a wide range of competitions, including Forensic Science, Culinary Arts, Web Design, Visual Merchandising and Creative Make-up.

This year’s Skills Competition Wales also saw successes for young women learners studying STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths – courses at the College. Kritika Chandel won a gold in Cyber Security alongside team-mate James Thole and Emma Morgan won a gold medal in Network Security.

Gold medallist, Emma Morgan described her competition experience: “I’m over the moon to have won a gold medal – it’s a massive honour!

“Having the opportunity to take part in such a prestigious event was amazing and showed me what networking in the real world looks like. It made me excited for what’s possible in the future.

“A standout moment of the competition was getting to meet other competitors from different backgrounds and industries and seeing how talented people my age are. It was a whole new experience and has motivated me to stand out from my peers.

“Looking forward, I’m hoping to go to university or complete a degree apprenticeship. I’m also hoping to be able to compete in the IT Network Systems Administration category at the UK-wide competition, WorldSkills UK.”

There were strong results in the Automotive category, with Milhaly Zeke winning gold and Ryan George winning bronze in Heavy Vehicle Technology, Belal Al Haka winning gold and Owen Thomas winning silver in Vehicle Body Repair. Ben Williams won gold and Kyle Davin won silver in Vehicle Refinishing.

Belal Al Haka also won the Skills Competition Wales award for Best in Region – East.

“I think this is going to help me in my future career,” he said. “I am so happy and proud to get both of these awards after all of the hard work I did.”

Five CAVC learners won gold in Popular Music: Evan Cook, Gabe Ellis, Seren Leyshon, Ryan Morgan and Corey Thomas with their band Rico Shay. There was also a gold medal for Marnie Gaskell in Restaurant Service, gold for Olivia Bellamy in Hairdressing Age 14-16 and Grace Deguara in Childcare, while Tori Dobell, Oliver Rhodes, Alfie Franklin and Alexander Hill all won gold in Digital Media Production and Josh Nicholls won gold in Brickwork.

Many of the learners will now go on to compete in the WorldSkills UK Finals, with a chance to eventually compete in the ‘Skills Olympics’ – the world-wide WorldSkills Finals, held every four years.

Cardiff and Vale College Principal Sharon James-Evans said: “Congratulations to all of our students on another year of excellent results – with so many gold medal winners! CAVC is a firm believer in the importance of skills competitions and the role they play in developing strong skills sets and creating a source of future talent who will add instant value to any employer.

“This event celebrating Inspiring Skills has seen 100s of medals being given to competitors throughout all the colleges of Wales – a sector that is performing so well. I’m very proud of the 34 medals that Cardiff and Vale College learners have won but this is a real celebration of skills in Wales and the work of the Further Education sector. Well done to everybody, staff and students, who have taken part.”