Hartshill Academy alumni Evan Ashburner, who progressed on to a motor vehicle programme at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) has been celebrating his Silver medal win at the WorldSkills UK national finals.
Evan had always enjoyed working on cars, and with a number of family members also employed in the industry, he decided to carry on the tradition. As part of the WorldSkills UK foundation skills competition, Evan took part in a tyre change challenge and said that he felt well-prepared thanks to learning the key skills on his college course.
Evan said, “My tutor Charlene helped me with training and preparation for the finals and was always there to help out if I need support. I am proud to have won the Silver medal.”
Evan is currently in his second year at college on a Level 2 motor vehicle course at NWSLC’s Nuneaton Campus. Once he has completed his programme, Evan wants to progress on to the next level and aims to become a mechanic one day.
Overall, the college collected eleven medals in the national WorldSkills UK finals putting NWSLC at the top of the table for foundation skills in the UK. The medal-winning competitors discovered that they had won four Gold, six Silver and one Bronze medal as the results were announced live by Steph McGovern from her Channel 4 ‘Packed Lunch’ studio.
Marion Plant, OBE FCGI, Principal and Chief Executive of NWSLC and Chief Executive of the Midland Academies Trust, who is also interim chair of WorldSkills, said, “This is a fantastic result for Evan and for all our students, and we are delighted to have excelled in the foundation skills categories in particular as these were first conceived by NWSLC in 2015 when they were originally known as ‘inclusive skills’ competitions.
“These competitions were designed to raise aspirations and motivate our Level 1 students to build their confidence and self-esteem as they developed skills and knowledge. We were also keen to infuse learning with excitement and combine the achievement of qualifications with success in competitions.
“As we see in these latest results, students often go on to exceed expectations based on their prior learning and are able to demonstrate mastery of a skill and enjoy the comradeship of competing with their peers.”
Speaking to Steph McGovern on the live online results show, Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, Chief Executive of WorldSkills UK said, “All our finalists have worked extremely hard and shown that they have the resilience, commitment, and determination to succeed. They should all be extremely proud of the fantastic results they have achieved.”