Seven apprentices from across BAE Systems are gearing up to compete in the WorldSkills UK national final.
The apprentices made it to the final after passing two challenging regional qualifiers.
The finals will take place between 14 and 18 November across venues in Barking & Dagenham, Belfast Met, Blackpool & The Fylde, Cardiff & Vale, Edinburgh and Middlesbrough College.
Bringing together a range of sectors, the competition will see some of the country’s top apprentices and students from different career paths ranging from machining and tiling to floristry compete in a number of challenges.
Skills Olympics
The finalists will then stand the chance of representing the UK at the ‘Skills Olympics’ in France in 2024.
The competitions are designed by industry experts and assess an individual’s knowledge, practical skills and employability attributes against set criteria in a competitive timed environment.
National finals are taking place in 15 countries across Europe, East Asia and North America with more than 1,000 competitors battling it out in the 46th WorldSkills Competition.
Tania Gandamihardja, group human resources director at BAE Systems, said: “It’s a great honour for our apprentices to be chosen to represent the Company in a prestigious competition such as WorldSkills UK.
“Our apprentices come from a wide range of backgrounds and represent the many different roles on offer to young people across the UK.”
Inspiring young people
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Deputy CEO of WorldSkills UK Ben Blackledge said: “I want to offer my congratulations to everyone who registered for our competitions this year, especially those who are now going on to compete in November’s finals.
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“We are really excited to be taking the show on the road again this year with finals hosted by colleges across the UK. We hope seeing the finals in person or catching up with our online content will inspire more young people to develop their skills and have a go at one of our competitions next year.”
BAE Systems will also be sponsoring the WorldSkills UK North-West competition at Blackpool and Fylde College.
Currently, BAE Systems is training over 3,000 apprentices – more than at any other time in the Company’s history. Since September, BAE Systems has taken on 1,067 new apprentices, most of whom are from the north of England and Scotland.
