Students from Tameside College have succeeded in a national WorldSkills competition after taking top medal places.

Caitlin Kelly, a former hospitality and catering student at the college won gold in the restaurant service category whilst Ben Love and Lucy Yelland took silver in the mechatronics category (engineering).

The prestigious competitions, which take place annually, are described as the ‘Skills Olympics’ and are designed to find the very best student talent in subject areas ranging from construction and engineering to catering, hospitality and hair and beauty.

During the event each student is put through a series of skills challenges in their chosen subject and judged on their performance against their peers. The results were announced during a live awards ceremony, from the ‘Steph’s Packed Lunch’ studio in Leeds.

Caitlin, who now works at the Devonshire Arms Hotel and Spa at Bolton Abbey, will compete internationally with the UK squad at the WorldSkills world finals in Lyon in 2024..

To reach the national finals all three students had to take part in an online competition, then the national qualifiers in Birmingham and Scotland earlier this year, facing off against tough competition. In preparation, Ben and Lucy practised using the state of the art robotics and pneumatics equipment in the college’s advanced technologies centre.

Jackie Moores, principal and CEO at Tameside College, said: “I am absolutely delighted that our students have been awarded not one, not two, but three medals at WorldSkills, even just one would have been a massive achievement. I would like to wish a huge congratulations to Caitlin, Lucy and Ben, to win on a national level is incredible. This shows that the college is committed to the development of our students and is up there with some of the best training providers in the UK.”

Lucy, who is currently studying a degree apprenticeship with the college and Siemens, said: “I’m really elated and surprised at what we’ve achieved and how well we’ve done in the WorldSkills competition. It was an amazing experience to compete in such a big event and I’m looking forward to what the future holds for me.”

To find out more about courses at Tameside College, visit www.tameside.ac.uk or call 0161 908 6600.

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