Newry Students Among SRC Hopefuls at WorldSkills UK

Eight students from Southern Regional College are preparing to compete at the WorldSkills UK National Finals, which take place across venues in South Wales from 25-28 November. Four of the students are currently studying at the college's Newry campus and will be among competitors representing SRC in categories including Automotive Refinishing, Automotive Body Repair, Culinary Arts and the engineering disciplines of Automation and Mechatronics.

Professional Cookery students based in Newry Leon Ruddy, 17, and Andrew McVarnock, 20, are two of eight national finalists competing in the Culinary Arts category. The pair will compete individually for the chance to obtain a medal in what will be their debut appearance at the national finals.

Competition activity for Leon and Andrew will take place across two days starting at 8.30am until 5pm each day. They will be tasked with preparing a range of classical dishes, demonstrating their understanding of flavours, plating aesthetics and effective time management. They must remain calm and confident under pressure, a challenge both students are well prepared for.

When not in college, Leon works as a Commis Chef at Wine & Brine Restaurant in Moira training under the guidance of head chef Patrick Lee. Andrew is completing his apprenticeship at Six by Nico in Belfast, where his role and responsibilities continually evolve in response to the restaurant's regular rotation of tasting menus and themes.

Returning to the National Finals this year are teammates Ross Graham, 22, and Carter McKnight, 22. This year's national final will be the duo's third appearance, having won gold in the automation category in 2023 and bronze in the mechatronics category last year. Hoping to improve on their finishing position at this year's final, Ross says the biggest lesson they've learnt from previous competition activity is nailing down on their preparation and ensuring they have undertaken an in-depth analysis of all potential scenarios. Ross and Carter are one of six team pairings competing in this year's mechatronics final.

To be in with the chance of qualifying for the national finals, students had to compete at regional qualifiers earlier this year, before the July national finalists announcement following a UK-wide benchmarking and quality assurance exercise. The WorldSkills UK competition embeds excellence in over 40 skill areas and supports learners and apprentices to develop world-class technical skills.

Mrs Lee Campbell, Principal and Chief Executive of Southern Regional College, said: "As the national WorldSkills UK competition approaches, I want to congratulate our students competing for reaching the upcoming national final. These students have demonstrated remarkable talent in the relentless pursuit of excellence. I wish them every success in this prestigious competition and I am confident that they will not only make our College proud, but inspire others with their achievements."

The college will be hoping its students can bring home medals from the prestigious competition, which showcases the best young talent in technical and vocational skills from across the UK.