WorldSkills
The Biggest Skills Competition in the World!
The next WorldSkills international competition takes place from 2-7 July 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. View further information on the Leipzig 2013 website.
The event, held every two years, brings together young people from around 50 nations across the globe to compete to become the best of the best in their chosen skill. There are over 40 skills categories in the competition - ranging from bricklaying to restaurant services and landscape gardening to IT competitions.
Their progress is keenly watched by hundreds of thousands of visitors who include young people, policy makers, government representatives, employers, teachers, trainers and experts from around the world.
View the 
Introduction to WorldSkills (581.98 kB).
WorldSkills UK
WorldSkills UK champions and drives excellence in workplace skills through competition. They do this by encouraging local competitions, supporting regional competitions, hosting the flagship national competition ‘The Skills Show’, and preparing outstanding competitors for global competition.
The aim is to:
- Stimulate ambition and aspiration in young people
- Prove how expert skills generate a more productive workforce
- Demonstrate our nations exceptional talent on the global stage.
WorldSkills UK is managed from London by the National Apprenticeship Service in partnership with organisations from industry and education.
WorldSkills in Scotland
WorldSkills UK is keen for more participation from colleges in Scotland. A WorldSkills sector working group has been established in Scotland, chaired by Linda McTavish, Principal, Anniesland College. Joanne Buchan is the Colleges Scotland representative on this group. The group has secured funding from WorldSkills UK to provide grant funding to allow colleges in Scotland to put on 'Have a Go' activities in their local area - there is up to £1,000 per college available.
Angus College's story World Skills Hairdressing (128.49 kB)
Success stories
At WorldSkills London 2011, the UK won five Gold, two Silver, six Bronze and 12 Medallions for Excellence in front of an audience of 200,000 which included Prime Minister David Cameron. Of those medal winners, two were Scottish college students: Ryan Sheridan (Motherwell College) – Bronze in Mechanical Engineering; and Rory Andrew (Stow College) – Medallion for Excellence in Fashion Technology. In the previous international competition held in Calgary in 2009, Scottish college students won two of the three gold medals won by Team UK plus a Medallion for Excellence.
At first UK Skills Show held in Birmingham in November 2012, Scottish college students won three Gold, four Silver, and three Bronze medals plus two Highly Commended certificates in national competitions in skills ranging from engineering to IT and plumbing.
Find out how to give your students the edge - view the competitor toolkit.
Key Dates
| 11 February 2013 | Registration opens for UK national competitions. |
| w/c 4 March 2013 | Team UK selection takes place. |
| 15 March 2013 |
Team UK announcement. The selected team will represent the UK at the international competition in Leipzig, Germany. |
| 22 March 2013 | Registration closes for UK national competitions. |
| May-June 2013 |
Regional Heats. |
| 31 May 2013 |
Closing date for grant funding applications for 'Have a Go' activities. Details below. |
| 2-7 July 2013 | WorldSkills 2013 international event takes place in Leipzig, Germany. |
| 14-16 November 2013 | The Skills Show at the NEC, Birmingham. What is The Skills Show? |
| 21 November 2013 |
Awards Ceremony for the Scottish regional medalists. Details will be available in due course. |
'Have a Go' Activity
Colleges are invited to organise activities to allow learners and potential learners of all ages to 'Have a Go' at skills they might never have considered as career options. The aim is to inspire them with a bite-sized taster of a skill and to promote vocational training. Have a Go activities can also generate ideas for student participation and provide a valuable opportunity to access hard to reach groups, helping your college to continue to make a difference.
By putting on an event or incorporating Have a Go activities within an existing event e.g. open days, you can raise your college profile with schools, employers and the public. Have a Go's can be successful in various settings including out in the community to specific groups, school link days, job fairs, shopping malls etc.
There is grant funding of up to £1,000 per college available to support these activities. Grant applications can be made by completing the 
Have a Go Grant Application Form. The deadline for grant applications is Friday 31 May 2013.
Activity Ideas
- Arts and Retail: Making button holes and bouquets for valentine’s day/mother’s day. Encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in your learners by setting up a stall and selling them for a good cause!
- Built Environment: Laying a brick, tiling a wall, suiting up for site (PPE safety), planeing a piece of wood, bending pipes plumbing style!
- Care and Health: Guess the body part, assemble a skeleton, CPR, bandaging techniques, name the object (identifying an everyday aid).
- Computing and IT: Building a web page or app, morphing a picture, using AutoCAD to make a floor plan, testing a network patch lead.
- Engineering: Safe changing of a wheel on a car, spray painting a panel, engraving onto a key ring using a CNC machine, wire a plug, solder an electronics circuit, stripping a spark plug from an engine (motor vehicle), carry out bicycle checks.
- Hospitality: Setting a table, napkin folding, bed making, decorating cupcakes, an omelette making challenge!
College Activity
Find out what activites City of Glasgow College have planned for 2013 by visiting their website.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown congratulates Adam Smith College's WorldSkills participants - read more.
Joanne Buchan
Tel: 01786 892012
Email Joanne Buchan