WorldSkills UK success for Wirral Met tutors

Staff members at Wirral Met College have successfully completed a 12-week WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence Educator’s programme, bolstering the college’s status as a member of the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence, in partnership with NCFE.

WorldSkills UK supports young people to engage in competitions-based training, assessment and benchmarking, with members’ national teams ultimately testing their ability to achieve world-class standards in the biennial ‘Skills Olympics’.

Wirral Met has been a member of the WorldSkills Centre of Excellence since 2020 and is one of only four member colleges in the North West. Through its membership, tutors working with hundreds of employers from their respective industries supercharge the quality and delivery of technical and vocational training to help students develop employability skills for their future careers.

High-performance skills coach Jenna Wrathall Bailey MBE, who has a track record of training medal-winning teams at WorldSkills UK, worked with Wirral Met tutors over a 12-week period.

The specialist training included how to embed world-class practises and techniques into teaching, learning and assessment. The tutors were presented with their award to acknowledge that they are now officially WorldSkills UK educators.

Thanks to this new knowledge, alongside ongoing coaching and mentoring from WorldSkills UK coaches, students are already reaping the awards and performing their skills to a high standard. Three Wirral Met students have been announced as finalists in the prestigious WorldSkills UK competitions, which take place from 9-19 November. Luke Turner, Michael Kier and Josh Joynson will compete in their chosen skills of carpentry, welding and plastering respectively.

Sue Higginson, principal of Wirral Met College, said: “Excellence in learning is about setting world class standards and expecting students to aspire and achieve to them. This is underpinned by excellence in teaching and I am very proud of our staff teams who are passionate about helping students to strive for excellence and invest their skills and talent in developing the next generation. 

“We very much appreciate the partnership we have with WorldSkills UK and look forward to continuing our journey with them.”

WorldSkills UK head of skills development and international competitions Parisa Shirazi said: “Through our partnership with NCFE, the Centre of Excellence is transferring innovations in teaching and training to educators and influencing standards of practice across technical and vocational education and training. Mainstreaming excellence in training standards and cascading it through to students and apprentices is only possible because of the dedicated teaching staff and leadership team from Wirral Met College.

“I would like to congratulate all the educators at the college on their achievements and to wish their students and apprentices in next month’s WorldSkills UK finals the very best of luck.”