Joe Martin, an Apprentice Sheet Metal Fabricator at GKN Aerospace, won the title of Engineering Apprentice of the Year at the Weston College Business Awards 2016.

Now in the sixth year, the awards recognise the exceptional achievements of employers and apprentices across a range of industries.

Joe was chosen as the engineering category winner by a panel of judges and was presented with his award on stage by keynote speaker, Sally Gunnell.

Joe is a natural leader within the group and has been invited to work on a go-kart which the second year apprentices are constructing. Joe has had to use his skills to manufacture parts of the titanium structure (which include the seat structure, brake mounts as well as other key components) while ensuring that they fit correctly.

Joe said: “While I was at school I was encouraged to stay on and complete the sixth form and then see if I could gain a place at university. All this I achieved but after a while I decided that this was not the path I wanted for my career. 

“I looked at apprenticeships but then I thought I may be too old. A friend told me that GKN Aerospace were taking on apprentices and upon applying it made me realise that I wanted to take a hands-on approach into gaining a career and an apprenticeship seemed to be the best way to do this.

“I really enjoy being an apprentice. I attend Weston College four days a week and work the other day at GKN, learning new skills which will help me in my career; all this and I get paid.

“My future plans are to complete my Level 2 apprenticeship, then my Level 3, establish myself as a skilled fabricator, then become a team leader and finally part of the management team.”

His employer said: “Joe has applied himself fully to all aspects of work at GKN and has performed to a high standard throughout the first year of his apprenticeship. He is one of our highest performers and has become the natural leader amongst our first years. All our other first years gravitate towards Joe for answers to engineering problems.”

GKN Aerospace also won two business awards at the ceremony: Large Business Employer of the Year and the overall Employer of the Year 2016 title.

For more information on the Weston College Business Awards visit: www.weston.ac.uk/businessawards. 

Since achieving fantastic results on her Level 3 course, Beauty Therapy alumni Amelia Lee (18) is continuing to showcase her talent and tenacity as she was recently selected for the finals of the WorldSkills national competition. 

WorldSkills UK is an independent charity that works with employers, education and governments, supporting young people across the world via competitions-based training, testing their ability to achieve world-class standards in the biennial ‘skills olympics’. 

Over 3,000 people registered to take part in the UK-wide competitions back in March and Amelia is one of 400 who made it into the finals, which is split into 64 disciplines. 

Amelia commented: “I first heard of WorldSkills on my Interview evening for my first year studying Beauty Therapy. I was told the passion and dedication it took to be a part of it, I knew there and then this was something I was going to aspire to achieve. 

The ex-Worle school student had to go through multiple qualifiers in order to make it to the finals. For the regional round, contestants first had to submit a picture of an immaculate French manicure and red-carpet makeup look they had put together. This was followed by a five minute presentation video explaining what makes a good massage treatment, showing progression in execution since the entry pictures. Finally, a five minute video presenting all spectrums of massage techniques and pressures. 

Amelia commented: “Once the regional round had been judged, the total entry numbers went from 60 to 8. I am lucky enough to be one of the 8! 

“I feel so proud to be taking part in such a large nationwide competition, there was no other feeling better than when I received my email to say I had qualified for nationals. For me, it shows courage and determination, the sky is the limit now” 

The finalists will compete for gold, silver and bronze from 9-19 November, with the winners crowned at a ceremony hosted by TV presenter Steph McGovern from her Packed Lunch studio on Friday 26 November. 

This exciting announcement is just one of the fantastic career enhancing opportunities available at the college, through the newly launched Career Excellence Hubs. 

At the College each subject area forms its own specific Career Excellence Hub, endorsed by relevant sector employers which help to create a study programme with lots of career boosting benefits, WorldSkills competing opportunities is one of these.

Amelia added: “Enabling a student to become ‘Job Ready’ is massively important to build students confidence and prepare them for their next adventure that awaits them.” 

“Throughout doing WorldSkills, so far, I have learnt to take on constructive criticism, to be determined and to dig deep within for what you really want. Anything is possible if you believe!” 

Having finished her course at Weston college, Amelia now has a job in the industry, working at Elements Boutique Spa in Bridgwater. 

She continues: “The support I have received from the College has been incredible. I was lucky enough to have the most brilliant tutor who truly believed in me and is still constantly encouraging me to strive for excellence. Without Jenna (my tutor), I would have never been able to get this far. I am now proud to be working in the industry and Jenna has made me the best therapist I can be, for that I am eternally grateful. 

“For anyone that is thinking of studying Beauty at Weston College, I think you need skills like patience, determination and the passion for the subject.” 

The college is now offering technical qualifications in Beauty Therapy as well as vocational diplomas. Grades of five GCSE at grade 9-3, including English and maths at grade 4 or above, are needed for Level 3 and a minimum of five GCSEs at grade 9-2, with at least two at grade 4 or a qualifying Level 1 qualification, is required to study at Level 2. 

We’d like to wish Amelia the very best of luck with the national WorldSkills finals!

Click here to read more about our other WorldSkills contestants

Click here to read more about the Career Excellence Hubs

WorldSkills UK has announced over 400 students and apprentices who will be battling it out across 64 disciplines to be crowned national skills champions.

We are extremely proud to share that this includes four students from the Weston College Group: Three Weston College learners and one degree learner from University Centre Weston (UCW).

Following 2020 and a year without competitions, over 3,000 people registered to take part in the UK-wide competitions back in March.

The finalists will compete for gold, silver and bronze from 9-19 November, with the winners crowned at a ceremony hosted by TV presenter Steph McGovern from her Packed Lunch studio on Friday 26 November.

This year sees the finals taking place in locations across the UK for the first time. From the Industrial Robotics final in Ballymena, to Heavy Vehicle Engineering in Cardiff, Cyber Security in Lanarkshire and Web Design at Weston College, the 25 venues cover all four corners of the UK.

Ben Blackledge, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, WorldSkills UK said: “I want to offer my congratulations to all those that took part in our programme this year, especially the finalists. After a year without competitions due to the pandemic it was really encouraging to see so many people back involved this year.

“Our competitions and competition-based development programmes equip apprentices and students with the lifelong, world-class skills that will help increase UK productivity and competitiveness.”

This exciting announcement is just one of the fantastic career enhancing opportunities available at the college, through our newly launched Career Excellence Hubs.

At the College each subject area forms it’s own specific Career Excellence Hub, endorsed by relevant sector employers which help to create a study programme with lots of career boosting benefits. Thanks to the College’s amazing industry connections, both locally, nationally and internationally, our school leaver programmes are developed by focussing on increasing future employability, and developing the skills learners need to have a successful career in the sector and making them stand out from the crowd when they get to job applications and interviews.

Dr Paul Philips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group added: “A huge congratulations to our students Luke, Amelia, Oran and Jack. The Weston College Group really values the skills and experience that the WorldSkills UK competition-based development programmes offers our students.

"We are very much about ‘careers not courses’ at Weston College and this is what has been the catalyst for our sector specific Careers Excellence Hubs.  WorldSkills UK aligns with this perfectly as it is designed by industry experts and enhances the practical skills and knowledge taught on training courses by assessing an individual’s employability attributes against set criteria in a competitive timed environment. 

“I am excited to see our competing learner’s journeys as they build on their employability skills and develop in confidence.”

The WorldSkills UK competition-based development programmes are designed by industry experts and enhance the practical skills and knowledge taught on training courses by assessing an individual’s employability attributes against set criteria in a competitive timed environment.

The programme has a real impact on those taking part, with 90% of previous entrants saying their career progression improved after competing and 86% stating their personal and employability skills had improved.

Click here to see the full details of the finals and the names of all finalists.

Click here to visit the WorldSkills UK website