A team of Weston College business students have taken part in the UK final of an International Trade competition.

The seven first-year students, who earlier won the regional event, travelled to The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to compete against five other schools and colleges.

They presented a pitch on how to get young people interested in international trade and, despite not winning, impressed the judges with their understanding and confident pitching technique.

The team of Klaudia Wiecek, Julia Kaminska, Carlotta Browne, Immy Talbot, Max Kelly, Ryan Latham and Oscar Buxton also got the opportunity to visit 10 Downing Street and meet Liam Fox MP, the Secretary of State for International Trade. They also took part in a treasure hunt around Whitehall.

The competition was part of a Department for International Trade (DIT) initiative to find the next generation of business leaders.

DIT invited students to register for ‘summer schools’ in Bristol, Birmingham and Edinburgh, which offered the chance to develop entrepreneurial skills, work alongside business leaders and learn from successful exporters.

It also enabled them to enter the national competition, with the Weston College team winning the Bristol ‘heat’ held at Airbus.

Ben Melhuish, the College’s area manager for Business, said: “This event has been a great experience for the students.

“As well as being a hot topic due to Brexit, the practise of international trade is constantly evolving and offers a wealth of career opportunities.

“This event has allowed the students to explore what it has to offer and to learn from business leaders. They were also able to network with Airbus employees about opportunities available through apprenticeships, internships and graduate schemes.

“They performed extremely well to reach the competition final and delivered an excellent presentation in a high-pressure environment. We are very proud of them.”

Find out more about Business and Management courses here.

On Tuesday 12th November, Weston’s popular Tropicana venue hosted our annual careers convention "CareersFest" - exclusive for students at Weston College.

Students were bussed in throughout the day and had 1 hour to roam around and meet with over 60 employers and educational institutes. Engaging activities and thoughtful advice made the event a huge success with lots of valuable talks and insights into multiple industries being shared.

As well as nationally renowned names, local businesses and universities also attended, expanding the mindset and thinking process of those who attended.

One learner commented "I loved learning how to present the weather with BBC Bristol. It was really fun and it's definitely opened my eyes to more career ideas."

Alliance Homes’ stand was a popular destination with multiple skills based challenges surrounding construction.

Jade from Alliance Employment Team said: “The day’s been fabulous. It’s been really really busy and we’ve had lots of students showing interest and engaging which has been amazing.

“We’re recruiting for our apprenticeships in construction for next year and this has been a great chance to meet students and share these opportunities with them”.

We also caught up with Tom Thayer, Hinkley Point C’s Inspire Education Programme Manager, who added “Whilst building interest in STEM through the Inspire Programme, our aim is to ensure that local people can benefit from the huge range of opportunities on offer at Hinkley Point C.

"The team here at Weston College have provided fantastic support towards that aim and we’ve had lots of referrals to our HPC education programme as a result.

“We’re well into the Civil Engineering Phase of the project which will be followed by the start of the mechanical and electrical fit out of the new power station. It means there are opportunities available in a huge range of careers that will continue to develop over the coming years.

“We encourage young people to sign up to www.edfenergy.com/youngHPC to find out more about the variety of career paths that are available and what job roles are in demand right now."

Katherine from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School was aiming to recruit students looking to study performing arts at HE: “This is my first time recruiting in Weston and the atmosphere has been buzzing.

“We’re a drama school and theatre company all in one, so we specialise in first class higher education courses so whether you want to work on stage or behind the scenes, there are opportunities here for everyone”

Careers Advisors and event organisers Jasmine and Lisa added: “CareersFest was designed to encourage our learners to explore their career interests and skills and discover where their personalities could thrive. This included raising awareness of employers, apprenticeships, higher education and other opportunities.

"We hope that all of the learners had the chance to do this and also enjoyed the day!”

Many thanks to all the staff and organisations who helped to make this event informative and interesting for our students.

Click here to see the full list of employers that attended.

The College is celebrating the end of its first year teaching plumbing and gearing up for a 300 per cent increase in demand for places this September.

So far 12 men and one woman have gained plumbing qualifications at the Construction and Engineering Centre of Excellence (CECE) in Locking Road.

Plumbing lecturer Scott Austin said: “There’s been an enormous growth in demand for the course. Now we are set to put on a Level One course, two Level Twos and a Level Three.

“We’ve also set up school links for older secondary students who want to do more hands-on study. We are delighted with the response regionally.”

Plumber of the year was awarded to 17-year-old Jake Payne of Jubilee Street,  Burnham-on-Sea.

Runner up was awarded to Daniel Rihan, 35, Weston-super-Mare and third was Kieran Rigney, 17 of Weston-super-Mare.

Green technologies are at the forefront of a new £10 million building project at Weston College which is a leading National Skills Environmental Academy Hub.

They include a rainwater harvesting system, wood biomass boiler, solar thermal array, ground source heat pump and solar photovoltaic system.

Part of the programme will also see a £300,000 sustainable detached eco- house built for students and visitors to show how environmental and renewable technology can transform the construction industry.

In 2010, the CECE won a ‘National Training Award’ for the South West of England.

It delivers training in a wide range of construction occupations including, plumbing, electrical installation, carpentry, trowel trades, painting, decorating, plastering, property maintenance, renewable energy courses and apprenticeships.

The CECE holds specialist electrical workshops, bespoke brickwork and carpentry workshops and has a resource-based learning centre for online learning.

It is also a test centre for the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) and health and safety card.

There is a 100 per cent success rate for Level 2 qualifications with around 70 per cent of CECE students finding work in industry while others enhance their DIY skills.