Clarendon Sixth Form College

11 October 2023

Record number of students from Tameside College through to finals of national skills competition.

Three students from the college have qualified to take part in the ‘WorldSkills UK’ finals, which will take place in November.

The prestigious event, which is set to be hosted at colleges across Greater Manchester, including Tameside College, is a national skills competition to find the best talent in a wide range of subject areas and develop young peoples’ careers goals.

Natalie Godfrey, a former beauty therapy student at the college who is now studying at university, will be competing in the national finals after succeeding in the first two competition heats in media makeup. Natalie was introduced to WorldSkills by her teacher Louise, because of her keen interest in the subject. During the finals, she will create a look based around the theme of ‘centuries of glam’.

Natalie left her studies in contemporary art in Scotland during the Covid-19 lockdown, after deciding to pursue a career, as an adult learner, in the beauty industry.

Natalie said: “Louise and other college staff have been incredibly supportive and encouraging with my studies and pushing me to challenge myself with WorldSkills UK. She has been brilliant over the past two years; teaching and helping me to progress. I’m looking forward to competing and hopefully winning.”

Alongside Natalie, two other students from Tameside College, Dylan Phillips and Matthew Coutts, will be competing in the mechatronics category, after also qualifying. The pair will compete as a team and be tasked with building and programming complex production line systems.

Dylan and Matthew, who work for Amazon and Siemens UK, study at the college under trainee programmes and are hoping to become fully qualified mechanical engineers after completing their studies.

Jackie Moores, principal and CEO of Tameside College, said: “I am immensely proud of our students' achievements in reaching the finals of the WorldSkills UK competition, they have all worked incredibly hard to get to this point. I can’t wait to see how they get on during the event and will be cheering them on every step of the way. We are very proud to support young people’s career ambitions and goals. Well done Natalie, Dylan and Matthew.”

The college has a rich history of supporting previous WorldSkills UK winners, with three students winning a gold and two silver medals in 2022 and many others winning medals in regional heats in previous years.

The competition will take place week commencing Monday 13th November, with a medal ceremony taking place at Bridgewater Hall on Friday 17th November.

To find out more about courses at Tameside College, visit the college website or call 0161 908 6600.