SkillELECTRIC Winners named

[edit] College of West Anglia apprentice wins SkillELECTRIC gold

21-year old Charlie Moore, a recently qualified apprentice at the College of West Anglia, has been named the 2024 SkillELECTRIC champion after excelling in an intensive competition over three days at Oldham College.

Taking second place and the silver medal was Richard Westwood from Dudley College. Third place and the bronze medal went to Jonathan Gough of MD Electrics and Southern Regional College in Northern Ireland.

SECTT apprentices Milly Smith and Kalum Low, employed by CS McKerlie Electrical Services and MS Electrical & Renewables respectively, also received a Highly Commended mention due to an excellent performance.

Charlie, who is employed by Bramham Electrical in Norfolk, had already competed in SkillELECTRIC 2023 and placed third in his national qualifying heat. Determined to do even better this year, he returned for the 2024 event and won his heat in June before claiming gold in the final.

[edit] Task based competition

The finalists faced a complicated electrical installation task which had to be completed within a strict timeframe and was marked against tough criteria including wiring and connection skills, inspecting, testing and fault finding.

In a first for this year, an electric vehicle charging unit supplied by Rolec was included within the main task, to reflect the fact that the core competence of a qualified electrician is the foundation from which to upskill and train in electric vehicle charging point installation.

During a visit to Oldham College from the Skills Minister Jacqui Smith, competitors and employers were able to outline the task that had been carried out and explain the role of qualified electricians in achieving net zero.

All finalists that took part received a range of fantastic prizes including an iPad Pro from the NICEIC, a full set of workwear, accessories and safety shoes from Snickers Workwear, a Megger MET1000 Electrical Tester, a Rolec gift bag, an Essential Tool Kit and Smart Flask from CK Tools and a Scolmore Group goodie bag containing various Click wiring accessory products, an ESP Fort Smart Security Kit, Ovia downlights, a Unicrimp product bundle and a range of Scolmore Group merchandise.

In a joint prize from EAL and the NICEIC, once qualified our competitors will be able to attend training to achieve the EAL Level 3 Award in the Requirements for the Installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Points – free of charge.

As second and third place winners, Richard and Jonathan won a DeWalt cordless combi drill from Scolmore Group and a voucher for £100 and £50 respectively from Electric Center to spend in their local branch.

As overall winner, Charlie won the new Megger MFT-X1 multifunction tester, a DeWalt brushless combi drill and brushless impact driver from the Scolmore Group, a £250 voucher from Electric Center and a tool box kit from Oldham College.

[edit] Reaction and comments

Speaking after his win, Charlie said: “I’m really overwhelmed because the standard of work across all the competitors this year has just been amazing and it could have gone to anyone. So when I heard my name announced, I was just shocked. I’d like to say a big thanks to my tutor Tim Burgess for the time and effort that he’s put into my training. I’d also like to thank my employer, Trevor Bramham for training me, allowing me to have time off and for being really supportive throughout the whole competition.”

SkillELECTRIC is organised by National Electrotechnical Training (NET), in conjunction with WorldSkills UK, with Electric Center, NICEIC and Scolmore Group as its delivery partners. The competition was one of 50 WorldSkills UK national finals held last week across Greater Manchester.

Jennie Phung, SkillELECTRIC Project Manager for NET, said: “This year we’ve not only witnessed a high standard of work, it was also great to see the diversity amongst the finalists and their backgrounds – returning competitors, a T Level student, a career changer and our second female finalist. It shows the opportunities presented by the sector and all those who can take advantage of this exciting career. Congratulations to Charlie and all eight finalists for a fantastic performance and showing what the electrical industry has to offer.”

The eight SkillELECTRIC competitors who scored most highly across the recent national qualifying heats and named as the UK finalists for 2024 were:

• Charlie Moore – Bramham Electrical / College of West Anglia
• Fabien Maciejewski – a completed T Level Learner at Leicester College
• Joe Swallow – M&C Engineering / Suffolk New College
• John-Ross Campbell – A Campbell Electrical Services / SECTT
• Jonathan Gough – MD Electrics / Southern Regional College
• Kalum Low – MS Electrical and Renewables / SECTT
• Milly Smith – CS McKerlie Electrical Services / SECTT
• Richard Westwood – Dudley College

All were invited to take part in the SkillELECTRIC UK Final held at Oldham College across the week of 18th November.

[edit] About SkillELECTRIC

SkillELECTRIC is the annual search for the UK’s best student electrician, part of the WorldSkills UK competition framework. The event is organised by industry charity National Electrotechnical Training (NET), has Electric Center, the NICEIC and Scolmore Group as its delivery partners and is supported by Megger, EAL, Snickers Workwear and CK Tools.

Alongside SkillELECTRIC, around 50 other WorldSkills national competition finals will be taking place that week across nine venues around Greater Manchester, involving over 400 competitors.

To be crowned SkillELECTRIC champion, competitors have to excel in a complicated three-day practical installation task set to a strict timescale and against a rigorous marking criteria. Following the success of the solar PV task in last year’s final, the event this year included an electric vehicle charging-related task for competitors to tackle.

Those who perform well enough and are age eligible could be in with a chance of representing the UK in the Electrical Installation competition at WorldSkills 2026 in Shanghai, China.

“After witnessing some great skills on display across our national qualifying heats, it’s great to welcome a real cross section of industry learners in this year’s final”, said Jennie Phung, SkillELECTRIC Project Manager. “From T-Levels, to apprenticeships, to mature learners and career changers, our finalist mix this year shows the varied ways you can start your journey in the electrical industry on the way to becoming qualified. We look forward to November’s event and working with our competitors between now and then to help them prepare for their UK final performance.”

For further information visit https://www.skillelectric.org.uk/

This article appears on the ECA news and blog site as 'SkillELECTRIC Top 8 Competitors Named' dated July 12, 2024.

--ECA

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