Leeds College of Building saw some unseasonally low temperatures recently, at the UK finals of SkillFRIDGE, a competition to find the best Refrigeration and Air Conditioning engineer in the country.

Steven Burge, an apprentice at Eastleigh College and employed by Cosham Refrigeration, achieved an immensely impressive 3^rd place. As one of the youngest competitors, at just 18 years of age, Steven was competing against older, more experienced engineers, and his achievement was commended by one of the competition directors, Mark Forsyth of Coriolis International, who said:

"For Steven to get 3^rd place with 82½ points out of 100 at his young age, I was impressed. There were only 3½ points separating 1^st  & 3^rd place."

 Steven was proud of his achievement, and grateful for the support he has received:

"I've learnt a lot at Eastleigh College, and the qualifications are really helping me progress in my career. I'm grateful to the College for putting me forward for this competition, and for the help I've received from my tutors and my employer to get to the level I am now."

John North, lecturer at Eastleigh College, said:

"Steven demonstrated a mature approach to both his theory studies and practical assignments, and I'm sure he has the ability to shape his future within the industry whatever he decides to do."

As a result of his achievement, Steven has now been invited to be a member of the UK WorldSkills team in 2013. Steven is currently studying for his Level 3 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning qualification at Eastleigh College, and is looking forward to undertaking additional specialist qualifications to hopefully give him the edge against the more experienced competitors he is likely to come up against at WorldSkills.

For more details of the full and part-time courses at Eastleigh College, please call 023 8091 1299 or visit www.eastleigh.ac.uk.