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Refrigeration and Air Con learners shine in World Skills regional final

Six Eastleigh College learners have competed in the regional final of the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning World Skills competition, which was hosted on our campus. They are bidding for a place in the UK grand final to be held in November 2022.

The regional final assessments are comprised of two exercises that puts the intuition and resourcefulness of a refrigeration and air conditioning engineer to the test in a high-intensity scenario. The first task is a pipework test that requires each competitor to fabricate a pipe from a diagram, with judges assessing both the capabilities of following the diagram and the accuracy of the finished product. The second task centres around refrigeration commissioning and decommissioning, which evaluates an engineer’s problem-solving ability under pressure as well as general industry knowledge.

Louis Fox, Level 3 learner in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, said: “For me this has been a challenging but rewarding experience. In class you are normally paired up for these types of exercises, with somebody always on hand to help. This assessment puts you out of your comfort zone and helps you to grow as an engineer – it has really helped me to identify what my strengths are and what I need to work on going forward.”

The Eastleigh College regional final is one of five to be held across the country in the coming weeks, with others due to be hosted at Bath, Cardiff, Glasgow and Dudley. Results can only be analysed after all five heats have taken place, with up to ten performers across the board to be accepted into the grand final based on individual scores awarded by judges. Grand final entrants will be competing for national gold, silver and bronze medals, with strong performances opening up networking doors to a broad range of industry professionals and further potential opportunities both in the UK and internationally.

Shaun Creech, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Assessor at Eastleigh College, said: “We were very pleased to host this regional final on our campus and our competitors worked extremely hard over what was a long and demanding day. They can all be proud of their efforts and hopefully they will be able to use this experience as a springboard to further development in the industry.”

World Skills competitions are designed to develop vocational skills through global training standards and inspire young people to develop their abilities and pursue excellence in their industry fields. With the first edition dating back to 1950, the competition has a rich heritage and is now staged in 85 countries across the world.

Steven Burge, World Skills Judge and Eastleigh College alumnus, said: “The World Skills competition is invaluable as it provides you with an authentic experience that alerts you to any potential flaws you have in the field. Having been fortunate enough to be a former medallist myself, I know just how beneficial they can be for future career progression so it’s been great to see all the learners so engaged in it.”

For more information on World Skills, please visit the website here.

Further updates on competition results can be found through our social media platforms.

For any further queries, please contact the College at BeBetter@eastleigh.ac.uk.