London calling: Capital to host WorldSkills UK national finals in 2027

The boss of Worldskills UK is seeking more competitors from independent training providers for the national finals in London next year.

Chief executive Ben Blackledge used this week’s Association of Employment and Learning Providers conference to confirm the annual national skills competition would return to the capital after four years in south Wales and Greater Manchester.

And he revealed his view that college students are over-represented in skills competitions, and called for ITPs to “get involved”.

The last London FE provider to host a UK national final was Barking & Dagenham College in 2022.

The host venues for 2027 will be announced in autumn and work in partnership with the Greater London Authority.

Last year, more than two dozen national finalists hailed from London’s FE colleges and secured two medals.

WorldSkills UK presents gold, silver and bronze medals to competitors who excel in professional skills at their national finals. Top-performing competitors are then in with a shot of being selected for specialist training and coaching to represent the UK internationally at EuroSkills and WorldSkills.

Blackledge, who leaves Worldskills UK in October to become chief executive of the City & Guilds Foundation, was joined on stage at the AELP conference by four Team UK competitors who will compete at the global WorldSkills competition in Shanghai in September.

Asked what the training provider sector could do to support the UK’s competitive performance on the world stage, he said: “Registrations for the next cycle [of competitions] open in March and they will be hosted in London in 2027-28.

“If you’d like to get a sense of them, come to Wales in November this year. Loads of educators will be there, loads of team leaders will be there. It’s a great chance to learn.”

Colleges ‘over-represented’

For the next cycle of national and international competitions, Blackledge said he wanted to see more entries from a wider range of providers.

“You’ll have heard from two competitors here who trained at a college. We are making real progress in having a full range of sectors represented, but we still have an over-representation of colleges,” he explained.

“I know there is such quality in absolute numbers within the independent training provider networks, so I guess my plea is – get involved in this.”

WorldSkills UK is expected to announce the competitors for the 2026 national finals next month.

And as well as preparing for Shanghai, WorldSkills UK is already laying the groundwork for the EuroSkills 2027 in Düsseldorf, and WorldSkills 2028 in Aichi, Japan.

Knuckling down for Shanghai

The four champions from Team UK selected for Shanghai discussed their experience of preparing to compete on the world stage.

Team UK’s 26 competitors have three months of intense training left before they join 1,500 other young people from across the globe.

Yuliia Batrak, restaurant service competitor and Medallions for Excellence winner at last year’s EuroSkills Herning, told delegates she was practising breathing techniques to cope with the unpredictability of her skill.

“You don’t know what customers you’re going to get, you don’t know what tasks you’re doing to get on the day and you just need to think very quickly to deliver a five-star service,” she said.

“I’m really looking for the gold medal. I’ve been working for it for the last three and a half years.”

Joseph Shingler, a bricklaying competitor from Shrewsbury College, said he used ear defenders to zone out background noise when competing in front of a crowd.

“The national final taught me that no matter what, I can just go and give it go. My attitude has been to have fun, give it 100 per cent and see what comes out of it,” he added.

WorldSkills Shanghai is on from September 22 and 27.