Active IQ: Shaping the Future of the Active Leisure Sector with 11 New Qualifications

We’re thrilled to announce that Active IQ has secured approval for 11 new active leisure qualifications, set to launch on 1st August 2025. These qualifications are designed to equip learners with essential skills, creating clear pathways to meaningful careers within the active leisure industry.

Why the Reforms Matter to the Active Leisure Sector

The post-16 reforms present a timely opportunity to modernise qualifications, aligning them more closely with industry needs. Over the past few years, employers and training providers in the active leisure sector have faced challenges recruiting adequately trained staff, noting gaps between existing qualifications and real-world demands. The government’s reform initiative aims to address these challenges across various sectors, and our 11 newly approved qualifications reflect this mission.

In active leisure, which includes roles in personal training, fitness instructing, coaching, and other wellness-related careers, the need for skilled talent is growing. As lifestyles shift and the importance of physical health is more widely recognised, demand for qualified professionals who can support people’s health and fitness goals has increased. Our new qualifications will not only help meet this demand but will also enable learners to build a sustainable, fulfilling career in a sector that makes a real difference to people’s lives.

Introducing Active IQ’s 11 New Qualifications: Meeting Sector Needs with a Future-Focused Approach

Each of the 11 qualifications has been carefully developed to provide a blend of technical knowledge, practical skills, and industry-standard assessments. By addressing specific needs identified through research and industry feedback, these qualifications deliver relevant, hands-on training that prepares learners to succeed in the field from day one.

This portfolio includes qualifications at various levels, allowing individuals to begin their journey in the active leisure sector and build expertise as they progress. From foundational courses introducing learners to the core principles of health and fitness, to advanced qualifications for those seeking specialised roles, each qualification has been crafted with career readiness and progression in mind.

A Pathway for Everyone: Creating Opportunities for All Learners
Lisa Skelton, Head of Business Development (Active IQ)

A key advantage of the reformed qualifications is their inclusivity. Whether a young learner is starting their first career, a career changer is looking to enter the active leisure field, or a professional is seeking to upskill, these qualifications offer tailored pathways that support individuals at all stages of their career journey.

Active IQ’s new qualifications also support combined study options, allowing learners to pursue both academic and technical subjects simultaneously. This approach reflects recent developments across FE, where flexibility in study programmes helps learners pursue diverse career paths or continue onto higher education. With our qualifications, a learner could combine fitness instruction with elements of business or sports science, equipping them with versatile skills that meet a range of employer needs.

Supporting Employers: Addressing Skills Gaps and Securing the Talent Pipeline

The active leisure sector plays a vital role in public health and community well-being, yet it’s a sector that, like many others, is experiencing skills gaps and a pressing need for fresh talent. By securing the development of these qualifications, we’re helping to build a strong pipeline of skilled professionals who can support the sector’s growth and meet its future demands. Our qualifications are also developed with employer collaboration, meaning they reflect the real needs of the industry, ensuring that learners graduate job-ready and equipped with the competencies required for success.

Employers are eager for well-rounded, knowledgeable candidates who can apply their skills immediately. Active IQ’s new qualifications prioritise applied learning, giving learners the confidence and practical experience they need to make an impact from day one. With this in mind, employers in active leisure can have confidence that these new qualifications will provide them with a skilled, prepared workforce.

A Vision for the Future: Building a Resilient Active Leisure Sector

With these new qualifications, Active IQ is not only responding to the post-16 reforms but is also looking forward, ensuring that the active leisure sector has a sustainable and resilient future. We’re committed to bridging the gap between education and employment, and by working closely with training providers, employers, and the government, we’re helping to shape a sector that offers meaningful careers to thousands of individuals.

As we approach the launch in August 2025, Active IQ is here to provide resources, guidance, and support for those navigating these changes. We encourage providers, employers, and learners to explore our new qualifications and see how they can support personal and professional growth in a vibrant, rewarding industry. Together, let’s shape the future of active leisure—one qualified, career-ready professional at a time.

For more information on Active IQ’s new qualifications, please visit our website or reach out to our team.

DfE waters down English and maths resit funding rule shake-up

The government has watered down controversial changes to GCSE resit funding rules.

Ministers today ditched plans to introduce a weekly minimum of three hours of teaching for English and four hours for maths. Instead, colleges will need to deliver 100 hours of teaching for each subject at any point in the academic year.

Plans to move to a 0 per cent tolerance threshold have also been shelved. The government will instead only reduce the rate from the current 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

The changes, announced in guidance published this afternoon, will come into effect in the 2025/26 academic year.

The Association of Colleges welcomed the relaxing of the new teaching hours requirements but warned that colleges will “still struggle to deliver them” due to the teacher recruitment crisis.

Cath Sezen, AoC’s director of education policy, said the decision to only halve the tolerance threshold is also “positive”, even though this looks “unrealistic given the very poor attendance of so many students in schools in key stage 4”.

She added, however, that it was “disappointing” that DfE has decided to go ahead with the additional conditions of funding rather than delaying any decision until the Becky Francis’ independent curriculum and assessment review, which is expected to recommend changes to resit rules, has concluded.

Andrew Otty, a former DfE post-16 English and maths policy lead, said the changes are “disappointing to see” as abandoning the removal of the tolerance would impact “the most disadvantaged and vulnerable” students.

DfE reduces resit teaching hours

The divisive “condition of funding” policy, introduced in 2014, means that colleges must help students who failed to achieve a pass – grade 4 or above – to retake their GCSEs, or else risk losing funding.

The Department for Education announced in February that it planned to introduce minimum teaching hours for the first time – initially as an “expectation” in 2024/25 before becoming a strict rule in 2025/26.

Under the initial proposal, colleges would have to deliver three hours of English teaching per week, which would total 99 hours over the course of a 33-week academic year.

And four hours of maths would total 132 hours.

Today’s change effectively removes the fourth planned teaching hour for maths.

DfE said it decided to alter the rule to 100 hours of teaching for each subject over the full academic year “in response to sector feedback, so institutions can use their professional judgement to timetable the hours in a way that is most beneficial to them and their students”.

The department repeated that the minimum teaching hours “must” be delivered as “stand-alone, whole-class, in-person teaching”.

Compliance with these requirements will be measured by data returns in the school census or individualised learner record (ILR). Funding will be clawed back if colleges and providers fail to hit the minimum hours.

Students that have an education, health and care plan or are on a supported internships are allowed to be taught the minimum hours in an “alternative format – for example, small group or embedded learning”.

While DfE agreed to reduce maths teaching hours, the department has “encouraged” colleges and providers to make “best efforts” to offer an extra 35 hours of teaching given pass rates for maths remain lower than those for English.

Gemma Simmons-Blench, deputy CEO at Luminate Education Group, said colleges “share policymakers’ ambitions” for young people to acquire high levels of English and maths skills, adding that providers need “greater and more flexible support to deliver this ambition, rather than increasingly rigid and punitive funding requirements”.

Ben Rowland, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said the previously planned condition of funding requirements were a “step too far”.

He told FE Week: “The extra delivery hours when there are no incentives on teacher recruitment would have been particularly challenging, especially when there is a real sector-wide challenge on recruitment, retention and pay.”

Sezen said colleges are seeing “huge numbers” of students who have not got their grade 4 in school, “putting enormous pressure on staff and students alike”.

She added that many colleges struggle to recruit and retain the staff needed to teach, and some do not have the physical space to accommodate them all. 

The AoC wants the “barriers colleges face” to be taken into account when they have their audits.

DfE backtrack on zero tolerance

Currently, colleges are allowed to be non-compliant with the condition of funding rule up to a threshold of 5 per cent of in-scope learners.

Funding is removed for each student above the tolerance level at half the national funding rate.

DfE previously announced they would halve the tolerance to 2.5 per cent in the academic year 2025/26, which will impact funding allocations in the 2027/28 academic year.

This plan is still going ahead, but the proposed next step of scrapping the tolerance altogether in 2026/27 has now been dropped.

It is understood that the DfE decided to clamp down on the resits policy after internal research showed the most economically disadvantaged students were not meeting the condition of funding, and the tolerance was being misused.

FE Week analysis showed that colleges would be hit with fines of around £45 million annually if 0 per cent tolerance was introduced, based on recent trends.

Setting the tolerance at 2.5 per cent “ensures as many students as possible get support for English and maths, whilst acknowledging that (despite institutions’ efforts) it may not be appropriate to deliver this support to every student – for example, those at risk of dropping out”, the DfE said today.

Colleges and providers have been told to use their “professional judgement to consider what support for English and maths is appropriate for students who have been opted out under the tolerance, and their exclusion from the condition of funding should be regularly reviewed”.

Sezen said such a “tight” tolerance of 2.5 per cent “might punish colleges with the most inclusive approach to recruitment, something I am sure ministers do not want to see happening”.

Otty, who left the DfE last year, said: “It is disappointing to see DfE putting non-teacher lobbyists ahead of students. The fourth hour for maths has been funded by Treasury for three years now because those resitting maths are more likely to be starting from a grade 2 or lower, so it should be well embedded.

“We all know the 2.5 per cent of students denied English and maths teaching in the tolerance loophole will be the most disadvantaged and vulnerable.”

Youth guarantee: A ‘real chance’ or lacking ‘firepower’?

Labour’s promise of a “guarantee” of job support, an apprenticeship or training for every young person has been described as “a wrapper for several existing initiatives”.

Today, the government published its Get Britain Working white paper which sets out its plans for a “joined up” approach to cutting its growing benefits bill through employment support, education and health.

It includes details on a “youth guarantee” that was promised in Labour’s election manifesto to ensure every young person between 18 and 21 has a “real chance of either earning or learning”.

But rather than setting out new policies, the document admits the “guarantee” is “based, in the first instance, on existing provision and entitlements” that young people can access such as further education, apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and youth employment services.

The guarantee will be brought “to life” through eight place-based trailblazers, which were announced over night and backed with £45 million.

The mayors in charge of the eight areas will be tasked with identifying young people most at risk of falling out of education or employment and matching them to job or training opportunities.

New “transition plans” will also be created by the trailblazers to trial the ability to “automatically reserve” a place at a local college for disengaged young people.

Tom Richmond, a former government skills advisor, said a “guarantee” should address both supply and demand, through measures such as a Kickstart-style subsidised job programme and incentive payments for employers with apprentices.

He told FE Week: “It is therefore immensely frustrating that the new ‘youth guarantee’ for 18 to 21-year-olds appears to be little more than a wrapper for several existing initiatives rather than offering any new funding or innovative approaches.”

Through the youth trailblazer areas, mayors in the eight devolved regions will “work closely and at pace” with the government to design and test “persistent challenges around coordination, engagement and accountability”.

The paper promises “clear plans for delivery with agreed outcomes” alongside “evaluation and support”.

Richmond said £45 million for “a handful of pilot projects” next year in 2025/26 fails to “match the scale” of the almost one million young who are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET).

He added: “It lacks the ambition and firepower of a Kickstart-style scheme and lacks clarity in terms of who will be driving it forward and take responsibility for ensuring its success.”

A stronger guarantee could have included broadening the scope of the policy to target 16 to 24-year-olds, as some in the youth and employment sector have suggested.

Stephen Evans, chief executive of Learning and Work Institute (L&W) said: “The youth guarantee is really welcome, as time out of work or education when young can damage long-term career prospects.

“One of the challenges this policy aims to tackle is the disparate array of initiatives currently. Putting local leaders in charge of drawing up plans to engage young people and offer them the right support is valuable in itself, but the government will also need to consider what extra investment or support is needed. We also think the youth guarantee should be extended to all 16-24-year-olds.”

However, Laura-Jane Rawlings, chief executive officer of Youth Employment UK, welcomed a change in “mood music” from the government for recognising that the country has a “youth employment problem” and taking a “joined up” approach of work support, healthcare and skills.

She said: “Young people’s needs are complex and we need to bring the system together better to get young people into jobs.

“We’re cautious about the guarantee, but let’s be ambitious about it and make sure these trial tests offer a real youth guarantee.”

EEF splashes record cash on resits research

Two GCSE English and maths resit programmes will receive nearly £1.3 million to improve teacher training and trial the effectiveness of small group tutoring in colleges.

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has announced two new post-16 pilots focused on GCSE resits in over 50 colleges in England to help form “a clearer picture of what interventions work.”

The total cash boost represents the largest injection into post-16 education research so far by the body. 

Charity Get Further has received the EEF’s biggest ever post-16 grant of over £1 million to expand its GCSE resit tuition programme, which installs trained tutors in general FE colleges to deliver weekly tutoring sessions in small groups to students needing help with GCSE English and maths resits.

Over the last five years, the existing programme has taught around 5,000 students at nearly 50 colleges. Between 2021 and 2023, 41 per cent of students who attended at least 12 Get Further sessions passed GCSE English, higher than the 23 percent national average, according to the charity.

In GCSE maths, 27 per cent of participating students passed compared to 13 per cent national average, the charity said in its latest impact report.

The total £1,097,071 will fund a randomised controlled trial to recruit 40 colleges and over 8,000 students in the 2025/26 academic year. The trial will split students in half in each participating college, with one half receiving the tuition programme and the remaining continuing with their usual classroom learning.

The charity said the programme is mostly funded by the EEF injection. Colleges will have to pay 16 per cent of the costs to participate in the trial. 

“We hope to be able to use the evidence from this trial to make a compelling case to government on the potential of young people in further education and the need to address chronic underfunding in the sector,” said Sarah Waite, chief executive at Get Further.

The EEF has also committed £198,934 to the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) for its Can-Do Maths CPD programme, which supports educators and aims to improve engagement and mathematical resilience amongst learners resitting their maths GCSE.

The six-week programme was first developed by maths resit teachers in FE who participated in the Centres for Excellence in Maths programme in 2020.

A 2023 scaling-up study in Centres for Excellence in Maths found “at least some impact” of the intervention in increasing students’ maths confidence and capability. But drop-out rates were high.

It provides FE teachers with one-on-one guidance from maths practitioners, lesson resources and group planning sessions over the next year. Colleges also receive £2,057 per participating teacher for releasing staff to take part.

The EEF is aiming for a minimum of 16 colleges across England to take part.

Last October, the prime minister handed £40 million to the EEF to “support evidence-informed practice in the post-16 space.”

Since then, the foundation has committed over £600,000 to a large-scale effectiveness trial for GCSE maths resit teaching methods, the second largest grant to post-16 research. 

Results out in August revealed 17.4 per cent of the 185,727 post-16 learners taking GCSE maths in 2024 achieved a grade 4 or above – a 1 percentage point rise on last year but almost 4 percentage points lower than the pre-pandemic level of 21.2 per cent. 

In English, 148,569 students re-sat the GCSE in post-16 education this year, with 20.9 per cent gaining at least a grade 4 pass. This was five percentage points lower than in 2023 and almost ten percentage points down from 2019. 

The declining rates have caught the attention of ministers in the Department for Education. Last month, officials posted an engagement notice to gather market interest and capacity to deliver fresh CPD (continuing professional development) to the resit workforce.

Emily Yeomans, co-chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “We know that post-16 education is our ‘last chance’ to minimise socio-economic attainment gaps before most young people leave the education system. We also know how important it is for future life chances to achieve a good level of maths and English.

“We encourage any interested colleges to register their interest in either of these programmes and be a part of helping to build this knowledge.”

‘Relentless’ journey leads to top Ofsted result for north east college

A north east college group has received Ofsted’s highest marks after going through a “relentless” improvement journey.

Inspectors lauded “inspirational” leadership at Education Partnership North East (EPNE) after finding the group had been “transformed” with a culture of “high aspiration”.

The group teaches almost 9,000 students across three colleges – Sunderland College, Hartlepool Sixth Form College and Northumberland College. 

Inspectors highlighted how teachers successfully developed students’ understanding of radicalisation and extremism in relation to the recent riots in Sunderland.

Adult students on ESOL courses also feel safe and cared for by the wider college community and their teachers, who checked that they had not been adversely affected by the impact of the riots.

Ofsted gave the college group ‘outstanding’ judgments across the board and deemed it to be making a “strong” contribution to meeting local skills needs.

A spokesperson for the group said the result is the outcome of an eight-year journey since merger that took two “insolvent” colleges – Northumberland and Hartlepool sixth form – to a position of “collaborative financial strength”.

‘Moved to tears’

Ellen Thinnesen, chief executive of EPNE, said inspectors were “moved to tears” at the “life-changing work” her staff deliver.

She said: “I can with all certainty say, our achievements are the product of many great people, who are deeply passionate for the north east and the local communities served by our colleges.

“To our people, our inspiring workforce (past and present), today’s success is the product of your hard work, your determination, self-belief and courage.”

According to Ofsted’s report, inspectors found students and apprentices benefit from “high quality teaching”, describing teachers as “skilful”. Student behaviour across all campuses was also labelled as “exemplary” and that learners “achieve extremely well”.

The inspection team also reported that students who have high needs complete work that is “exceptionally demanding, and, as a result, they achieve the best possible outcomes”.

Inspectors found that young people are “ambitious for their future because of the support and high-quality teaching they experience”.

Ofsted said EPNE’s curriculum has been transformed so that it “closely meets the needs of the north east region” and “expertly aligns” to the skills needs in Sunderland, Hartlepool and Northumberland.

Students and apprentices also benefit from an extensive range of activities to develop their “understanding of social responsibility and actively engage within their local community”.

Student-led initiatives include creating food hampers for children in poverty and hardship and raising funds for cancer charities.

Chair of governors James Stuart said: “This is a fantastic recognition for the combined efforts and dedication of everyone across the college group in achieving our ambitious vision.

“The governors are extremely proud of the journey we have been on and the role everyone has played to position the group as a leading provider of further and higher education now and into the future.”

Get Britain Working white paper: 8 ‘youth trailblazer areas’ announced

The government will invest in eight “youth trailblazer areas” to identify young people most at risk of falling out of education or employment and match them to job or training opportunities as part of its promised “youth guarantee”.

New partnerships involving “iconic” cultural and sporting organisations like the Premier League, Channel 4 and the Royal Shakespeare Company have also been created to offer work or learning openings to young people furthest from the jobs market. 

The policies are set to be outlined in the government’s Get Britain Working white paper that is due to be published later today. (Click here to read the full white paper)

It comes after work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall (pictured) suggested over the weekend that young people will lose their benefits if they refuse to take up work and training opportunities.

The government’s goal is to cut its “ballooning” benefits bill by raising the country’s employment rate from 74.8 to 80 per cent. 

Figures show that almost one and a half million people are unemployed, over nine million people are inactive, a record 2.8 million people are out of work due to long-term sickness. Stats published last week also revealed that almost 1 million young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Ahead of today’s white paper, the Department for Work and Pensions trailed multiple policy announcements to address these issues in a press release.

While we await the full details, here’s what we know so far.

£45m to kickstart ‘youth guarantee’

Labour’s election manifesto vowed to ensure that every 18- to- 21-year-old in England will have access to an apprenticeship, quality training and education opportunities or help to find a job under a new “youth guarantee”.

The government’s plan to kickstart this policy is to set up eight youth “trailblazer” areas in Liverpool, West Midlands, Tees Valley, East Midlands, West of England, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and two in London.

Each area will be given a share of £45 million in funding to “identify those most at risk of falling out of education or employment and match them to opportunities for education, training or work”.

“New partnerships” with cultural and sporting organisations will also be detailed in the Get Britain Working white paper as part of the youth guarantee plan.

The white paper is part of wider government action to promote new training opportunities, including reforming the apprenticeship levy into a growth and skills levy so that it funds more types of training than is currently allowed. Foundation and shorter apprenticeships are part of this.

Signalling its intent to dock benefits if young people refuse to take up these opportunities, DWP’s press release said: “These new opportunities will be the responsibility of young people to take them up. In return for these new opportunities, young people will be expected to engage with training or work that’s on offer so no young person is left behind.”

DWP also said an advisory panel will be set up to “put young people at the heart of decision making”, as well as a disability panel.

£55m to create national jobs and careers service

DWP announced in July that it would merge the National Careers Service with job centres.

Today’s white paper is expected to begin this work by committing £55 million to trial a “radically improved digital offer”, with the DWP using the “latest technologies and AI to provide up-to date information on jobs, skills and other support and to free up work coach time”.

Staff at Jobcentres will have “more flexibility” to offer a more “personalised service to jobseekers – moving away from the ‘tick box’ culture”, the press release said, adding that new coaching academies will also be set up to upskill jobcentre staff.

Testing and digital design will be carried out into next year to “understand how best to bring DWP services online and make them easier to access to deliver tailored support, including CV advice and job adverts”.

Mayors to shape their own skills and work plans

Last month’s budget pledged £240 million for mayoral combined authorities and several unidentified English ‘trailblazer’ areas to help get disabled people and those off work due to long-term sickness with better skills, work and health support.

Up to £15 million will be made available to support local areas across England that do not have mayors to develop their own plans and to support the trailblazers.

The government will also provide £115 million in funding next year to enable local areas across England and Wales to deliver a new supported employment programme called Connect to Work scheme.

Connect to Work provides “voluntary employment offers to people with disabilities, health conditions or complex barriers to work and will support up to 100,000 people a year at full roll out” as the first tranche of money from a the Get Britain Working fund.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said: “The Get Britain Working white paper shows that this government stands unashamedly for work. We will make sure everyone, regardless of their background, age, ethnicity, health, disability or postcode can benefit from the dignity and purpose work can bring.

“We can build a healthier, wealthier nation – driving up employment and opportunity, skills and productivity – while driving down the benefit bill.”

WorldSkills UK national finals 2024

Welcome to this special souvenir supplement bringing you the full results and insights from the 2024 WorldSkills UK national finals in Greater Manchester.

WorldSkills UK CEO Ben Blackledge pays tribute the armies of teachers, trainers, supporters and stakeholders that made this year’s finals such a success, as his team now firmly set WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 in their sights.

Find out how competitors are benefiting from unique opportunities with some of the country’s most well-known businesses, and enjoy an exclusive ‘year in the life of’ piece detailing how one college makes the most of WorldSkills UK’s world-leading teaching resources.

And skills minister Jacqui Smith tells FE Week how her first WorldSkills experience has given her the ammo to fight for FE.

Click the link above to download your copy

WorldSkills UK: New College Lanarkshire tops 2024 medal table

Scotland’s New College Lanarkshire has topped the medal table at this year’s WorldSkills UK national finals.

The final medal tally at the end of a week of gruelling skills competitions saw Southern Regional College relegated to second place on the league table with 22 medal points after New College Lanarkshire’s 32.

Over 400 apprentices and students competed in more than 40 skills competitions across nine education institutions in Greater Manchester. 

Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to top technical students and apprentices at this evening’s medal ceremony at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, officially bringing this year’s national finals to a close.

Only two English colleges made the top 10.

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, which topped the foundation skills medal table earlier today, placed joint fifth and Cheshire College South and West was placed joint eighth by medal points.

The national finals were split into four categories: construction and infrastructure, digital business & creative, engineering & technology, and health, hospitality and lifestyle.

Earlier today, a foundation skills medal ceremony was held to celebrate SEND student competitors in eight skills areas.

See the full list of winners here

Gold medal winners included Lennon Bulloch from New College Lanarkshire for digital construction, David Bateman-Smith from South West College for plumbing and Chloe Clearly, Sam Collins-Chamberlain, Jacob Lawrence and William LeGrice all from North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College for the digital media production skill.

This year marks the last time the national final will be held in Greater Manchester. Next year, competitors, training managers and family will descend on south Wales as the national competitions will take place in Cardiff.

Welsh champions will be bringing home plenty of medals. In welding, Zachariah Winn from Coleg Cambria won gold, while Cardiff and Vale College’s Mihaly Zeke in heavy vehicle technology, Marnie Gaskell in restaurant services and Samuel Turato in refrigeration and air conditioning all won gold in their skills.

The 190 winners were announced following six months of local and regional qualifiers, culminating in a week of intense competition at the national finals.

Thousands of young people registered to take part in the WorldSkills UK competitions, with over 400 making it to the finals.

Finalists from this year’s national finals may be selected to join WorldSkills UK’s international training and development programme and then have the opportunity to join Squad UK and, subsequently, Team UK at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.

Skills minister Jacqui Smith said: “Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s magnificent competition. Each of you has showcased the exceptional talent and promise of our future workforce.

“Competitions like WorldSkills UK are so important in nurturing talent, providing a vital platform for young people to develop the skills they need to seize opportunities and achieve growth.

Ben Blackledge, chief executive of WorldSkills UK said: “Congratulations to this year’s medal winners.  Being named the best in your skill is a tremendous achievement and reflects the dedication of teachers in our colleges, universities and training providers, who are the bedrock of our skills systems across the UK.  

“Our competition-based training programme, underpinned by global insights, plays a vital role in raising standards in teaching and assessment in apprenticeships and technical education.  Working with our partners across industry and education, we are championing the emerging skills that are critical to drive investment and business growth in the UK.”

[Pictured: Mechatronics gold medallists Emily Bettridge and Liz Hopkinson from Toyota Manufacturing]

WorldSkills UK national finals 2024 medal table (excluding foundation skills)

WorldSkills UK: 2024 foundation skills medallists announced

Thirteen students have won gold, silver and bronze medals at this year’s WorldSkills UK national foundation skills finals.

Competitions in eight skills areas have been taking place in education institutions across Greater Manchester this week bringing together nearly 70 SEND students from all over the UK to compete.

The medal winners were announced this afternoon at a ceremony hosted by The Manchester College.

On Friday morning, students competed in their specialisms comprising catering, enterprise, hairdressing, health and social care, IT software solutions for business, horticulture, media, and restaurant service.

Four gold medals were handed out to students from North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College.

Olivia McDonagh came first place in the catering competition, Leigh Flashman won gold in restaurant services and the college’s team of three students, Sophie Bishop, Tierell Munroe and Niah Allen came top in the media skills competition.

Meanwhile, Pembrokeshire College won gold after Ross Muller came out top in the horticulture competition, and they also won gold in the enterprise team contest, where Ryan Lambert, Denver Picton and Kirsty Jones all picked up medals.

In the hairdressing finals, the gold medal went to Skye Holland from Homefield College and in health & social care, the joint gold medallists were Jaeda Martin from North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College and Freya Moore from The Sheffield College.

Finally, the gold medal for the IT software solutions for business went to NPTC Group’s Steve Cowley-Ford

Marion Plant, the chair of WorldSkills UK and principal and chief executive of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, said: “This is my favourite moment of the whole week, because I just think what we’re here to celebrate and what you have each given this morning is beyond anything that frankly I’ve ever done.”

“What you’re developing by working through skills competitions isn’t just the technical skills in whichever competition you’re in, but the most important thing you’re developing is confidence and the skills that you need to go into work,” she told the winners.

See below for the full list of this year’s foundation skills medallists (click to enlarge)