Team UK celebrated winning six medals at EuroSkills Herning after a long three-day competition in Denmark this week.
Earlier this evening, family, friends, experts and officials applauded Team UK’s duo Patrick Sheerin and Caolan McCartan for winning the bronze award in the industry 4.0 competition.
Overall, the UK ranked fifteenth in the medal table out of the 33 countries taking part in Europe’s largest skills competition.
WorldSkills UK officials said the experience has given competitors a taste of what’s to come at the global WorldSkills competition in Shanghai next year.
McCartan and Sheerin both train at Southern Regional College in Northern Ireland and finished the competition yesterday with a casual handshake with each other and their training manager, Marcin Regulski.
McCartan, who works for A J Power, told FE Week he didn’t believe the results when they were announced as bronze awardwinners.
“We were sitting there all evening and the nerves started to kick in towards the last five minutes,” he said.
Sheerin, who works for Pronto Engineering Group, added: “We’ve done our college pride. We’ve Sean [Mac Diarmada] proud, Marcin proud, and we like to think we’ve done Team UK proud too. We gave it our all.”
Both will continue their training for WorldSkills Shanghai after some downtime and say their main competition is the Danish competitors after the Hungarian winners will not be eligible next year.
“I don’t think we were too far behind them so we have to up our game and get the heads down for next year,” McCartan added.
At the last EuroSkills event in Gdańsk, Poland, the UK placed thirteenth in the medal table, bringing home one gold and two bronze medals.
Ben Blackledge, chief executive of WorldSkills UK: “We selected a young, driven team that shows huge potential to develop into world-class skilled professionals, to compete against more experienced competitors from across Europe.”
He said this has allowed the team to “accelerate their development” in preparation for the global competition in China next year.
“We are firmly on track to showcase the very best of UK skills on the global stage next year,” he added.
Restaurant services competitor Yuliia Batrak was one of five champions from Team UK that were awarded Medallions for Excellence, which demonstrates meeting the international standard.
Batrak was joined by her mother and younger sister in Herning as well as training manager Shyam Patiar, who was seen wiping tears of pride on the final day of competition yesterday.
Batrak’s family fled the war in Ukraine in 2022, and she began studying catering and hospitality at Grwp Llandrillo Menai when her family moved to Wales.
EuroSkills also awards a best in nation award to the competitor from each competing country that achieves the highest individual score in their competition. Alongside her medallion of excellence, Katie Sime was named the UK’s best in nation.
She told FE Week she was excited to celebrate with Team UK at the farewell ceremony for the competitors after the medal ceremony and plans to celebrate with her family when she returns to the UK.
“I’ve got annual leave for a few days and I’m so excited to see my family,” she said.
Countdown to Shanghai
Tonight’s ceremony ended the ninth biennial EuroSkills competition hosted by Herning, Denmark. Next year, countries from around the world will compete at WorldSkills Shanghai, and then, in 2027, the next EuroSkills will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Blackledge, in his role as chair of WorldSkills Europe, officially closed the competition and passed the baton to Düsseldorf.
“From digitalisation and artificial intelligence to tackling climate change. Your skills are the key to building a brighter future.
“And I also want to take a moment to recognise again, the incredible work of the experts, of the trainers, of the mentors who have supported our competitors. You are the guiding hands behind every competitor’s journey, and your dedication is what makes excellence possible. Thank you for your passion and for investing so much in the next generation.”
Look out for a full analysis of Team UK’s performance in next week’s edition of FE Week.
UK medal winners
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