The UK will not take part in this year’s EuroSkills competition – the first time the country has pulled out of any WorldSkills competition in history.

The decision, which has also been taken by Finland, Netherlands, and Norway due to Covid-19 restrictions, has been announced as WorldSkills Europe, the organisers of EuroSkills, revealed the competition will now take place in Graz, Austria on 22 to 26 September this year.

It has also been confirmed WorldSkills Shanghai, which had been set to take place in 2021 before being postponed, will now take place between 12 and 17 October 2022.

Neil Bentley Gockmann

WorldSkills UK chief executive Neil Bentley-Gockmann said the decision the pull out of EuroSkills had been “difficult”.

“There is still too much ongoing uncertainty, with a changing situation in terms of Covid security, to be able to commit now to participate,” he added.

“We have a duty of care to our competitors and we are aware that the ongoing restrictions means that our Team UK members might not be able to prepare fully, in sufficient time, for the event. 

“We are also aware that we may face further controls regarding international travel, and we are not in a position to commit public funding to take part when we could face further disruption.”

The UK has competed in every EuroSkills competition, where young people from across the continent compete against one another in skill-based tournaments, since they started in 2008.

At the last EuroSkills event, in Budapest in 2018, the UK secured a place in the top 10 nations, finishing ninth in the medal tables.

There has also been a UK representative at every WorldSkills competition, where young people from across the world compete, since 1953.

The EuroSkills competition had been set to take place in Graz in September 2020.

Competition organiser Josef Herk today said they “will do everything in our power to hold EuroSkills in Graz in autumn 2021”.

“With our enthusiasm and spirit unbroken, we shall make it an international showcase for education and training,” he continued.

WorldSkills Europe has reassured those countries which are participating that it is “constantly” monitoring all possible scenarios and risks for holding EuroSkills in September.

The team behind it have drawn up “extensive” measures and put together a “well-balanced and extremely” comprehensive Covid-19 prevention plan, they insisted.

Bentley-Gockmann said the UK will now focus on training for the WorldSkills competition in Shanghai next year, “key” to which will be activities such as pressure tests against other nations.

The UK took part in such a pressure test against China in November, with both teams partaking in their respective countries and communicating virtually, where our team of electronics competitors proved victorious.

Latest education roles from

Executive Director of Finance – Moulton College

Executive Director of Finance – Moulton College

FEA

Director of Governance – HRUC

Director of Governance – HRUC

FEA

Principal and CEO

Principal and CEO

Hills Road Sixth Form College

Senior Quality Officer

Senior Quality Officer

University of Lancashire

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

Funding Is Flowing, Demand Is Rising — It’s Time for FE to Deliver on Green Skills

As the UK races toward net zero, the government says it wants to back 2 million green jobs by...

Advertorial
Sponsored post

Helping every learner use AI responsibly

AI didn’t wait to be invited into the classroom. It burst in mid-lesson. Across UK colleges, learners are already...

Advertorial
Sponsored post

Supporting the UK’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan Through Skills

The UK Government’s Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain strategy sets a legally binding path towards a net-zero transport...

Advertorial
Sponsored post

Project power: ASDAN expands its qualifications portfolio

From 2026, ASDAN’s planned Foundation and Higher Project Qualifications will sit alongside its Extended Project Qualification[CM1] , creating a complete...

Advertorial

More from this theme

Covid-19

DfE Covid lockdown party may have gone on past 1am

Staff swiped out of Sanctuary Buildings 34 times after 10am on night of party, 8 times after 1am

Samantha Booth
Assessment, Covid-19

‘Stressful and exhausting’: Ofqual report exposes teacher grade woes

Survey also shows over half of teachers felt pressured to change their grades last year by either leaders or...

Samantha Booth
Covid-19

Just £9m of adult education and non-levy apprenticeship relief funding released

Training providers were handed less than £9 million as part of a relief scheme to support adult education courses...

Billy Camden
Covid-19

Williamson provided wine and mince pies for DfE lockdown Xmas party

Sue Gray report finds 50 staff were invited to the 'festive drinks' - organised days in advance

Samantha Booth

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *