The UK’s most talented young foundation skills learners have been named at the end of an intense day of competitions at the WorldSkills UK national finals in Wales.
Forty-two students have won gold, silver and bronze medals in foundation skills competition finals in catering, creative media, digital, enterprise, hairdressing, health and social care, horticulture and restaurant services.
The competitions took place at Cardiff and Vale College this morning, which brought together over 70 SEND and high needs competitors from across the UK.
The college’s atrium was transformed this afternoon to host a medal ceremony to announce the winners. The full results are below.
Marion Plant, chair of WorldSkills UK and principal of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, said: “Congratulations to all those who took part. Your involvement demonstrates to employers that you have the skills and the mindset to succeed in the workplace.
“Foundation skills is one of the programmes I am most proud of as chair.”
Bridgend College took home two gold medals, in the digital and enterprise competitions, whilst Pembrokeshire College won gold medals in horticulture and creative media.
The two Welsh colleges were ranked joint first place out of the 20 participating providers with a total of 12 medal points each.
Gold medals are worth four points, a silver is worth three points, a bronze is worth two and a highly commended place scores one.
North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College came in second place with 10 medal points, winning one gold from Sawda Khalifa in hairdressing, a silver in catering, bronze in health and social care, and highly commended in hairdressing.
Four providers tied for the third spot in the medal table, all with four medal points. They were DN Colleges Group, Elidyr Communities Trust, New College Lanarkshire and NPTC Group of Colleges.
In the restaurant services skill, Zara Fisher from NPTC Group of Colleges swooped into first place, while Eva Ribons from Gower College Swansea won silver and Coleg Gwent’s Emily Boulton took home the bronze award.
In horticulture, Pembrokeshire College’s Junior Rozhon and Matthew Duncombe came away with gold and silver awards, and Riverside College’s Aimee-Leigh Phillips won bronze. Two highly commended prizes were awarded to Russell Reeves from Elidyr Communities Trust and Celyn Sollis from Pembrokeshire College.
Foundation skills medallists 2025:
Catering
Gold: Destini Bryan, DN Colleges Group
Silver: Mollie Clark, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Bronze: Brooklands College
Highly commended: Bridgend College
Creative media
Gold: Denver Picton, Dylan Raymond, Phoebe Stannett from Life Skills Academy, Pembrokeshire College
Silver: Rowan Love, Jack Bowler, Ella Evans from TEAM AWESOME, Coleg y Cymoedd
Bronze: Tommaso Montagino, Harry Metcalfe, John Subala from Burnley College Brood, Burnley College
Digital
Gold: Jesse Owen, Bridgend College
Silver: George Hennessey, Middlesbrough College
Bronze: Cathal Conolly, South West College
Highly commended: Oscar Adams, Weston College
Enterprise
Gold: Abi Thomas, Sophie Davies-Jones, Bethany Johns from Project StepUp, Bridgent College
Silver: Susan Bell, Leon Deane, Faith Hale from Cwtsh Creations, Elidyr Communities Trust
Bronze: Mairah Taj, Natalia Siwy, Yusuf Asif from Itec’s Finest, Itec Skills & Employment
Hairdressing
Gold: Sawda Khalifa, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Silver: Ellie Bennett, The Oldham College
Bronze: Jasmine Barry, Homefield College
Highly commended: Tigerlily Lloyd, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Health and social care
Gold: Kate Halsey, New College Lanarkshire
Silver: Leila Spree, Harlow College
Silver: Jack Jones, Bridgend College
Bronze: Sophie McNally, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Horticulture
Gold: Junior Rozhon, Pembrokeshire College
Silver: Matthew Duncombe, Pembrokeshire College
Bronze: Aimee-Leigh Phillips, Riverside College
Highly commended: Russell Reeves, Elidyr Communities Trust
Highly commended: Celyn Sollis, Pembrokeshire College
Restaurant Services
Gold: Zara Fisher, NPTC Group of Colleges
Silver: Eva Robins, Gower College Swansea
Bronze: Emily Boulton, Coleg Gwent
Results from the mainstream competitions can be found here.
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