Students from Portadown, Waringstown and Moira celebrate medal delight at WorldSkills UK Finals

The College topped the leaderboard for all Northern Ireland colleges and ranked second overall among all UK colleges. These 2024 results continue a successful three-year streak, with SRC previously achieving the top spot across the UK in 2022 and 2023.

Among those students competing, were students from Portadown and the nearby areas of Waringstown and Moira. Patrick Sheerin from Portadown, a recent BEng Engineering graduate of SRC, alongside teammate Caolan McCartan won gold in the Industry 4.0 category. Patrick is currently employed by AJ Power, a volume manufacture and design of diesel generating sets in Craigavon, Portadown.

In the mechatronics category, Portadown student John Doherty alongside teammate Jason McVerry won a silver medal, improving upon their bronze medal position in the 2023 national finals. John currently works within Norbrook Laboratories as an Automation Engineer which involves working on electrical systems and the automation of production lines.

Elsewhere, Carter McKnight from Moira and his teammate Ross Graham earned a well-deserved bronze medal in the mechatronics category. This dynamic duo, who previously won gold in the 2023 automation category, had to switch categories due to WorldSkills UK rules that prevent previous winners from re-entering the same category.

As a result, Ross and Carter advanced to the mechatronics category, where they competed against five other teams, including two from their own College, SRC. Ross is currently pursuing an Engineering (Technical Design & Manufacture) Level 5 Foundation Degree higher-level apprenticeship at the College’s Newry campus. When he's not in college, you can find Ross working at Re-Gen Robotics as a design engineer.

Electrical installation apprentice Jonathan (Jonny) Gough from Portadown who works with Mark Dowey of MD Electrics in Portadown, caused delight with a silver medal in the Electrical Installation category.

Jonny was originally interested in becoming an electrical apprentice due to the variety of jobs that comes with working in electrics, from commercial wiring projects to domestic projects. With his silver medal, Jonny now hopes that he has done enough to be invited to participate in Team UK for the Shanghai 2026 WorldSkills international competition.

Lastly Ben Robertson, another recent past SRC apprentice won a silver medal in the automotive refinishing category.

Ben’s former lecturer, David Fairly commented: “Congratulations to Ben on his silver medal performance! He successfully completed all assigned tasks within the given time frame over the competition period. The event was quite intense, with no room for relaxation as tasks were strictly timed.

"Additionally, the presence of numerous spectators throughout, added an element of pressure. Despite this, Ben was satisfied with his work and was relieved to reach the end.”

Ben currently works with G&H Autos in Dungannon as a body paint resprayer.

Finalists and medallists were celebrated at a closing ceremony at the prestigious Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on Friday 22 November. The WorldSkills UK National Finals showcases the best of the UK’s young talent.

Designed by industry experts, the competition series develops personal and professional skills through the advancement of technical and employability skills, through competition-based learning.

Southern Regional College students have excelled in recent years at WorldSkills UK. This year has seen a continued dominance in the areas of mechatronics, laboratory technician, electrical installation, automotive refinishing and culinary arts, with students securing medals in these areas, in consecutive years.

Lee Campbell, Principal & CEO of Southern Regional College commented: "Congratulations to all students who won medals at the 2024 WorldSkills UK National Finals, and to those who reached the final stage of the national competition. This event is about more than just medals; it's about determination, learning, and growth.

"These results reflect the tremendous effort students have put into their preparing for the finals, with the support of lecturers and employers during pre-competition training. Both medal winners and finalists should be immensely proud of their achievements."

The 2024 WorldSkills National Finals took place from Tuesday 19 November to Friday 22 November across eight venues in Manchester and Greater Manchester.

The next National Finals will occur between 25-28 November 2025 across venues in South Wales. Competition activity for the 2025 cycle will commence in March 2025.