Northern Regional College students have participated in an inter-campus Software for Business Solutions competition.

The competition, held across all four campuses, is the first step in the lead up to the national WorldSkills UK competition which will take place towards the end of 2022.

The top six scoring students will go to the next stage, which is the regional heat and the step before the UK-wide final.

WorldSkills UK is a competition-based development programme designed to enhance practical skills and knowledge taught on vocational courses by assessing an individual’s employability attributes in a competitive environment.

Dylan Black and Lecturer Karen Thompson from the Newtownabbey campus.

placeholder image — Dylan Black and Lecturer Karen Thompson from the Newtownabbey campus.

The national finals will see an entry of over 3,000 competitors in 64 different skill areas which is then whittled down through a series of heats with only the eight highest scoring competitors in each skills area ultimately qualifying.

Newtownabbey student Dylan Black was awarded the highest score on his campus in the Software for Business Solutions competition.

He said: “I was delighted to get the highest score in the campus competition. It has been a great opportunity for students who are studying here and has really boosted by confidence in advance of the regional heats which will hopefully lead to the WorldSkills UK competition.”

Dylan and the winners from the Coleraine, Magherafelt and Ballymena campuses received Amazon vouchers to mark their achievement at this stage.

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