WorldSkills UK works to accelerate the development of young people’s skills from national to world-class standards through UK-wide and international skills competitions. We know that achieving excellence is determined not just through delivering a higher technical skill-set, but it is also through developing the resilience and creative mindset that are vital for driving higher performance at work.
The project looked closely at the skills systems of WorldSkills members Russia, Switzerland, Singapore and Shanghai, examining how skills competitions can be used as a highly promising platform for skills innovation.
The findings are fascinating, and, above all, the RSA’s research shows that other countries have improved their skills systems by strategically integrating the use of WorldSkills competitions. In Singapore, WorldSkills competition involvement is closely aligned to the skills needs of its economic development programme. In Russia, WorldSkills standards have been completely mainstreamed to transform its technical education system, while in Switzerland and Shanghai, WorldSkills competitions are used to show that vocational education and training can be just as prestigious as university education.
WorldSkills UK already does a lot to raise aspirations and inspire success amongst thousands of young people every year through competitions, but we know we can and must do more. We intend to make the best possible use of WorldSkills International as a global benchmarking platform, the only one of its kind for international skills, to help ensure the UK remains at the cutting edge of international best practice in skills innovation. We hope this report inspires those in governments, education and industry to join our efforts to help build world-class skills systems right across the UK to boost productivity and competitiveness.
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