Team UK Hungary For Success: The finest young skilled apprentices from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have been selected to represent the UK at Europe’s most important and prestigious skills competition, it has been announced.
Team UK – which heads to the EuroSkills Finals in Budapest from 26 to 28 September – will comprise of 22 elite competitors skilled in a broad spectrum of disciplines from engineering to construction, digital to creative.
The EuroSkills Finals, which includes teams from across Europe, is the last before the UK is scheduled to leave the EU next year.
Dr Neil Bentley, CEO of WorldSkills UK, which selects and trains Team UK to the highest international standard, said: “This will be a life-enhancing opportunity for these remarkable young people.
“After Brexit, our economic success as a nation will be dependent on our ability to close major trade deals and attract inward investment – and this will always hinge on demonstrating we have people with the right skills.
“Team UK are the embodiment not only of the kinds of traits and characteristics that we should aspire for in a young workforce, but for the UK Government’s ambitions for Global Britain too.
“They are leaders of their generation – and will inspire many more to walk in their footsteps.”
Governments and industry will be watching with interest to benchmark how well Team UK performs compared to the country’s main European competitors. At the previous EuroSkills finals, held in 2016 in Gothenburg – Team UK finished seventh.
To secure a place in Team UK, the apprentices and learners have been through an exhaustive selection process, taking part in the prestigious WorldSkills UK National Competitions, the finals of which are held at WorldSkills UK LIVE.
European Policy makers, educators and industry partners will attend the event – along with (an expected) 80,000 spectators.
