Frequently asked questions

WorldSkills UK Competitions bring together apprentices and young people from around the UK to compete to be the best in their chosen skill, first in national competitions and then as part of Team UK in international skills competitions, for those competitions with an International pathway. Skills competitions provide employers, educators and independent training providers with a proven method of achieving real results for young people of all backgrounds and abilities.

Skills competitions provide an opportunity for individuals (or teams) to compete against one another to demonstrate their talent in a particular vocational skill, using tasks derived from real life, industry-based scenarios. Competition tasks are assessed by experts to agreed criteria, with the highest scorers progressing to the next stage of competition.

We offer a range of skills competitions across Engineering & Technology; Digital, Business & Creative; Health, Hospitality & Lifestyle and Construction & Infrastructure.

WorldSkills UK guarantees the integrity of skills competitions delivered on our behalf by our Competition Organising Partners (COPs), across education and industry. Our COP’s deliver competitions in over 40 skill areas that lead to around 300 qualifying events each year, culminating in a live National Final. This year the National Finals will be held at locations across South Wales, week commencing 24 November 2025.

For each skills competition there is an entry requirement, this is outlined on each skills competition web page and includes the core competencies participants need to meet in order to take part in the competition.

WorldSkills UK Competitions are free to enter and are a great tool to help bring learning to life. Depending on how far in the journey your students and apprentices reach, there may be costs involved that could include support activity to practice and prepare and transport costs to attend national qualifiers or the national finals. For anyone struggling to meet the costs of participating in our competitions, a competitor support fund is available to help cover essential costs.

To take part in WorldSkills UK Competitions, apprentices and students must be entered online by their college, training provider or employer. To receive updates ahead of registrations you can register your interest here: National Competitions 2025 – Register your interest – WorldSkills UK. Registrations open at 09:00am on Monday 3 March and close at midnight on Friday 28 March.

Support your learners to be ready to compete by using the free teaching and benchmarking tools and resources available on our Learning Lab.  You can also find practical resources to help you set up and run your own local competitions.

In addition to the Learning Lab, there are pre-competition activities on the individual skill pages, you can search for competitions here to learn more about each skills and access skill specific pre-competition resources

If you would like further information about National Competitions, please do not hesitate to contact us: competitions@worldskillsuk.org