Britain needs a skills upgrade to cope with Brexit – WorldSkills UK

“My message to the new Prime Minister: we need a skills upgrade and it needs to be world class in technical education. The current government has recognised that through its policy reviews - now it’s time to put that in to action.

“WorldSkills UK and the work we do with WorldSkills internationally can play an integral role in helping the new PM deliver on that to upgrade the skills system and make it world class.

“We have a 66-year track record of competing internationally and winning medals on the world stage. If we want to be really successful as Global Britain and want the economy to grow, then working with WorldSkills UK is part of the answer.”

WorldSkills UK selects, trains and manages the nation’s best young students, apprentices (and former apprentices) in dozens of different skills disciplines and harnesses international best practice to help business and education mainstream it to boost productivity and the economy.

The CEO delivered the message as he oversaw final preparations for Team UK competing at the 45^th Skills Olympics in Russia. The group of 37 talented young women and men will take on the rest of the world from 22-27 August where they battle to win Gold, Silver or Bronze in their chosen skill.

Teams from more than 70 countries and regions will compete in 56 disciplines ranging from cyber security, 3D game design, to plumbing, painting & decorating, electrical installation, cooking and floristry in an enormous purpose-built structure, which is 800km east of Moscow.

The members of Team UK have been selected after first excelling in the WorldSkills UK competitions, which are designed to equip young people with the skills needed to help UK businesses compete globally.

WorldSkills UK www.worldskillsuk.org