Students from Exeter College recently made their way to the WorldSkills National Finals in Manchester to compete against thousands of young individuals and teams in the ultimate test of their ability.  

WorldSkills supports young people across the world via competitions-based training, assessment and benchmarking, with members’ national teams competing to achieve world-class standards in the biennial ‘skills olympics’. 

Exeter College was represented in Cyber Skills and Accounting. Lucy Doyle, Ashleigh Chambers and Christian Jones, studied a Level 3 and 4 Apprenticeship in Accountancy with the College and are now Accounting Trainees with Simpkins Edwards LLP. Their team ‘Surpassing Expectations’ came away with Gold. Emily Medland, Jack McAllister and Joanne Rogers also competed in this category. 

The accountancy team were given 4.5 hours to prepare a presentation based on a zero-waste grocery shop. The following day they then presented to a panel of judges including representatives from Kaplan and the ICAEW.  

Lucy Doyle said; 

“We are all incredibly grateful for the opportunity to enter this competition and have learnt invaluable skills which we will carry with us through our everyday and working lives.” 

Programme Leader at Exeter College, Julie Rawle, said;  

“The Accountancy delivery team at Exeter College are proud to have contributed to ‘Surpassing Expectations’ success. The competitors were asked to complete a case study for an ethics focused business that was looking to expand. They made full use of their AAT level 3 and 4 knowledge, including sustainability, CSR, SWOT and PESTLE analysis, to win gold in the Accounting Technician category. Congratulations to Ashleigh, Lucy and Christian!“

Second years Connor Pester and Luke Mcstravick are studying the T Level in Digital Support Services and came away from the competition with a bronze medal after competing against some of the leading bright talent in their field. The skills that they have developed on the T Level have helped prepare them for this competition, with the IT faculty providing mentoring and technical input at each stage of their journey. 

At the competition they were tested on subjects relating to Cyber Security (ranging from Security Operations Center (or SOC) knowledge to Cisco Packet Tracer experience) and had to undertake both offensive and defensive cyber tasks that mirror real world experience.   

Luke Mcstravick said; 

“The competition was fierce as we had worked our way up from entry-level, where we faced 200 teams; to semi-finals where we faced 30 teams until we reached the finals where there were only 5 teams left. 

“I believe what I enjoyed the most from the experience was being able to meet like-minded people to myself and Connor, which allowed me to make some, potentially, life-long friendships and memories. The memento of my medal will forever remind me of my wonderful experience competing up in Manchester for the WorldSkills 2023 Finals.” 

Luke is completing his T Level industry placement with Mid Devon District Council and says; 

“I couldn’t ask for a higher quality or quantity of knowledge and experience. I learn skills there that will very much be applicable to my future profession in IT and beyond and I am treated with respect.” 

Connor is undertaking his industry placement with Securious based at the Exeter Science Park and will be one of the first in his cohort to complete the required hours for the T Level. 

Learn more about World Skills.