Conor McGaughey, Seamus Goodfellow and Gareth Murphy achieved first, second and third respectively in the WorldSkills Auto Tec UK Heats at Jaguar/Land Rover Training Academy in Leamington Spa last week. Two other students Pol Haughey and Ciaran McCann were also highly commended for their participation.
Conor McGaughey, from Mountfield, won first place. Conor is an employee of Kelly’s Garage Mountfield and like all the students is studying an NVQ Level 3 in Motor Vehicle Repair. Conor said; “I would never have believed when I left school and joined the College that I would have achieved this. The competition heats are really tough and the pressure is very intense. I am really thankful to my Lecturers and my employer for helping me prepare for the competition. They have given up a lot of their own spare time and sought specialist equipment and training techniques to give us all a competitive edge. Their advice and guidance has been second to none.”
The students were accompanied by their Lecturers Paul O’Loughlin and Niall McElchar who were delighted with their achievements. Paul said; “We are very pleased that the students have received recognition for all the hard work and preparation that goes into preparing for a competition at this level. This is a stepping stone for them and hopefully they will progress on to European and maybe even WorldSkills competitions in the near future”.
All the students wished to thank their employers for their support and flexibility as they prepared for the competition. They now look forward to progressing further in the competition stages in the coming months.