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IoT academic partner Burnley College is celebrating a second successive year of WorldSkills UK success, with seven of its students advancing to the 2026 National Finals.
Finalists Max Whistlecraft (3D Digital Game Art); Catie Gray, Liam Slinger, Matthew Root and Viktor Szuplik (Digital Media Production); and Lancashire and Cumbria IoT students Igor Dolgan and Keiran Webster (Industry 4.0) will head to the finals in November which take place at universities and colleges across Wales, where the students aim to bring home a coveted WorldSkills UK medal.
They follow the success of Burnley College’s 2025 finalists, who won 10 medals between them and helped make the college the second highest-performing in England – and joint fifth nationally – in the competition. In reaching the national finals for a second year running, this year’s cohort have shown they are among the brightest technical talent in the country.
WorldSkills UK is known for setting the standard in technical and professional training across the country. Congratulating the finalists, Mark Smallman, Operations Director at WorldSkills UK, said: “Our competitions recreate the pace, pressures and standards of the workplace, challenging competitors to solve problems, think critically and perform at their very best.”
That emphasis on work-ready skills is one that Burnley College shares through its role in the Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology, a government-backed partnership of eight colleges and three university research partners that works with employers to deliver higher technical education across the region.
We wish all seven the best of luck in November.