WorldSkills UK selection success for Oscar McNaughton

Oscar McNaughton from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) has been selected to represent the UK at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, known as the ‘skills Olympics’.

Oscar will compete as part of Team UK at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, which takes place from 10 – 15 September. Team UK is selected, mentored, and trained by WorldSkills UK, in partnership with the world’s leading learning company Pearson.

Team UK will be heading for glory on the world stage in Lyon, France, just hours after the Olympic flame is dimmed. Just like their sporting counterparts, Team UK have been training hard for this once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country in their chosen career.

The UK has been taking part in the WorldSkills Competition, since 1953 and the event is used by governments around the world, economists, and global business leaders as a litmus test to measure preparedness to optimise future economic growth. At WorldSkills Lyon 2024, 1,500 competitors from more than 65 countries and regions will compete in 62 professions with the aim of being named the world’s best in their chosen skill.

Oscar started working for UWTSD’s CBM as an apprentice design engineer. He entered the WorldSkills competition for Additive Manufacturing last September and qualified for the UK finals.

He attended the UK finals in Manchester two months later in November 2023 competing against the very best from across the UK, achieving a silver medal. After the finals he was invited to attend a squad selection event for a place in the WorldSkills UK international squad.

Lee Pratt, UWTSD’s Advanced Manufacturing Skills Academy manager, said : “We are extremely proud of Oscar’s achievements in being selected for a place in Team UK for this year’s WorldSkills International finals. To think Oscar will now go on to represent the UK against the very best additive manufacturing engineers from across the world is amazing!! 

“This is a pilot year for the Additive Manufacturing competition in the UK. Competitors are required to utilise a number of Advanced Manufacturing skills as part of their test including,3D scanning, reverse engineering, computer simulation and 3D printing.

“We believe Oscar has what it takes to go all the way with Team UK, and we will be supporting him every step of his journey!”

Oscar said:  “I’m delighted to have been selected for the UK international team for WorldSkills. It has been an amazing rollercoaster of a journey, and I’m really looking forward to representing both the UK and the University in Lyon in September. I’d like to say a massive thank you to Lee and the rest of the team who have been instrumental in my success and supported from the nationals through to now. It’s a really exciting time to be of the additive world.

“UWTSD is in a perfect position to become not only a leading front for additive manufacture, but also more widely for the range of World Skills categories, which are amazing opportunities for cultivating and sharing talent in the many skills that UWTSD fosters. Hopefully, I am just the first international competitor, and I look forward to seeing who else may be inspired to put themselves out there”.

Ben Blackledge, Chief Executive, WorldSkills UK said: “WorldSkills Lyon 2024 - think the Olympic Games – where the prize is the world-class skills that UK employers are crying out for.

“The UK’s participation in the ‘skills Olympics’ will provide vital insights to ensure we can develop our apprenticeship and training programmes, to make them truly world- class.

Freya Thomas Monk, Managing Director of Vocational Qualifications and Training at Pearson said: “Pearson shares many goals with WorldSkills UK - celebrating the best of vocational and technical education, raising awareness and the prestige of the sector, and supporting young people to set benchmarks of excellence in their chosen fields.

“I hope the Team UK members take pride in the fact that their dedication and talent have rightfully earned them a place in this prestigious competition.

The skills they have honed, and the standards they have worked so hard to reach, represent the very best our nation has to offer. Here at Pearson we are cheering you on every step of the way.”

Further Information

Rebecca Davies

Executive Press and Media Relations Officer    
Corporate Communications and PR    
Email: rebecca.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk    
Phone: 07384 467071