Burnley College is celebrating the incredible achievements of seven students who have clinched places in the prestigious WorldSkills UK 2026 National Finals.
Demonstrating extraordinary ambition, innovation and skill in categories including 3D Digital Game Art, Digital Media Production and Digital Production Systems, these talented learners battled in a series of testing challenges to be crowned regional champions.
They will now take to the national stage at universities and colleges in Wales from 18–20 November to compete for the chance to bring home a coveted WorldSkills UK National Finals medal.
The finalists are Max Whistlecraft for 3D Digital Game Art, Catie Gray, Liam Slinger, Matthew Root and Viktor Szuplik for Digital Media Production, and Igor Dolgan and Keiran Webster for Industry 4.0.
This year’s team are keen to build on the success of the 2025 finalists, who earned an impressive 10 medals and helped to place Burnley College the second highest college in England and joint fifth place nationally in the competition.
WorldSkills UK is renowned for setting the gold standard in technical and professional training across the nation.
By reaching the National Finals for a second year in a row, our students have demonstrated that they’re among the brightest and best in the country.
Mark Smallman, Operations Director at WorldSkills UK, congratulated the finalists and emphasised the important of skills competitions for national growth:
“Our competitions recreate the pace, pressures and standards of the workplace, challenging competitors to solve problems, think critically and perform at their very best.
“It’s encouraging to see the diversity of learners taking part continue to increase, reflecting the growing reach of skills excellence across the UK.
“That’s why organisations are embracing skills competitions as part of their teaching practices, they see first-hand how the experience builds confidence, resilience and the skills people need to be truly work ready.”
If you want to be competing at the highest levels alongside your studies, take a look at Burnley College’s wide range of courses at www.burnley.ac.uk.
