Vikki Thompson from Derwentside College in County Durham, England, has won the Gold Medal at the WorldSkills UK Health and Social Care Competition 2018. WorldSkills UK is part of the world’s largest vocational training competition and this year’s final took place in front of over 80,000 people at the WorldSkills UK Live event, which was held at Birmingham’s NEC on 15th – 17th of November.
Gold Medal Winner Vikki Thompson with Judith Salmon of ACTAN
The competition aims to find the best adult health and social care students and workers in the country and Gold Medal winner Vikki Thompson, Silver Medal winner Abiola Lugboso from The Rotherham NHS Trust and Bronze Medal winner Sorcha Downey from Southern Regional College demonstrated their health and social care sector skills in a mix of written tests and live scenarios, which were devised by competition Organising Partner The Association for Care, Training & Assessment Networks, (ACTAN).
Commenting on her competition experience, Vikki Thompson said; “It was a positive, enjoyable, scary roller coaster ride – my confidence has been boosted tenfold, it’s also given me an insight into many scenarios that I would not normally find myself. The training workshops were fantastic, and it enabled all the competitors to be together to build a bond before the finals.”
Molly Evans from Wigan and Leigh College and Hadewych de Wit from South West College also placed as ‘Highly Commended’ in the competition.
Judith Salmon, Chair of ACTAN, said; “On behalf of everyone involved in the finals of the WorldSkills UK Live 2018, it was a privilege to work with such committed professionals who have studied and worked so hard to achieve such high levels of knowledge and skills – they were inspirational role models for all those attending the event who are considering a career in the health and social care sector.”
