Fabrication & Welding apprentices from Castleford College demonstrated their technical talent during the SkillWeld 2025 National Qualifiers.
Held at the College on Tuesday 17th June, the event challenged participants with four rigorous tests across the three core welding disciplines including gas tungsten arc welding, stick welding and metal inert gas welding.
Castleford College apprentices Alfie Tolson, Jessica Kingswood, Joshua Curtis, Oliver Ramsay, Ryan Joseph, Samad Hussain and Samuel Mark Egley all took part - with Jessica Kingswood earning first place, followed by Oliver Ramsay in second and Joshua Curtis in third.
Apprentice Samuel Mark Egley (left) with his award
The judging panel included Stephen Haymes (Engineering Skill Competitions), Clive Slocombe (Code A Weld), and representatives from Air Products; Chris Porter, Jemma McCafferty, Joanne Price and Paul Kendrick.
Prizes were supplied by sponsors Air Products and Code A Weld, who provided toolkits to support the apprentices’ ongoing training.
Jessica, an apprentice at Yorkshire Laser Fabrication, said about her win: “I was really nervous taking part but it’s good to know that my hard work has paid off. What I enjoy most about welding is how calming it is and that I get to create things—one of our projects involved making a toolbox, which I really liked. My dream job is to do oil rig welding abroad, so I’m going to gain as much experience as I can in my current apprenticeship.”
Jessica Kingswood in the Welding classroom at Castleford College
Gary Wright, Fabrication & Welding Lecturer at Castleford College, said: “Jess fully deserves the win - her work ethic, commitment and skill are second to none. The apprentices are a credit to both the College and their employers. They’re highly skilled welders and really proved their capabilities in this competition.”
Clive from Code A Weld, said: “SkillWeld is the UK’s most prestigious, highly contented competition to seek our nations most talented young welders. It exists to empower the next generation of welders through competition-based training to ensure the UK has highly skilled labour required to drive our countries economic growth and boosting its technical ability.”
Learn more about the SkillWeld competition, at: www.worldskillsuk.org/competitions/welding/
Find out more about the Engineering department, at: www.wakefield.ac.uk/study-with-us/subject-areas/engineering