The Skills Show’s reputation as the UK’s largest and most successful skills and careers event for young people has been reinforced by the success of the 2015 show. Covering its largest ever floor space – equivalent to 12 football pitches across ten halls at the NEC Birmingham – the event welcomed a total of 78,324 visitors during its three day tenancy. 20,597 people – many of them families – attended during the show’s Saturday opening hours, a 44% increase on 2014.
“The Skills Show’s unique experiential careers advice model once again proved a big hit,” commented Dr Neil Bentley, Chief Executive of Find a Future, the organisers of the show. “The success of this year’s event demonstrates how much demand there is for excellent careers advice on vocational education, training and apprenticeships. Our Saturday opening saw high numbers of families attending together to learn about vocational careers – a clear indicator of how keen parents and guardians are to be involved in their childrens’ career choices. In addition, significant numbers of parents, guardians and teachers took the opportunity to improve their own levels of understanding about the opportunities available in the dedicated areas.”
Visitors to the NEC also had the chance to watch more than 670 talented young people taking part in the finals of 58 WorldSkills UK Skills competitions, with successful entrants later named in Squad UK to train towards selection for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017.
“The opportunity to see competitors in action in the WorldSkills UK Skills Competition finals is a vital part of The Skills Show.” continued Dr Bentley. “They are the link between the skills which visitors try for the first time at the event, education and training opportunities, employers and achieving success. Watching their peers in action is incredibly motivating for young visitors, while the involvement of our Skills Champions – former competitors on the world stage – at this year’s event provided our audience with the chance to discover first hand what it is like to succeed at the very highest level. We are confident that those named in Squad UK for 2017 will continue to drive performance standards in competitions still further, and inspire even more young people to take up vocational careers.”
Lead-sponsored by the Edge Foundation and Premier Colleges, with backing from the European Social Fund, The Skills Show 2015 gained support from a wide range of business partners, including BAE Systems, Toyota UK, Virgin Media, CrossRail and Costa. Famous faces attending the event included entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, celebrity hairdresser Nicky Clarke, former rugby star Will Greenwood and Michelin-starred chef Theo Randall, all of whom shared their own careers experiences and provided guidance to visitors on taking the next step.
Business Secretary Sajiv Javid MP, who also attended The Skills Show, endorsed the event, saying that the government is “proud to support this.” Speaking at the event’s official welcome, he said “We’re proud that the government is really focused on apprenticeships especially. We want to show it’s not just about university….there’s lots of vocational skills that are available that can lead to excellent careers across the UK. This (event) is going to be a huge experience for so many young people. It’s going to be inspiring to them all.”
“Working in partnership with business and education, our task is to build on this year’s event for 2016 and beyond,” said Dr Bentley, “to continue to showcase the very best opportunities to the next generation of talent and inspire more and more young people to take up vocational careers. The Skills Show is now firmly established in the educational calendar, and at Find a Future we are committed to ensuring it maintains its reputation as the best event of its kind in the country.”
Entries for the 2016 WorldSkills UK skills competitions will open in March 2016.