Bradford computing students reach national finals

Wednesday, 12 September 2018 07:00

Two computing students from Bradford College have fought off tough competition to secure a place in the prestigious national finals of the WorldSkills UK Competition.

Hamza Kumran and Sohaib Ashraf will compete against other computing students and apprentices from all over the UK in front of over 70,000 visitors at WorldSkills UK Live.

The pair went through to the national finals after triumphing in the Yorkshire and Humberside regional heats of the IT skills contest that were hosted by Bradford College in May. Sohaib, 20, finished first in the Network Systems Administration category while Hamza, 17, came in first place in the IT Support Technician category.

The finals take place from 15–17 November at the NEC, WorldSkills UK LIVE is the country’s largest experiential skills, apprenticeships and careers event and is free to attend.

Computer Science student Sohaib, from Shipley, said: “When preparing for the regionals I was only focused on doing my best and had no idea I would be in the top eight in the country.

“I feel proud of myself having reached this far and will be going over the necessary material once I have more information. I assume the finals will be very competitive but I will work hard to do my best.”

Hamza, from Bradford, who is studying a Level 3 course in IT System Support and Networking, said: “I feel happy and proud to be given the opportunity to compete at the national finals and I hope I can do well.

“I realise that it will be a challenge, therefore to prepare myself for the final, I’ll be doing more practical tasks to grow my knowledge, which will hopefully allow me to be successful in the final.”

Steven Clay, Lecturer in Networking and Systems Support at Bradford College, said: “I am really pleased that both Sohaib and Hamza have managed to get through to the World SkillsUK LIVE. They are both a credit to themselves and Bradford College and I am confident they will do well when they compete in the finals of their respective competitions.”

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