Who is this competition for?

This competition is for trainee technicians born on or after 1 January 1987.

What does the competition prepare you for?

The competition places you within the job role of the car painter. A car painter applies various types of coating materials, such as primers, fillers and paints, to bodywork and vehicle parts.  Practitioners may work in a wide range of establishments from manufacturing to the servicing industry. Young people normally enter careers as car painters through apprenticeships that combine on- and off-the-job training. It is also possible to become an automotive technician through an initial period of full-time education and training followed by an apprenticeship or other work based training.

What does the competition cover?

This competition provides an exciting opportunity for individuals to demonstrate their problem solving, time management and planning skills, whilst displaying their technical skills.

The competition is in two stages:
Stage 1: the competitor must complete a test of theory that is marked by experts.
Stage 2: the highest scoring competitors from Stage 1 are invited to a live UK final competition that tests practical skills and applied knowledge in a number of aspects of the job role including:

• Preparing, cleaning and degreasing parts
• Bringing bodywork back to its original shape by filling and sanding
• Applying primer and filler or a mixture of both
• Sanding and masking
• Mixing the finishing paint, applying the correct colour formula; preparing  a colour sample
• Sanding and polishing defects.

At each stage industrial standards will be applied by expert judges. In addition to demonstrating their technical skills, competitors will be expected to demonstrate high standards of healthy and safe working practice.

What happens if I win?

UK gold winners will be invited to a high profile national awards event.

Subject to eligibility, outstanding national winners may be invited to compete for a place in the UK team for a future WorldSkills Competition.

Further information

Log onto www.skillauto.co.uk .

For technical queries about this competition please email competition.info@ukskills.org.uk

For general information about competitions please contact:

WorldSkills UK contact centre 0800 612 0742 or email worldskillsuk@ukskills.org.uk.

Further opportunities

There is a City & Guilds qualification available for this competition.

There is the possibility of progressing to a EuroSkills competition.

There is the possibility of progressing to an International WorldSkills competition.

Competition sponsors