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Overall, the national standard of plumbing & heating apprentices in the U.K is very good and proof of this was the U.K competitor winning the silver medal at the recent WorldSkills finals in Lyon in September 2024.
This was also evident at the recent U.K national finals in November 2024 with only 1 mark between the competitors for 2nd and 3rd places resulting in 3 joint silver medals and 3 joint bronze medals. This is the first time this has ever happened in the skill, and this demonstrated the quality of the competitors.
Areas where plumbing apprentices are strong:
At competitions, copper pipework always plays a major part, and a lot of marks can be gained or lost with this material, which can be the difference in achieving a medal or not.
While pipe fabrication and bending are generally good, soldering of joints is an area that requires more attention as a lot of marks can be lost. Often, we find that site practice is used where the objective is to ensure a leak free joint and sometimes excessive solder is used on the joint. For competitions we also require a leak free joint, but the appearance is equally as important. For 15 & 22mm copper pipe we are only allowed one flat touch point on the joint, there must be solder visible all the way around the joint and any flux residue must be removed with a damp cloth. Soldering to world class standards is not an easy skill to perfect, so many hours of practice and patience goes in to achieving a high-class outcome.
Multilayer pipe (pex) is also used at international competitions, unfortunately this material is not used in the majority of our colleges in the U.K at present even though it is now extensively used in the plumbing and heating industry throughout the U.K and Europe. When it is used in competitions it is important that the competitor has the necessary skills to fabricate assemble and join this material to the required standards and specification. This needs to be included in our UK qualifications and curriculum moving forward.
National Competitions
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Employment / Industry
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Heat pump technology was introduced into our UK national finals as well as WorldSkills International finals (2024) for the first time. This is the future, and our skill will depend on our students having the knowledge and expertise to install and maintain these appliances moving forward. There are many different companies producing these heat pumps and most have training academies where they offer training on their products, normally free of charge. This is a great way for both educators and apprentices to update their skills and knowledge of this technology.
The WorldSkills Occupational Standards (WSOS) will give an insight and overview of the requirements for international competitions.
The BPEC website (SkillPLUMB) has advice and information on regional and national competitions giving an in-depth knowledge on preparing a competitor, tips and practice drawings etc.
https://bpec.org.uk/shop/free-learning-resources/
https://bpec.org.uk/the-bpec-charity/activities/skillplumb/
Please also check out our own WorldSkills UK National competitions web page for more information and resources related to the competition: Plumbing Competition – WorldSkills UK
It is important that educators understand the structure and process of competitions and how they work. A good knowledge of the marking schemes using both measurement and judgement in the assessment of competitors work is vital. This can then be passed on to their students who can learn the system through peer-to-peer marking, this will give them firsthand experience and will let them see where marks are won and lost.
It is good to have competitions within the classroom, you can organise small competitions between the students and have peer to peer marking take place as mentioned. This not only gets students involved in competitions but lets them see how the process works and can also add a competitive edge and fun element to their learning experience.