An electrician who has been studying at South West College has achieved gold at the UK SkillELECTRIC final at the NEC in Birmingham.
Stuart Graham, who is self employed, just qualified as an electrician in June, won gold in the Electrical Installation category. He has won gold all the way through his heats.
The top eight apprentice electricians from across the UK regional heats qualified to compete for the title of best young electrician in the UK at SkillELECTRIC last week with Stuart representing South West College. 
The competitors went head to head in the two-day final at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, which is held as part of the SkillBuild Show. 
During the final, the contestants completed a number of tasks and practical tests based on the workplace scenarios faced by electricians. Stuart came out on top winning the gold enabling him the opportunity to represent the UK at the biennial WorldSkills event, the world’s largest skills competition, in Kazan, south-west Russia in 2019. 
This year South West College had 16 entries in the SkillBuild competition, in which four were placed. Daniel McAteer, was awarded Bronze in Plastering and Drywall Systems, Jamie Howe, a joinery student was awarded highly commended and Gareth Elliott another joinery student was awarded Bronze. 
The College described it as a “tremendous achievement” for all the participants to reach the UK finals and obtaining results at this level is remarkable.