Bradford students competing in national computing competition
Source: David Jagger
TWO computing students from Bradford will test their skills at a national competition later this year, which takes place at a conference attended by more than 70,000 people.
Hamza Kumran and Sohain Ashraf, who both study at Bradford College, will go up against other computing students and apprentices from across the UK at the WorldSkills UK Competition, which will take place at WorldSkills UK Live at the NEC in Birmingham from November 15 to 17.
The pair qualified for the national finals after triumphing in the Yorkshire and the Humber regional finals of the IT skills contest, which was held in Bradford in May.
Hamza, 17, claimed first place in the IT Support Technician category, and Mr Ashraf, 20, came top in the Network Systems Administration category.
WorldSkills UK Live is the country's largest experiential skills, apprenticeships and careers event and is free to attend.
Hamza, who s 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.”
Mr Ashraf, from Shipley, studies Computer Science, and added: “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.”
Dr Neil Bentley, chief executive at WorldSkills UK said: “I offer my congratulations to Hamza and Sohaib from Bradford College.
“Our competitions equip apprentices and learners with the lifelong, world-class skills that will drive up training standards to the highest level to help boost UK productivity and competitiveness.
“Hamza and Sohaib will now spend from now until November in training for the WorldSkills UK Competitions, supported by staff at Bradford College.”
If either of the pair are successful in the competition, they could be invited to represent the UK in the international WorldSkills competition.
Steve Clay from Bradford College added: "Sohaib and Hamza 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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