Educator Journey 2026

WorldSkills UK National Competitions

Educator Journey 2026

Identify your competitors

Engage your learners

Preparing your learners

Entry stage preparation

Pre-competition paperwork

Entry stage

Registration

Sep - Dec (2025)

Jan – Feb

Feb – March

March

March – May

2 – 27 March

March – May

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Pre-qualifier competition preparation

National qualifiers

Announcement of Finalists

Pre-final competition preparation

Finalist training and development

July

September

September – October

May – 26 June

May

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National Finals joining instructions

National Finals

Medal ceremony

Squad UK

17 – 20 November

November (date TBC)

September – October

2026 – 2028

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National Finals joining instructions

You and your learner will receive joining instructions for the National Finals. Including:

• Accomodation details
• Competition venue information
• A timetable for the week
• Any special instructions you need to be aware of

Pre-competition paperwork

• For foundation skills competitions please ensure that you inform us of any specific needs or special requirements by completing the state of support form
• Ensure parental consent is provided for learners under 18 years old

Announcement of Finalists

• Scores are quality assured, and finalists will be announced on the WorldSkills UK website

• The list of finalists can be found here

Finalist training and development

• Competition Organising Partners will provide tools and resources for preparation for the finals
• Support your learners participation in pre-final training and development activities
• Help your learners practice using benchmarking assessments to track progress and identify areas for additional development

Engage your learners

• Engage your learners with competition preparation and learning resources. These can be found on each competition skill page
• Familiarise yourself with the rules and entry criteria
• Engage your learners with inter-college or regional local skills competitions activity to get them comfortable and confident with competitions
• Register you interest here

Entry stage preparation

• Support your learners to understand the requirements of the task, including deadlines for submissions
• Ensure your learners are given time to complete the task

National Finals

• Finalists will compete over three days of activities at various locations in south Wales (dates TBC)
• A list of the venues where competitions will be taking place can be found here

Pre-final competition preparation

• Receive and use feedback from the qualifier stage to guide your learner's continued development
• Ensure all travel and equipment arrangements are made well in advance of the national finals
• Assign Mindset Masterclasses and Productivity Skills resources from the Learning Lab to help learners build focus, resilience, and efficiency for peak performance

Developmental feedback from National Finals

• Those who are age eligible and have achieved a benchmark score may be invited to opt into squad UK, and ultimately have chance of representing the UK at the WorldSkills International competitions in Japan 2028

Registration

• Register your learners for the competitions
• Ensure they complete registrations by agreeing to terms and conditions
• Register here

National qualifiers

• The national qualifiers take place over a period of one day either physically at venues across the UK or online depending on the competition

Medal ceremony

• All medallists will be announced at the medal ceremony taking place at the International Convention Centre in Newport, Wales
• We will also be holding the medal ceremony for the foundation skills competitions at Cardiff and Vale College
• Watch the livestream here

Preparing your learners

• Benchmarking assessments will help you to identify your learners strengths and areas for skills development so they are ready to compete. By entering your learners scores into our tracker you can assess where they are across class, organisational, regional and national benchmarks
• Local skills competitions elevate technical education, build resilience, and showcase the competition experience. Use them to identify candidates for national competitions while ensuring wide and diverse participation. We can help you set up and endorse inter-college or regional competitions—express your interest to get started
• Access these resources on the WorldSkills UK Learning Lab. Register for free and upload your learners via your educator account to assign resources and track progress. Make sure you register at this stage, as you’ll need access to benchmarking assessments and mindset masterclasses throughout the educator and competitor journey
• Express your interest to find out more about the 2026 National Competition cycle

Pre-qualifier competition preparation

• Continue to support your learners to develop their skills
• Assist learners with selecting and attending qualifier heats
• Use the Learning Lab for benchmarking; submit scores to track performance and identify areas for further development

Entry stage

• This is the first stage of the competition cycle which will involve a remote activity usually lasting 1-2 hours
• Each individual competition will have their own date for the entry test which will be emailed to you
• This must be completed by the individual

Identify your competitors

• Familiarise yourself with the competition rules, entry criteria and the core competencies to be tested
• Support your learners to register for our competitions. We recommend entering not only those who excel academically and technically, but also those who could benefit from the experience as a valuable opportunity for growth and development
• We particularly encourage registations from groups who are currently underrepresented in our programmes such as women in STEM skills and learners from ethnic minority backgrounds
• Register your interest here