CONEL student Huseyin Chalil has been awarded the silver medal at the WorldSkills UK competition in the Hardware and Software Skills Challenge.

Colleges from around the country put their top students forward for the challenge and achieving the silver medal is an impressive achievement. A series of timed tasks were set by tutor, Satar Rahmani, in which students had to show technical competence and knowledge in installing, configuring and fault-finding on a PC system. "Everyone was impressed by Huseyin's performance in the challenge and the silver medal is an endorsement of his considerable skills" said Satar. "He has worked very hard towards this high level of achievement."

Huseyin has previously worked as an IT technician, servicing and repairing PCs, monitors and printers. IT professionals acquire a range of industry qualifications, which improve their employment prospects. Huseyin wanted to upgrade his skills and qualifications so he studied for the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) course and now plans to do the Microsoft Certified Professional qualification and find a job in the IT sector. "I wanted to take part in the challenge and see how my skills compared with students from other colleges" he said. "It's been important to me to have the endorsement of winning the silver medal."

The WorldSkills UK competitions (previously called the UK Skills Challenge) cover a wide range of areas from beauty therapy to bricklaying. Their aim is to promote the benefits of skills, to reward vocational achievement and to improve productivity and performance across the UK's workforce. The competitions are backed by Tottenham MP David Lammy, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Skills. CONEL supports excellence in a wide range of technical and practical skills, ensuring that learners reach professional industry standards, with 92 per cent of students achieving their qualification.