Students battling it out to be crowned NICEIC and ELECSA Apprentice of the YearAfter more than a month of marking and deliberation from the judges, the second stage of this year’s NICEIC and ELECSA Apprentice of the Year Competition, in association with competition partner, Scolmore Group, is now getting under way. More than a thousand apprentices across the UK took part in the competition, with 650 of them completing the first stage – an online assessment of 40 multiple choice questions. The top performing 20% are now through to the next round where they will undertake a 1½ hour written exam which will test their ability to cope with a real-life on-site situation.
Darren Staniforth, NICEIC and ELECSA’s Senior Technical Presenter said: “This is the fourth year of the competition and the benchmark score to qualify for round two has gone up each year. “This is positive news for the industry and bodes well for the future. Each year we see more entrants with better understanding of the requirements to be an electrician. These are the bright young things of our sector that are coming to the end of their apprenticeships and will be going out there and taking on work of their own in the near future.” Those students who have qualified to take part in stage two will do so at various locations across the UK over the next two months. The eight highest scoring students will then go through to the Grand Final which will take place at the headquarters of our competition partner, Scolmore Group. Marie Parry, Group Marketing Director for Scolmore Group said: “It is really encouraging to see the number of entrants going up each year and the scores to qualify also on the increase. This just shows the calibre of apprentices we are attracting. We are also really excited to see a number of females have made it through to the next stage and we’ll be keeping an eye on their progress.”
The competition is not only an opportunity for students to prove their knowledge and abilities but also a chance to win some fantastic prizes. All those taking part in stage two will receive a goody bag from NICEIC & ELECSA and Scolmore; with the eight finalists also getting a brand new iPad courtesy of Scolmore. Scolmore is also supplying the main prizes for the winner and two runners up. The overall winner will walk off with a £2,000 holiday voucher, the runner up will take home a £750 holiday voucher and the third place candidate will receive a £250 holiday voucher. The contractor that employs the apprentice of the year will also receive one year’s free registration with NICEIC or ELECSA. Visit www.niceic.com/apprentice for more information about the competition.