Ystrad Mynach College students took gold and silver awards in an all-Wales contest to find the country’s most talented trainee beauticians.
Eleisha Symons, 17, and Ashlie Marie Jones, 19, both from Caerphilly, battled it out with finalists from across the country to be named Skills Competition Wales gold and silver winners respectively in beauty therapy. Bianca England, from Gower College Swansea, took bronze.
Eleisha, a Level 2 student in beauty therapy, has now set her sights on a glamorous career as a TV make-up artist, while Ashlie Marie, who is studying for the same qualification, hopes her competition success will help her work abroad.
Eleisha said: “My mum and my dad have always supported me in anything I want to do. Winning this competition just confirms to me that I made the right decision, going into beauty therapy.”
Backed by the Welsh Government and the European Social Fund, the annual Skills Competition Wales events are designed to showcase excellence in vocational learning and promote the importance of developing a highly skilled workforce. The Beauty Therapy competition final was hosted by Coleg Powys at Brecon.
Competitors had to perform a full range of industry standard beauty treatments – including leg waxes, manicures, facials and a full-face makeover – against the clock. Competitors were judged on their technical expertise, as well as their overall client care.
Ashlie-Marie said: “It was great to take part and even more amazing to take home silver – I really can’t believe it.”
The EU-backed SkillsCompetition Wales aims to find the country’s most talented trainees across a wide range of skills, including fields such as catering, automotive engineering, aerospace, construction skills, catering, accountancy, media, and information technology.
Colleges, Sector Skills Councils and training providers host competition finals across Wales offering star learners the chance to test, benchmark and raise their skills levels.
Eleisha and the winners of all-Wales finals in other skills may have the chance to progress to WorldSkills UK finals and possibly even to the WorldSkills International event at Rio de Janeiro in 2015.