Posted: 01/09/17
UK finals beckon for David
An IT diploma student from West Nottinghamshire College is celebrating the news that his efforts in a regional IT competition will be taking him to the UK finals.
David is off to the UK finals in November with his technical skills
David Brockhouse, 29, from Rainworth, has discovered that his first place score at the regional heats of the IT Support Technician competition held in June at Bedford College, now places him in the top eight in the UK, giving him a place in the finals.
The UK Skills Finals at the Birmingham NEC will be the nation’s largest skills and careers event. The centrepiece of the show is the WorldSkills UK competitions finals where almost 600 trainees and apprentices compete in public to win a coveted place representing the UK on the international stage.
David, along with colleagues Nathan Jones and Sam Piper, achieved first, second and third places respectively at the competitions in June which saw them complete tasks such as speed building a desktop PC, joining and configuring network domains, troubleshooting and repairing faults on the computer systems and using command line script to perform various actions.
And, as the UK Skills finals beckon in November, David is feeling confident at facing a new challenge and being one of the UK’s top eight IT technicians.
He said: “Between now and November I’m going to use every opportunity at the college to practice for the challenge so I can aim for the number one slot. It’s great to be up against the best in the country and I’m determined to see how far I can go with what I’ve learnt.
“My tutors are over the moon and I’ve had lots of support from them. I’ll be picking their brains in the lead up to the finals. Even if I don’t win, I’m so thrilled to be in the top eight.”
Meanwhile, David has enrolled onto the next level course at the college and will be starting on the Level 3 Extended Diploma in IT. He has also set up his own online business offering computer diagnostics and repairs which can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/offandonsupport
Programme area leader, Scott Marshall, said: “The computer science team is ecstatic that David has got into the final and we’re proud of how all our competitors did.
“David’s performed at an exemplary level and has proven his excellence within the IT support technician field. He can only shine brighter in his quest to show everyone what an excellent student he is.
“We wish him all the best in proving his skills and representing himself as a top-tier student from West Nottinghamshire College.”
