Bronze Medal for Marcus in WorldSkills UK Web Design Final

City College Norwich computing student Marcus Craske has been awarded the bronze medal in the national final of the WorldSkills UK Web Design competition.  Fellow City College Norwich student Suzanne Fairhurst also impressed the judges, as she was highly commended for her web design skills in the 10 hour competition held over two days in Milton Keynes.   

Simply reaching the WorldSkills UK final was a great achievement by 17 year old Advanced Diploma in IT student Marcus Craske and 20 year old Suzanne Fairhurst who has been studying on the IT Practitioners National Diploma.  In order to reach this stage, both had to first come through a competition organised by the college’s School of Business and Computing and then stand out against computing students nationally in order to be selected for the final.   

The final itself took place over the 1st and 2nd of July and was held at Middleton Hall at thecentre:mk.  Competitors were given a brief to design a user-friendly website for a driving school, from conception to completion.  The finalists were required to work to a brief and to a deadline, as would be expected of a professional web designer, testing their creative and technical skills in a live competition environment.  

WorldSkills UK bronze medalist Marcus Craske, said: “The final was really challenging and exhausting.  We had just 10 hours to design and create 12 pages and flash animation as well as the supporting documentation setting out the theme and what we were trying to achieve.  It was a bit like an exam but it was also fun to do because it was a new challenge”.

Dick Palmer, Principal, City College Norwich said: “I would like to congratulate both Marcus and Suzanne on their excellent performance in the WorldSkills UK final.  To have achieved a bronze medal and a commendation against the best up and coming web designers in the country is a superb achievement.  WorldSkills UK competitions are a great way for students to extend their skills and show what they can achieve.”

Jaime Beaumont, Lecturer in the School of Business and Computing, said: “Marcus and Suzanne have both worked incredibly hard to make it to the WorldSkills UK final, putting in lots of extra hours of work in their own time.  They have both demonstrated their considerable web design skills under the pressure of competition.  This has been a great experience which will stand both of them in good stead for their future careers.”