WorldSkills 2026 set to play bigger role
6th March 2026
UK: With entries open for this year’s WorldSkills, the Building Engineering Services Association claims this year’s competition will be more important than ever in attracting young talent to the industry.
As organising partner of the the refrigeration and air conditioning category of the competition, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) is inviting talented engineers, aged 16 and above, to put their skills to the test and stand the chance of ultimately winning a place on the UK team that will compete at the 2028 international Skills Olympics in Japan.
WorldSkills involves more than 80 countries, and is a partnership between the education sector, businesses, and governments. It was set up over 60 years ago to help young people develop through competitions-based training, assessment, and benchmarking to support economic growth and create employment opportunities.
The refrigeration and air conditioning category is one of 44 skills competitions across digital, creative, engineering, health, hospitality, and lifestyle sectors.
The competition comes at a time when the country is experiencing an unprecedented drop in the number of young people finding work with an estimated 957,000 aged between 16 and 24 not in education, employment or training (NEET) at the end of last year.
This represents more than 12% of that age group. Yet, many RACHP firms say a shortage of suitable candidates for apprenticeships and other entry level positions is one of the biggest barriers to their growth and profitability.
“There is a glut of young talent out there, who may not have even thought about our industry as a potential career choice,” said BESA’s head of competence Stuart Rattray. “However, RACHP has extraordinary potential and future growth prospects which we need to celebrate and promote.
“WorldSkills UK is a chance for our best and brightest to show off their own talent, but they will also be demonstrating what makes this industry so dynamic and important including our vital role in key economic growth areas like healthcare, data centres, food safety and heat pumps.”
Rattray also stressed the business benefits to employers of putting forward candidates for the competition with many in the past reporting how the experience helped to improve their engineers’ confidence and all-round skills.
“There are also tangible PR benefits and improved regional visibility, particularly if their entrant does well,” he added. “Many past entrants also talk about how it gave them the confidence to take the next step forward in their careers.”
Competitors complete an online one-hour entry stage test focused on core knowledge before progressing to regional qualifiers at the InstallerShow in Birmingham this June. Six will then be chosen to take part in a series of hands-on tasks at the National Finals held over three days in Wales this November.
BESA provides a range of tests, designed by industry experts, involving fault finding, fabrication, refrigerant handling and assembling high quality system components.
The competition is suitable for students studying towards a level 3 or equivalent apprenticeship or who have qualified within the last 12 months. They must also have no more than three years industry experience, excluding apprenticeship duration, and must hold (or be due to hold before June 23) an F-gas category 1 certification.
Further information and registration on the WorldSkills website.
