Hard work pays off for Ribble Valley apprentice engineer after being selected to take on the crème de la crème of Europe

Abigail Stansfield, who works at BAE Systems in Samlesbury, will join fellow competitors to make up a 14-strong squad of the best young apprentices and professionals in the UK, to compete in Graz, Austria, in January.

The 20-year-old, who is a former pupil of Bowland High School, said she is "ecstatic" to have been chosen to represent her country. "I’m so happy and proud of myself of what I have achieved. Finding out that I had been selected to represent the UK was a very emotional moment for myself, all my hard work and months and months of training had paid off."

She added: "l was the first person from work to be chosen to enter the CNC Milling competition (CNC Milling is a process of manufacturing parts or components through material extraction). Basically, my job is to program the computer to produce a part or component.

"I was really excited to be able to prove to myself about how good I was and hopefully do well at the national finals. The pressure was on as I am the first girl that has entered the CNC Milling competition at world skills. However, having got through the nationals and have been selected to compete on behalf of the UK. I am ecstatic."

All competitors have already been through an exhaustive year-long process of regional competition, national finals and team selection to get to this point. Now, they face months of intensive training to raise their standards to elite international level.

The competition in Graz, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, is seen as an important indicator as to how the UK’s skills systems measure up against key economic competitors across Europe.

Looking ahead, Abigail commented: "The next few months is where the hard work will begin, I have to do lots of training per week in my own time at home, Trying to better my programming skills under the guidance of my training manager.

"Every month I will be at a week-long training event, this will put me under the pressures of what the international competition is like. It's going to be a lot of hard work before the competition, but hopefully I will be bringing a medal home in January when I represent the UK!"

Her proud family added: "We are all incredibly proud of Abigail’s hard work which she has put into the competition. Most nights Abigail has spent revising and working on her computer making things and practicing on her CNC Milling Skills. Seeing how hard she has worked for this and then get selected to represent the UK is a massive achievement for her."

Speaking about the Euroskills Graz 2020, Secretary of State for Education, The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP, said: “It’s fantastic to see such a talented group of young people selected to represent Team UK. You should all be very proud to have been picked as ambassadors for our country and to showcase the world class technical and vocational education and training on offer across the UK.

“We are committed to making sure all young people have the skills they need to succeed and so businesses have access to the talented workforce they need to thrive. I look forward to championing the talent and skills of our young people for many years to come.”

Team UK will compete in a broad spectrum of disciplines ranging from construction to creative.

Outside work Abigail is a member of Clitheroe Young Farmers club and she is currently their club treasurer. She also races a V8 stockcar and travels all over the country doing this, however, that’s had to take a step back for the time being whilst she has been competing in the World Skills Competition.