TALENTED IT students competed at Blackburn College in the heats of the world’s largest international skills event.

A group of eight North West colleges took part in the regional WorldSkills competition, with over 16 competitors from the college battling it out to be crowned first in the region in five IT categories.

Delighted Blackburn students Ahmed Varachhia, 25, came first in the Cisco network administrator category and Dale Punchard, 16, third in the Microsoft IT technician category – building a whole computer from scratch in just 6 hours.

The winners of each category will now compete in the national competition in London in October against other young people across from the country to be named the best of the best in their chosen skill.

Paul Van Cliff, representative from World Skills: “All the competitors have showcased amazing skills and we hope that they will take what they have learned into their chosen careers.”