City of Bristol College students triumphed at this year’s UK Skills competition for hairdressing, fighting off competition from across the country to win gold, silver and bronze in the intermediate and advanced categories.

A total of five hairdressing students from City of Bristol College reached the national final after scoring highly in the South West regional heat.

Leanna Caddick and Tabitha Thomas shared the gold medal in an intermediate competition. In the advanced category George Knight and Carly Stutt scooped joint silver places and Ellie Punter came away with the bronze medal.

As part of the national finals students were assessed on cutting techniques, design combinations, colouring and barbering. Competitors also needed to demonstrate creativity, imagination and commercial awareness with points awarded for inspiration, creativity and the degree of difficulty.

Categories in the UK Skills Hairdressing award at an intermediate level included men’s fashionable commercial cut and colour and ladies’ progressive cut colour and style. The advanced level included men’s progressive cut, colour and style and ladies’ long hair design with colour and ornamentation.

Lottie Stevens, Curriculum Manager at City of Bristol College, comments: “Our students work to a really high standard and this competition was a great opportunity for their talent and creativity to be recognised.

“Our students worked long hours to prepare for this competition and their level of professionalism has been impressive.”

A not-for-profit organisation, UK Skills works to raise the profile of skills in the UK and oversees the WorldSkills UK competitions. All awards and competitions managed by UK Skills aim to showcase excellence and demonstrate how strong performance improves the success of both individuals and organisations.

You can apply for full-time and part-time hairdressing and beauty courses or a hairdressing and beauty Apprenticeship with City of Bristol College.