Stafford College student wins Senior Guild of Bricklayers National Final

Sam, who is studying an Advanced Apprenticeship at Stafford College, part of Newcastle and Stafford College’s Group (NSCG), went head to head with nine other senior regional winners following on from Sam’s recent success at the West Midlands regional competition back in March. As part of the competition, Sam had six hours to complete the bricklaying task, which included building a decorative feature panel, a basket weave panel, indented and projected details and a horizontal radius feature. Judges praised his time management and bricklaying skills before announcing Sam as the winner.

Quite the model student, Sam now has a string of achievements under his belt prior to his most recent success. Having won gold in the three day Bricklaying competition at the SkillBuild 2017 UK National Finals back in November 2017, Sam was offered a place in the UK WorldSkills squad where he was selected to represent the UK in Kazan Russia in 2019.

On his recent win, Sam said: “It is an amazing feeling to have won both national finals. It was very tough and I was particularly nervous as having already won the SkillBuild National Final in November, people would expect that I would win this. It was a really hard competition against some excellent bricklayers. I would like to thank the staff at the college for their support throughout my apprenticeship and particularly with these competitions. I would recommend the college to anyone wanting to work in Bricklaying and general construction.”

Julian Harrison, Curriculum Leader in Construction, said: “Sam entered this competition having won the SkillBuild National Final in November. Although he was up against different competitors from that competition, I was still confident that he could win. It was incredibly tough with some very talented competitors but Sam’s skill, knowledge and sheer determination payed off with this fantastic win. He has worked incredibly hard over the last three years here at Stafford College and is just finishing his Advanced Apprenticeship in Bricklaying, so winning both national finals is an amazing way to finish his time here. We are incredibly proud of Sam and I would like to thank the family business, which is also Sam’s Apprenticeship employer, Yeomans Brickwork, for their support over the last three years.”

The Guild of Bricklayers is a national organisation, which runs local competitions, visits, lectures and other activities around the country. Founded in 1932, the organisation aims to promote and maintain the highest standards of craftsmanship in brickwork.

Stafford College offers a range of vocational pathway and apprenticeships in construction where students will study from the College’s Palmbourne Construction and Skills Centre where workshops and classrooms specifically cater for students studying brickwork, carpentry and joinery, construction, plant, motor vehicle and vocational or apprenticeship courses.