Twenty-two year-old Ellis Stevenson, a recently qualified apprentice from SECTT and UHI Moray, has been named the first ever female SkillELECTRIC champion after excelling in the intensive 2025 UK Final over three days at Bridgend College.
Taking second place and the silver medal was Adam Souter, also from SECTT and UHI Moray. Third place and the bronze medal went to Fabian Maciejewski of East Goscote Electrics and Leicester College.
Ewan Forsythe, who trained with Belfast Metropolitan College and is employed by Nugent, received a Highly Commended mention following an excellent performance.
Ellis, who is employed by Campbell & McHardy Ltd in Moray, Scotland, competed in SkillELECTRIC 2024 but did not make it past the heat stages. Determined to do even better this year, she returned for the 2025 event and won her heat in June before claiming gold in the final.
SkillELECTRIC is organised by National Electrotechnical Training (NET) in conjunction with WorldSkills UK and has Electric Center, NICEIC and Scolmore Group as its delivery partners. The competition was one of over 40 WorldSkills UK national finals held last week across South Wales.
The finalists faced a complicated electrical installation task which had to be completed within a strict timeframe and was marked against tough criteria including wiring and connection skills, inspecting and testing and fault finding.
Reflecting the fact that the core competence of a qualified electrician is the foundation from which to upskill and train in low carbon technologies, this year’s challenge also included a solar PV task led by the NICEIC and electric vehicle charging point technology, supported by Rolec.
Speaking after her win, Ellis said: “I’m completely shocked, I didn’t expect to win so when I heard my name it took me a few moments to realise what was happening! Everyone was watching from home and has been messaging to say well done. I’d like to say thank you to my tutor Iain McBean, I wouldn’t be here without him and his support has been incredible.”
Jennie Phung, SkillELECTRIC Project Manager for NET, said: “Once again this year we’ve not only witnessed an excellent standard of work, we’ve also been encouraged by returning competitors who clearly see the value of continuing their SkillELECTRIC journey and the personal development this brings. Congratulations to all eight finalists and to Ellis on her win – she is a fantastic ambassador for female electricians and to young women considering a career in the sector.”
All finalists that took part received a range of fantastic prizes including an iPad Air and protective case from the NICEIC, as well as the latest edition IET Code of Practices for EV Charging Equipment, Solar PV Systems and Electrical Energy Storage Systems, a full set of workwear and safety shoes from Snickers Workwear, a Megger MET1000 Electrical Tester, and a Scolmore Group goodie bag containing an Elucian garage board and lock-off kit various Click wiring accessory products and branded hoodie, an ESP Fort Smart Security Kit, Ovia downlights, a Unicrimp product bundle and a range of Scolmore Group merchandise.
In a joint prize from EAL and the NICEIC, once qualified our competitors will be able to access training through the NICEIC’s Electrician Plus package to gain the EAL Level 3 Awards in the EV Charging Points, Solar PV and Electrical Energy Storage Systems – free of charge.
As second and third place winners, Adam and Fabian won a DeWalt cordless combi drill from Scolmore Group and a voucher for £100 and £50 respectively from Electric Center to spend in their local branch.
As overall winner, Ellis won the new Megger MFT-X1 multifunction tester, a DeWalt brushless combi drill and brushless impact driver from the Scolmore Group and a £250 voucher from Electric Center.
Next year’s SkillELECTRIC competition opens in March 2026.
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