A MITEC welding student picked up the gold medal in the WorldSkills Wales Welding Welsh Finals held at Coleg Cambria during March securing his position as the best young welder in Wales.

Sam Blackledge is an enhanced engineer studying on the Engineering Construction Craft course at Pembrokeshire College's MITEC centre studying Level 3 Welding. Competing against welding students from colleges across Wales, Sam picked up the gold medal in the Advanced Welding competition after producing several precision welds, including MMA, MAG and TIG fillets, open corners and butt welds in various positions.

College lecturer, Jo Bradshaw, was one of the judges at the competition and commented: "The overall standard throughout the competition was exceptionally high. Sam's TIG work was first class and the way in which he conducted himself through the competition proved that he will be a real asset to the industry on completion of his course."

Sector champion for engineering, Mr. Victor Walsh, hosted the competition and expressed his admiration for the technical skills shown by all the competitors, along with his delight at the level of interest this new competition had generated within the FE sector.

To find out more about welding courses at Pembrokeshire College go to http://www.pembs.ac.uk/courses">www.pembs.ac.uk/courses