City College student nails top prize in national skills contest

A student from Brighton earned the top prize in her field in a national skills competition.

Agnieszka Ceesay, a beauty therapy student from City College Brighton and Hove, won a gold medal for nail art at World Skills UK – the Skills Show.

She picked up her prize at an awards ceremony held at the NEC in Birmingham as part of the Skills Show.

The annual World Skills UK competitions are aimed at rewarding talent and driving up levels of expertise in apprenticeships, skills and further education.

They aim to inspire young people and adults to be ambitious in the pursuit of their skills to the highest level.

Agnieszka, who has settled in Brighton after moving from Poland seven years ago, had already won a regional heat in the summer to make it the finals.

Georgia Christoforou, beauty department curriculum team leader at City College, Abigail Rawlins, City Revival salon co-ordinator, Agnieszka Ceesay, prize-winning student, and tutor Michele Crawley

She was one of more than 700 apprentices, employees and learners in 70 competitions ranging from forensic science to floristry battling to be named the best in Britain in their chosen skill.

She said: “The competitive side of the event was actually really stressful but winning gold was a nice way of ending the stress.

“I have to say a big thank you to my tutors for encouraging me to enter the competition in the first place and for doing so much to help me achieve high professional standards.”

Her tutor Michele Crawley said: “Agnieszka is amazingly dedicated, really professional, a total perfectionist and, most of all, she’s a very talented artist.

“All of her creations have come from her imagination but we’ve helped guide her and bring her talent into a professional context.

“We all felt confident that she would win and the Beauty Department at the college are all so proud and lucky to have her as a student.”

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.

“Skills are vital to the future of our country and it’s great to see so many talented young people taking part and demonstrating their expertise.

“I hope today’s winners will inspire others to begin learning a new skill which could lead to a new career and then to become the stars of tomorrow.”

For more information on beauty and holistics courses at City College, call 01273 667759, email info@ccb.ac.uk or visit www.ccb.ac.uk.

The college is holding an open event for potential students today (Tuesday 19 November) from 5pm to 8pm at the Pelham Street campus in Brighton and the Wilson Avenue campus in Whitehawk.