Two Wigan & Leigh College students have won bronze medals at the Worldskills UK National Finals.

Level 3 Media Makeup student, Crystal Palmer and Summer Corcoran, who completed Level 3 Nail Technology last summer, both impressed judges in the final which was staged at Trafford College.

This year, the prestigious WorldSkills UK National Finals were staged in nine venues across Greater Manchester, of which Wigan & Leigh College were the host of seven finals.

Crystal spent months practising her skills to prepare for the Media Makeup final, which had the theme ‘Centuries of Glam’.

The former Westhoughton High School pupil was delighted to earn the bronze medal, saying:

“I enjoyed every minute of the competition. It was very surreal but an amazing experience.

The aspiring TV and Film Makeup artist added:

“I was very shocked when I was announced third. It’s made me even more motivated and this accolade will also be great to include on my CV.”

Fellow college representative, Summer, who now works in a local salon, also won the bronze medal in the Nail Technology competition, and was equally thrilled with her performance.

The former Cansfield High School pupil said:

“The competition was amazing, it was so much fun to show my creative skills in different ways.

“The experience was really good and I was over the moon when I found out that I placed bronze. It was amazing to even get through to the final, so I was really proud of myself and couldn’t have done it without my tutors!”

Head of Hair & Beauty, Claire Owen added:

“I feel so proud of the job that the Hair & Beauty team do every day. There is nothing that we want more than to go and teach a class their passion.

However, we are incredibly lucky that we have talented students like Crystal and Summer to work with - our students inspire us. To gain bronze medals in both categories is an incredible achievement, and is credit to their resilience, skill and passion.”