EKC Ashford College students celebrate success in KFE4Skills Competition 2026 

This week, our students proudly represented the College in a competitive skills competition. They confidently showcased their talents developing essential perseverance and professional skills.

KFE4Skills is an annual competition held across three Colleges covering Kent and Medway, including MidKent College, North Kent College and East Kent Colleges Group. 

Students from all three Colleges compete with winners receiving an exclusive KFE4Skills medal and a certificate. 

This year KFE4Skills was split into three categories; Creative Industries, Commercial Industries, and Trade Industries, each hosted by a different campus; EKC Canterbury College, North Kent College Tonbridge Campus and MidKent College Maidstone Campus. 

Finalists can be selected to enter the regional and national WorldSkills UK competitions as a representative of Kent Further Education.  

Creative Industries 

EKC Canterbury College | Tuesday 3 March 

During the Creative Industries finals, Level 3 Music Performance and Production student, Luke and Harry, competed in the Music Performance category. Both students have ambitions to start a career in the Music industry after completing their course. 

This competition provided a tremendous opportunity for them to experience the competitive nature of the music industry while showcasing their work and gaining experience performing for an audience. 

Speaking about the opportunity Harry commented: “Luke and I are here from EKC Ashford College, we are performing a few rock songs for the competition; it’s been an exciting day and a lot of fun. I have enjoyed meeting and supporting other music students, the day has been full of positivity.” 

Luke added: “It’s not scary as it looks, it’s been so much fun. If you’re considering signing up for next year you should do it. You’ll definitely enjoy it.” 
 
Their performance and technical skills impressed the judges and made their lecturer feel very proud. Well done to both of you! 

Commercial Industries 

NKC Tonbridge Campus | Wednesday 4 March 

On day two we were victorious, bringing home both a gold and silver medal! Our students competed in three of the categories: Business, Hairdressing and Health and Social Care.  

First place was claimed by our budding entrepreneurs, Jack, Kerian, Sonny and Ruby-Rose. The students had the task to explore the issues the global brand ‘The Body Shop’ are facing and come up with solutions to help the company thrive again. They had two hours to prepare their presentation before delivering it to a panel of experts.  

The students wowed the judges with their confident pitching skills and ability to answer difficult questions with professionalism and thought. Ruby helped to lead on the pitch.  When asked about the day she commented: “Today has been my favourite project I have worked on while being at College. Working with my group to research and present has been really good because we worked so well together.” 
 
Feeling confident, Sonny added: “We had to work on our time management and perseverance skills to succeed today. The competition was exciting, because we are EKC we are going to win, there is no doubt about it!” 

During our winning streak, a silver medal was awarded to our Level 3 Health and Social student Grace. Her task was to create a resource kit for a service user with autism. She used her creativity and problem-solving skills to make various parts of her kit including a traffic light system regulating emotions; the target service user was always at the heart of every decision she made. 

Thinking about the competition Grace shared: “The day has been slightly nerve-wracking, my lecturer couldn’t come today so I came here alone. I feel proud of myself for competing, and I am thrilled I came in second place.”  

Our Hairdressing student, Lacie, created this stunning bridal look for her competition. The talent was clear to see in the salons with various competitions taking place, from curly blow dries to fashion and photographic makeup styles, the competition was tough and the looks were fierce.  

When asked about the competition, Lacie shared: “I’ve been looking forward to the competition. The process has been really fulfilling, it has made me feel like I have a purpose and helps with my general hairdressing skills.” 

 
Trade Industries 

MidKent College Maidstone Campus | Thursday 5 March 

To close out the KFE4SKILLS competitions, the Trade Industries competition was held at MidKent College Maidstone Campus. Our student, Joshua, competed in the plumbing competition. For this category, Joshua had to work with precise measurements to create bends in copper pipe, using his soldering skills to bring the pipes together.  

“I have a competitive nature,” commented Joshua, “so have really enjoyed the day. It has been great to develop my technical skills today and work on a fresh, new project.” 

Deputy CEO’s thoughts 

Victoria Copp-Crawley, Deputy CEO of East Kent Colleges Group, was the host of the first event at EKC Canterbury College. When asked about the importance of KFE4Skills she told us: “Our collaboration with North Kent College and Mid Kent College is so important to us. It really gives us opportunities for our students to work together. It’s a real team effort but it’s about showcasing skills and the amazing talent we have in Kent. 

“Our students benefit from skills competitions as they compete at local level, group level and at KFE level. This helps them showcase their skills, showcase their talent and it also builds their confidence. For me the most important thing is that students are proud today of what they’ve achieved and what they’ve done.” 

Full list of EKC Ashford College’s KFE4SKILLS winners below: 

Throughout the KFE4SKILLS competitions East Kent College Group students collectively won 18 gold medals, 16 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals.  

Congratulations to our hard-working students!