College apprentices cooking with gas

A group of gas engineering students at City of Glasgow College are celebrating achieving their City and Guilds qualifications.

The 14 students completed their final year in the face of challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which included being furloughed for many months. Each succeeded in achieving their required district evidence and gas assessments, with record breaking results.

Callum Heirs, who works for REACT Catering, received the Ralph Wardle Cup, now in its 43rd year, for diligence and endeavour. Having previously worked in catering, domestic gas was a challenging switch for Callum to make, however, he passed all his exams with exceptional scores and a 100% attendance record.

Jamie McKendrick from Saltire Facilities Management was the Worcester Bosch most improved student of the year, while Ian Coffey, who works with City Technical, was Apprentice of the Year for the second year running. He scored a record 100% of first attempts in his ISA Exams, achieving the highest scores ever recorded for these exams. Ian said:

“I am delighted to receive this reward which shows that hard work pays off. A big thanks to all my lecturers who helped me through lockdown, going the extra mile.”

Mark Murkowski, Lecturer in Construction at City of Glasgow College, commented:

“This past year has been like no other with online learning and teaching presenting some challenges for the practical elements of the course. We are very proud of our students who worked hard work and showed great commitment and now join their companies as fully qualified gas engineers.”

This was the final year of the City and Guilds Domestic Natural Gas qualification. It has been running for 20 years, with City of Glasgow College one of only two colleges in Scotland to offer it. EAL, the specialist awarding organisation for engineering and manufacturing, are the new awarding body and the college looks forward to its first group of qualified engineers coming through this course in 2022.