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SRC Automotive Apprentices Win Big at Northern Ireland Regional Skills Competition

Posted By:
Southern Regional College

16th Apr 2025

Apprentices from Southern Regional College’s (SRC) Automotive Refinishing and Vehicle Accident Body Repair Principles courses have experienced success, taking top honours at the Northern Ireland regional heats for Automotive Paint Refinishing and Body Panel repairs earlier this year.

The competition, held at Riverpark Training in Mallusk, showcased the best up-and-coming talent in the industry.  SRC competitors Jack Harvison and Jack Currie stood out from the crowd taking 1st and 2nd place in the Automotive Refinishing category, with fellow apprenticeship student Joe Cullen placing 3rd in the Automotive Body Repair category.

All three students train at SRC’s Portadown campus, home to state-of-the-art facilities for automotive respraying and bodywork.  Jack Harvison and Joe Cullen are progressing to the WorldSkills UK competition series and will compete in the Coventry qualifiers in May.

Dungannon based apprentices Jack Harvison and Jack Currie were understandably delighted with this success at the regional competition.  Jack Currie reflecting on the experience said,

“I had a lot of nerves going into the competition, but it helped having my classmate there.  I did what I was taught and got a good outcome.  I didn’t expect to place second in the competition but was delighted to do so, especially alongside my classmate Jack who took first place.”

 The two Jacks faced a long day of competition activity being required to complete 4 demanding tasks within a tight timeframe.  Tasks included preparing a new panel for paint application and respraying, which itself was a two staged operation requiring clear and colour coats; repairing a damaged plastic panel; polishing out a scored panel and a colour matching test.

Their efforts were well rewarded with Jack Harvison taking his pick of the prizes up for grabs.  Jack Harvison chose to add a 3M Air Sander to his toolbox, while Jack Currie was rewarded with a 3M Spray Gun – essential tools for their future careers in paint refinishing.

Both are currently level 3 apprentices in Paint Refinishing having successfully completed and progressed from the level 2 apprenticeship at SRC, Portadown and work within the automotive industry applying the skills and knowledge they have acquired through hands on, workshop based learning.