Military engineer takes gold at WorldSkills UK

The six finalists were challenged to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in testing ‘real world’ situations

Isaac Jervis from the Army’s Corps of Royal Engineers was the winner of the gold medal at this year’s refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) final of the 2025 WorldSkills UK competition held at Cardiff and Vale College last week.

The competition was organised by the Building Engineering Services Association and sponsored by the UK’s largest F-Gas registration scheme, REFCOM, and HVAC equipment manufacturer Baxi, with support from the BDR Thermea Foundation.

The six finalists were challenged to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in testing ‘real world’ situations, including pipework installation, electrical testing, pressure checks and controlled refrigerant handling.

They also commissioned systems for optimal efficiency and performed environmentally responsible refrigerant recovery, demonstrating their ability to manage the entire lifecycle of a working system.

Isaac was the youngest finalist at 18 years old and scored over 90% across all elements of the competition.

Samuel Jones, representing the Practical Refrigeration Training Centre and Industrial Cooling Equipment, took the silver medal, with bronze going to Craig Gow, Glasgow Kelvin College / Cool Cair Refrigeration.

Evan Jones, City of Portsmouth College and Lightfoot International, was highly commended, and the other two finalists, Taylor McLaughin of Cubic Works and Daniel Hunt of the Royal Engineers, also received high praise from the panel of expert judges.

WorldSkills UK competitions are designed to help young people in a range of technical industries grow personally and professionally by developing their technical and employability skills.

The competition-based development programme also has a strong track record of supporting young people from all backgrounds and abilities.

Finalists under 21 years of age who scored above average will also be considered for the UK’s international squad preparing to compete at the 2028 Skills Olympics in Aichi, Japan.