Neil recently had the honour of chairing the Awards Panel for the VTCT Skills Excellence Awards 2025 — an event that brought together some of the most talented and dedicated individuals working across the skills and training sector today.
Hosted by Oaklands College and delivered with the full commitment of the VTCT team, the ceremony was an opportunity to pause and properly recognise the people and institutions driving excellence in vocational training. In his remarks as chair, Neil set out three reasons why events like this matter as a statement of values for the sector as a whole.
These principles reflect a set of convictions that sit at the heart of UCEC’s own work: that skills and training are not peripheral to the big questions of economic policy and social mobility — they are central to them. Recognition matters because it affirms the effort, commitment and talent of those who often go unsung in public debate about education.
The awards ceremony itself was a vivid reminder of why this work is worthwhile. Seeing so many recipients celebrate their achievements — and the pride that recognition brings — was, by any measure, a meaningful occasion.
“Absolutely delighted to have chaired the Awards Panel for the VTCT Skills Excellence Awards 2025. It was fabulous to see so many people so happy with their awards and recognition. Thank you, too, to Oaklands College for hosting the event and to all VTCT team members who made it happen.”
— Neil Carmichael, UCEC
UCEC congratulates all of this year’s award recipients and thanks VTCT and Oaklands College for putting on an event that does justice to the talent it celebrates.
