Banbridge student Ruth Douglas (21) will travel to Shanghai, China this September as part of Team UK for WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, where she will compete in the Chemical Laboratory Technician category.
Ruth, who won a gold medal in her debut UK national competition in 2024, was selected to represent the UK in March this year, following a rigorous selection process. This seen Ruth compete against top performers across the UK for her seat on the plane to the Shanghai ‘Skills Olympics’.
Reflecting on the selection process and being named the UK's representative in Chemical Laboratory Technician, Ruth said:
“Competing against the other members of Squad UK for a spot in Team UK is probably the hardest aspect of the competition because you build up friendships with people and you have something so big in common, that you build up a close bond.
The other Squad UK members are so supportive of me in getting to Shanghai. You go into the competition knowing that only one person will be selected and because of that, we all said that we would try as much as possible to be supportive of that person. Because we all went in with that attitude and talked about it from the very start, it made the selection process much easier when the decision was made.”
Ruth is one of eight competitors from Northern Ireland selected for Team UK and will compete in one of 25 skill categories being contested by Team UK at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.
Five of Northern Ireland's eight representatives are from Southern Regional College (SRC), giving the College the highest number of competitors on Team UK of any college or university across the UK.
Like many of her fellow competitors, Ruth has travelled regularly to England as part of her intensive training programme. However, with her Team UK Training Manager being SRC Specialist Lecturer Dr Deirdre Murray, much of her final preparation is now taking place closer to home.
Despite this, there has still been plenty of international travel in the run up to the final event. Last month Ruth travelled to Austria to undertake a ‘pressure test’, competing against her counterparts from Austria and Finland in a simulated competition. Pressure tests are used to prepare competitors for competition events, as they recreate strict time limits, competition stress and public distractions that come with competing at these major events.
With less than 80 days to the competition kicks off from 22-27 September 2026, there is everything to play for. There are medals to be won and titles; if you can keep your composure and prove yourself out there in the competition area.
Ruth speaks of her hopes for Shanghai:
“I just want to prove myself wrong and do better than I expect. I want to make myself proud and everyone at SRC and my workplace proud. I've gone into every stage not thinking I'll get to the next stage and not thinking I'll do well”.
Competing at international level can be stressful, however Ruth would do it all over again, if she had the chance:
“If I had to go back to the start again, I would absolutely recommend competing and participating in World Skills. Because while it is difficult, and there are tough times, it's so worth it.”
Ruth began her WorldSkills journey while studying for a Foundation Degree in Applied Industrial Sciences (Chemical) at Southern Regional College as a Higher Level Apprentice with Almac. She completed the qualification in August 2025 before progressing to the Pharmaceutical Sciences top-up degree at Ulster University, where she has recently completed her first year of study.
Alongside her studies, Ruth continues to work at Almac and is expected to complete her top-up degree next summer.
