A student from Burnley College took gold in a national competition and was presented with his award by 110m hurdling World Record holder Colin Jackson.

Raza Khalid, 17, from Nelson, won his award in the UK Skills Challenge a national competition for exceptional students and he was presented with his award at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Raza was recognised for his achievements in the Intermediate Level 2, Web Design category after he designed a website for a cyber-caf.

Raza who was studying Intermediate Level ICT when he won the award, is now studying on the Advanced Level course, specialising in Software Development. In the future he would like to continue to work with software:

Ive always liked computers and been good with them so it was a natural progression for me to study IT. I was really pleased to win the award as I put a lot of effort into designing the website. Im starting to specialise on my course now and in the future Id like to work as a Software Engineer the College have provided me with a broad range of skills to go on to do that.

In a speech at the presentation event, Colin Jackson was keen to emphasise the benefits of competition:

Everyone here today has displayed a high level of commitment to their skill area and the motivation, dedication and energy needed to achieve their goal. From my experience, I have found that taking part in competitions is extremely satisfying and that the hard work invested is rewarded by a boost to morale and self esteem. Competitions are also an excellent way to hone your skills by competing against your peers.