On 9th September 2021, the winner of the 2021 Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) UK & Ireland Championship has been announced by Adobe, Prodigy Learning and Barnardos Ireland during a competitive finals day.

The ACA Championship attracts 1000s of creative design students from across the UK & Ireland each year. Students, aged 13 to 22, competed with peers to prove their creative design skills in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. The top 20 finalists were invited to the September final where they completed a design challenge based on a brief from this year’s incredible Charity Partner client, Barnardos Ireland, to demonstrate their mastery of the Adobe suite.

There could only be one winner. A panel of judges lead by Barnardos Ireland and Adobe design industry experts reviewed the final projects and determined the winners based on visual appeal, their ability to meet the client’s requirements, brand aesthetics, and their professional usage of the Adobe Creative Cloud applications. The first-place winner (who will represent the UK & Ireland at the virtual ACA World Championship Final in November 2021) is:

EMMA RODGERS, Belfast Metropolitan College

Congratulations to Emma Rodgers, and to all the finalists on a fantastic achievement!! Adobe, Prodigy Learning and Barnardos Ireland recognised the top 20 student finalists at the ACA UK & Ireland Championship Awards Ceremony.

Finalists demonstrated their proficiency using industry-leading Adobe Creative Cloud software to design a marketing asset in just a few short hours for Barnardos Ireland, the leading children’s charity, working across Ireland to give vulnerable children a better chance and improve their outcomes.

“It’s incredible to take part in the Adobe ACA UK & Ireland Championship final today and to be joined by talented, ambitious students who are kick-starting their design careers with globally, industry-recognised certifications,” said Tacy Trowbridge (Lead for Education Thought Leadership & Advocacy, Adobe).“Not only have these finalists beaten 1000s from across the UK and Ireland to be here today, they have created outstanding designs for Barnardos Ireland in less than a day which proves they are designers and creators of the future. I’m so excited to see career success unfold for these talented students.”

Creativity Skills ranking the No.3 in The Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum. Earning Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) Certification and being able to demonstrate creativity skills in using the Adobe tools will allow these finalists to stand out above the crowd to future employers.

“Showcasing the best of the best digital skills at the UK & Ireland ACA Championship Final is always an exciting day, we have been blown away this year in particular celebrating the talented finalists. It is an honour to crown the ACA Champion who will represent the region at the virtual ACA World Championship Final in 2021. Certification and participation in this final will stand out on their CVs to employers worldwide as a validation of skills they can use in almost any line of work!” said Andrew Flood (CEO, Prodigy Learning). ‘Congratulations to Emma Rodgers on an incredible achievement, we know they will be leaders in the future’’.