The importance of digital skills in today’s and tomorrow’s job market,
is indisputable. Independent research consistently ranks skills in
Microsoft Office among the top five attributes that employers look for
in prospective candidates.
MOS Certifications are a great way
for students to not only develop these crucial digital skills required
by employers, but to show that they are competent and accomplished in
the tools and working methodologies that businesses need workers to use
on a daily basis. However, as well as the developmental benefits of
working towards a MOS Certification, there is also the opportunity for
some healthy competition and fantastic prizes through the MOS World
Championship!
The 2016 UK Final of the MOS World Championship was held on June 15 at Microsoft UK’s Paddington Office in London. It was a fantastic day at Microsoft’s Showcase Classroom with the UK Finalists taking their UK Final MOS Exams and hearing from Microsoft, Certiport and Prodigy Learning representatives.
UK Finalists
There
were more than one million exam entries from 120 countries for the 2016
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) World Championship. Participating UK
Finalists included the following students from England and Wales who
were chosen from thousands of eligible MOS exams taken during the
Qualifying Rounds:
- Alfie Fuller-Burgess (Ormiston Park Academy)
- Daniel Cookson (UTC Reading)
- Danny Readman (Coventry University)
- Dylan Turner (Ormiston Park Academy)
- Harmish Mehta (London School of Economics and Political Science)
- Logan Cooper (Ormiston Park Academy)
- Mark Brown (St Helens College)
- Matthew Taylor (University of Gloucestershire)
- Michael Hilsden (The Leigh UTC)
- Molly Wilde (Bournemouth School for Girls)
- Sarah Gunenc (Lodge Park Academy)
- Taylor Neal (Bournemouth School for Girls)
- Till Sander (London School of Economics and Political Science)
- Toby Aurelius (UTC Reading)
Sarah Stirrat (University of St Andrews) and Mokyo Zhou (University of St Andrews) also participated at the UK Final with the additional honour of having been selected as winners of the inaugural MOS Scotland Championship (in partnership with SQA).
UK Champions
Harmish Mehta (MOS Excel) and Logan Cooper (MOS PowerPoint) were crowned UK Champions and won the trip of a lifetime to fly the flag for the U.K. at the World Championship in Florida later this summer. Matthew Taylor and Toby Aurelius were 2nd Place Winners and both received a Microsoft XBOX One Console. 3rd Place went to Danny Readman and Sarah Gunenc who both won a Microsoft Lumia Phone.
The prizes were presented by Sarah Foxall (Digital Skills Manager, Microsoft UK), Stephen McSweeney (EMEA Sales Director, Certiport) and Andrew Flood (CEO, Prodigy Learning).
Andrew Flood (CEO, Prodigy Learning) commented: “Congratulations
to each of the Finalists, especially our Champions, Harmish and Logan,
who will fly the flag for the UK at the World Championship. These
students can be proud of joining a very small elite group, the best of
the best in the UK. It is a fantastic achievement that will set them
apart in their future careers.”
“We’d like to thank all the UK
schools, colleges and universities who participated in this year’s MOS
World Championship, contributing to a record of over one million exam
entries worldwide.”
UK Final Photo Album
For a full selection of images from the 2016 UK Final of the MOS World Championship please click here.
About the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship
The Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) World Championship is a global competition that tests students’ skills on Microsoft Office applications, operated and sponsored in the UK by Prodigy Learning.
In 2016 two students will win the trip of a lifetime to represent the UK at the final round at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida from August 7th to 10th. and the chance to compete for the World Championship (with a top prize $7,500 USD)!
More Information
To learn more about the 2016 Microsoft Office World Championship please click here. To learn more about Microsoft Office Specialist certification please click here or contact us.