Inaugural MOS Four Nations Championship Final saw UK & Ireland Champions demonstrate the top 10 skills demanded by employers including Microsoft Office, teamwork, and problem solving.
Microsoft and Prodigy Learning are proud to announce the inaugural Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Four Nations Champions who have demonstrated their digital skills (specifically their mastery of Microsoft Office and Minecraft) at the Four Nations Final held at Microsoft UK Headquarters.
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.
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification is the only official Microsoft-recognised certification for Microsoft Office globally and serves as a powerful instrument for assessing student skills and developing these crucial digital skills required by employers
Since the launch of the MOS Four Nations Championship, more than 40,000 Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification exams have been delivered across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. National qualifying events determined Champions to represent each nation at the Four Nations Final this week. Four Nations Finalists sat a MOS exam in their qualifying category to determine the Four Nations Champions.
The
three Champions, who will represent the UK and Ireland on an
all-expenses paid trip to the MOS World Championship at Disneyland,
California in July are:
- Excel: Sam Millar (University of St. Andrews, Scotland)
- PowerPoint: Jonathan Foot (UTC Reading, England)
- Word: Matthew Davies (Treorchy Comprehensive School, Wales)
The National Finalists also worked as a National Team on a music-themed project to collaboratively demonstrate their digital skills using Minecraft and Microsoft Office in a fun and exciting way! Teams presented to a panel of judges from industry (including representatives from Deloitte, Immersive Minds, Microsoft, Tech Partnership, Risual and Universal) for the chance to win the inaugural MOS Four Nations Project Award. It was extraordinary to see the quality of work produced by the students in such a short period as Team Ireland took home the title and a Surface device each.
In his keynote at the event, Derrick McCourt (General Manager – Public Sector, Microsoft UK) said: “For the UK to be a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone, the next generation must leave school digitally fluent and ready for the world of work. Through programmes and initiatives to support and transform education, Microsoft is committed to unlocking the potential of young people and preparing them for the jobs of the future.”
“Today’s MOS Four Nations Champions have demonstrated outstanding digital skills using Microsoft tools including Office and Minecraft. We congratulate them and wish them the best of luck as they blaze a trail for the UK & Ireland at the World Championship.”
Andrew Flood (CEO, Prodigy Learning) added: “Congratulations to each of the Finalists, especially our Champions who will fly the flag for the UK at the World Championship and Team Ireland who won our MOS Four Nations Project Award using Minecraft. These students can be proud of joining a very small elite group, the best of the best in the UK. Today was an inspiring event with our Champions demonstrating their digital, collaboration and problem-solving skills. The high standard is a credit to the students, teachers and schools involved and highlights great work being done in digital skills and STEM education in the UK & Ireland which we are proud to support.”
MOS Four Nations Championship Final Photo Album
For a full selection of images from the 2017 MOS Four Nations Championship Final please click here.
