Students from South Eastern Regional College took part in heats of the WorldSkills Laboratory Technician competition at Bangor, Lisburn and Downpatrick campuses. Pairs extracted and analysed caffeine from coffee using liquid-liquid extraction and thin layer chromatography. They showed technical skills in health and safety, sample preparation, analytical methods, and data recording and interpretation.

In Bangor, Brayden McGuigan, 21, from Newtownards, and Ross Anderson, 18, from Donaghadee, won. Dylan King, 18, from Newtownards, and Oliver Wilkinson, 18, from Newtownards, placed second.

In Lisburn, Jessica Du Plessis, 19, from Lisburn, and Caroline Johnson, 17, from Moira, won. Katie Donnelly, 17, from Saintfield, and Ruby Stewart, 17, from Crumlin, were runners-up.

In Downpatrick, Ethan Finlay, 17, from Portaferry, and Jay Elliott, 17, from Crossgar, won. Cameron Mills, 17, from Castlewellan, and Beth Greene, 19, from Newry, placed second.

Bangor students Brayden McGuigan, Ross Anderson, Dylan King and Oliver Wilkinson scored highest overall across campuses. They will compete against students from five other Northern Ireland colleges in the next stage.

SERC Curriculum Manager Susan Gillen said the competition tested skills and knowledge learned in class for the first time for SERC science students.