Students prepare for Forensics skills competition

Two Applied Science students from Gower College Swansea are preparing for a regional competition that will put their powers of forensic investigation to the test.

Erin Doek and Leon Harris, who are studying the BTEC Level 3 course at the Tycoch Campus, are the first students from the College to participate in the SkillsCompetitionWales Forensic Science event, which takes place at Coleg Gwent on 31 January.

On the day, Erin and Leon will be up against four other teams faced with a realistic crime scenario to analyse and investigate.

Competitors will be required to complete a Special Property (SPR) forensic examination exercise, demonstrating their ability to maintain integrity and continuity throughout the process, ensuring that appropriate examination techniques and procedures are conducted in accordance with the National Occupational Skills (NOS) competency framework. The competitors will need to be mindful of the rules of evidence, chain of continuity and cross contamination.

“Erin and Leon are working really hard in preparation for this competition, which will be a fantastic opportunity for them to put the skills learned in the lab and the classroom into practice in a real-world setting,” says lecturer Dr Amy Herbert. “They will have to work really well as a team to ensure they meet the brief, and I’m confident they will as they have both expressed a real interest in forensics as a potential career pathway and are looking forward to competing.”

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In February, two more Gower College Swansea students will be put through their paces when they take part in the SkillsCompetitionWales Lab Technician competition at Merthyr College

Katelyn Dowdeswell and Iwan Lewis, who are apprentices currently working at Tata Steel, will be faced with a practical task that will likely incorporate experiments, data analysis, analytical laboratory work and the reporting of results which will all need to be carried out in an independent, safe and efficient manner.