Beauty Therapist Advances in WorldSkills Competition

East Sussex College Lewes student Mya Hitchcock, currently studying Level 4 Advanced Beauty Therapy at ESC Hastings, has been invited to join the International Competition Development Programme for the upcoming WorldSkills finals in Lyon, 2024.

Mya has been selected to join the UK squad, an 18-month training programme where she will undergo training in preparation to represent the UK in the next WorldSkills competition (Lyon, September 2024).

Mya would be the fourth student from East Sussex College’s Lewes campus to be selected for the UK squad, with two former learners going on to be awarded gold medals. Kaiya Swain and Rebecca West were both crowned as ‘World’s best beauty therapist’ in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

Mya began her WorldSkills journey in March 2021 and impressed the judges throughout each round of her participation - initially winning a bronze medal in the competition, therefore being classed as third best Level 2 Beauty Therapist in the UK at the time.

Mya had a real taste for competition, so she entered the WorldSkills Beauty Practitioner competition, where she once again qualified to be in the top eight in the county and sealed a place in the national finals, held in Blackpool in November 2022. Mya then went on to win highly commended in that competition.

Despite not finishing in the top three this time out, she impressed the judges enough to be asked to join the UK Squad, and be in the running to potentially represent the UK in the next international competition. Watch this space for Mya's progress throughout the competition!

Alongside her efforts throughout the WorldSkills competition, Mya also started working at one of the most prestigious salons in Brighton - The Lanes Health and Beauty. To find out more about the start of Mya’s WorldSkills journey, watch an interview with her below!

Speaking to the College about advice she’d have for future students keen to pursue Beauty Therapy at a high-level, Mya said, “If you’re doubting yourself thinking you won’t be able to do it, just do it because the College is really supportive and they will help you along the whole journey.”

“I was encouraged to take part in the competition by my tutor, she supported me throughout the whole journey.”

All four successful learners who have gone on to achieve great things in WorldSkills were supported by expert tutor, Shelli Simkin, who consistently goes above and beyond to support these learners to succeed.

Shelli says, “I have been involved in competition work at the College since 2011. We have had some impeccable results over the years. Many first places gained at the regional heats, across Level 2 and Level 3. National success winning gold, silver and bronze medals. Mya is the fourth student to be asked to join the UK Squad from Lewes. Kaiya Swain won the gold medal at the worldskills competition in 2017 which was hosted in Abu Dhabi. Rebecca West won the same award in 2019 in Kazan.

“Now that Mya has been given the same opportunity is really quite incredible and I am unbelievably proud. Mya has probably had the most difficult competition journey, as it all began during Covid times. However, through hard work and determination, Mya has overcome all of the hurdles and now the world is her oyster. Mya started off as a very shy learner, with not much confidence. To see how far she has come is definitely one of my proudest teaching achievements to date.”

Shelli added, “I look forward to seeing where this exciting journey will take Mya, and I will be there to support her every step of the way.”

If you’re interested in studying Beauty Therapy at East Sussex College and following in Mya’s footsteps, please click here to see all the relevant courses on offer.