September can bring one of the biggest questions of secondary school into sharp focus: what comes next?
For thousands of students, the answer will not fit neatly into a single prospectus. University may be the right route for some; for others, an apprenticeship, further education and training (FET), a tertiary course or a technical career could prove a better match.
That is the focus of WorldSkills Ireland 2026, a free three-day event returning to RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin, from September 16th to 18th. More than 30,000 students are expected to attend, with the event bringing employers, educators, training providers and some of Ireland’s most talented young apprentices and students together under one roof.
The difference is that visitors do not simply hear about careers, they see them happening.
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At the centre of the event will be 31 live National Skills competitions, with more than 160 finalists working against the clock and under competition conditions. From construction, manufacturing and engineering to automotive, digital technology, creative arts, hospitality and tourism, competitors will be expected to demonstrate the accuracy, technical knowledge and professionalism demanded by industry.
For the finalists, there is plenty at stake. They will compete for the coveted DFHERIS silver medal for 2026, recognising excellence at Ireland’s National Skills competition, and the opportunity to represent Ireland at the 49th WorldSkills Competition in Japan, in 2028.
For the students watching from the floor, however, the competitions serve another purpose. They make careers that can sometimes feel abstract suddenly very real. You can watch a skill being performed, speak to people working in the sector and get a clearer sense of what the job actually involves.
That matters at a time when the conversation around post-school choices is changing. Apprenticeships and technical careers are increasingly being considered alongside more traditional academic routes, while employers across construction, engineering, technology, hospitality and other sectors continue to need skilled people.
WorldSkills Ireland is designed to help close the information gap. It gives students, parents, teachers and guidance counsellors a chance to look beyond course titles and job descriptions and explore how different routes work in practice.
Among the features planned for this year’s event are:
- Thirty-one live National Skills competitions, offering a close-up view of the standards, precision and problem-solving involved in skilled careers.
- Hands-on Try a Skill experiences, where students can move from spectator to participant and test out areas that interest them.
- The #ThisIsFET Zone and Further Education and Training Village, highlighting apprenticeships, tertiary routes and practical progression options, alongside experiences involving artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality education.
- The Heroes Stage, featuring rising stars sharing the routes they took into their careers – including people who began as apprentices and progressed through their industries.
- Direct access to employers, Education and Training Boards, Technological Universities and apprenticeship consortium employers, giving visitors the chance to ask practical questions about courses, recruitment and opportunities in their own counties.
- Industry showcases spanning sectors from nursing to advanced manufacturing, with a focus on innovation, sustainable and green technologies, and the skills shaping the workplaces of the future.
The emphasis is on exploration rather than pushing students towards one prescribed route. Someone curious about engineering can see it in action. A student considering hospitality can talk directly to people in the industry. Those unsure about apprenticeships can find out how they are structured, what qualifications they can lead to and where progression can take them.
For students who have no firm idea yet, that may be just as valuable. Career decisions at 16, 17 or 18 can come with pressure to have everything mapped out. WorldSkills Ireland offers the chance to browse, ask questions and discover an option that might not previously have been on the radar.
“Skills and apprenticeships are fundamental to Ireland’s future,” says Ray English, chair of WorldSkills Ireland. “They power our economy, strengthen industry and open doors to rewarding careers. WorldSkills Ireland shows young people that practical and technical skills are not a second choice, they are a first-choice route to success.”
There is also an international dimension to the competition floor. Just days after this year’s RDS event, winners from the 2025 National Skills Competitions are due to represent Ireland in 15 skill categories at the 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai, which runs from September 22nd to 27th, 2026.
Held every two years, the international competition brings together elite young skilled professionals from around the world. Ireland’s national competitions form part of the pathway towards selecting the team that competes on that global stage – giving students watching this September an idea of just how far a skill can take them.
WorldSkills Ireland will again run alongside The Irish Times Higher Options at the RDS. Together, the events offer schools an unusually broad view of what life after secondary education might look like, spanning university, apprenticeships, Further Education and Training, tertiary programmes and skills-based careers.
The conversation is no longer simply about choosing between college and “something else”. The range of routes has expanded, progression between further and higher education is evolving, and apprenticeships now extend into areas that many students and parents may not traditionally associate with them.
For Ireland, there is an economic argument too. A pipeline of skilled workers is essential to sectors responsible for building homes and infrastructure, maintaining transport networks, adopting new technologies, supporting hospitality and tourism and delivering the transition to a greener economy.
But telling a teenager that Ireland needs more skilled workers is unlikely, on its own, to shape a career decision. Showing them what those careers look like and giving them the chance to try something for themselves, is a rather different proposition. That is why the live element matters.
WorldSkills Ireland is a government and all-industry initiative, working hand in hand to deliver the solution to Ireland’s skills shortage. Backed by leading industry partners including John Sisk & Son, the Construction Industry Federation, ESB Networks, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus; sector sponsors Symetri, Fáilte Ireland and SIMI (Society of the Irish Motoring Industry); feature sponsors MTU, Chadwicks, Irish Rail, Cairn and Kerry College; and 28 additional competition sponsors supporting skills across the event, WorldSkills Ireland brings together an extensive network of industry and education partners. The event is also supported by our education partner, the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, alongside the Government of Ireland and Solas.
For industry, the three days are about building Ireland’s future skills pipeline. For schools, they offer career information on a scale that is difficult to replicate in a classroom. For parents, they provide a useful look at how the post-school landscape is changing.
For the student walking through the doors of Simmonscourt, though, the question can remain refreshingly simple: what am I good at, what interests me and where could that take me? WorldSkills Ireland is built to make those answers a little easier to find.
WorldSkills Ireland 2026 takes place at RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin, from September 16th to 18th and is free to attend. For further information, visit worldskillsireland.ie. To register for free, visit worldskillsireland.registrationdesk.ie
