A YORK College stonemasonry student has taken a step closer to a prestigious industry competition.

After competing in squad selection at Bath College in February, student Kristian Valente has won through to the training for a competition organised by industry body Worldskills UK.

Taking part alongside him are two other stonemasonry apprentices from Bath and Weymouth.

Kristian, from Holmfirth, is a Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) apprentice and is studying Level 3 stonemasonry at York College.

He is employed by Mono Masonry in Oldham.

Kristian’s tutor, Paul Hill, chose him to attend the initial squad selection and since then, Kristian has been to a bootcamp at Loughborough University.

While there he took part in team building activities designed to help individuals cope with the pressures of the high-profile competition ahead of them.

Kristian will now attend a series of training sessions where he will be assessed and judged by experts in the field.

The judges will decide if he has done enough to earn a coveted place on the Worldskills UK squad - bound for Kazan, Russia - in November 2019.

Only one of the three stonemasonry trainees will be selected to represent their country on the world stage.

Before the Worldskills competition, there is also a chance that Kristian could be selected for Euroskills, which takes place in Budapest, Hungary, in September.

Kristian said: “I am excited to take on the challenge and will do my best to gain selection for SquadUK.

"It is a fabulous opportunity

and I would like to thank my college tutor and my employer for their support.”