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Talented young people from different countries will compete again this year in 38 different professions at the EuroSkills 2025 vocational championships. Between 9 and 13 September, almost 600 competitors will meet in Herning, Denmark, to showcase their skills. At least 100,000 spectators are expected to attend the top-class competition. Switzerland will be represented by 16 talented young people from 14 professions.

This year’s Swiss professional champions are striving to emulate the outstanding performances at the last championships. In 2023, the team won a total of 15 medals at EuroSkills in Gdansk – 12 gold and three silver medals. This impressive result marked Switzerland’s most successful European vocational championships ever. This success is not only due to talent but also to intensive preparation. Each team member invests an average of 1,000 hours in preparation and training.

This year’s (in German) members are already starting a number of media training and practice sessions. By the time the competition takes place in September 2025, they will have taken part in four team weekends where they will sharpen their professional skills and also learn a range of soft skills. These include mental training and performance skills as well as learning the right way to handle pressure and uncertainties. Particularly intense “survival training” sessions simulate realistic stressful situations and the shared challenges help the individual members to become a well-honed team. Andrin Dobler, who is participating in the Heavy Vehicle Technology category at EuroSkills, emphasizes how important this unique experience is for success: “It’s cool when you can tell that others are experiencing the same thing. And that we appear as a team in public – that feels good.”

After EuroSkills 2025 in September, exceptionally talented young people will also compete in November – at the European Skills Challenge. This event complements the previous competition and gives participants from professions that were not represented in September the chance to showcase their skills in Salzburg, Austria, from 12 to 15 November 2025. Martin Erlacher, Technical Delegate of the SwissSkills National Team, is convinced: “Our competitors are highly motivated and ready to give their best. EuroSkills and the European Skills Challenge offer a unique opportunity to showcase the performance and quality of Swiss vocational education and training. With passion, precision and team spirit, we want to achieve top results again this year.”

The goal of all these competitions is to highlight vocational professions – and to use an interesting format to demonstrate how enjoyable manual activities can be. Each year features a different, larger theme that has significant global importance. EuroSkills 2025 is all about sustainability, and the theme will be supported and further developed by numerous vocational professions at various levels. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Chairman of the Board of EuroSkills 2025 and former Prime Minister of Denmark, aptly describes this symbiosis: “Our vision is to reignite interest in vocational education and clarify that, as a skilled professional, you can become a frontrunner in terms of our growth, welfare and the green transition.”

�۶���Ƶ is the presenting partner of SwissSkills and thus supports the SwissSkills National Team during the preparation for EuroSkills and afterwards. We wish all the participants much success and fun during these unique experiences – and are already looking forward to exciting competitions.