Sam Millar, from the University of St. Andrews, was called to stage as one of the winners in the 2017 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship. Sam took 2nd place in the Excel 2013 category of the championship, walking away with a medal, a cash prize of $3,500 and a smile of pride!
In its 16th year, the competition attracted more than 560,000 candidates from 122 countries to demonstrate their superior skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Today culminated the most popular technology skills competition on Microsoft Office and the only one endorsed by Microsoft since its inception in 2002.
To enter the competition, students aged 13 to 22 took a qualifying Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification exam to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products. Regional competitions were held worldwide, and 157 student finalists competed in the final round of competition in Anaheim, California, USA from July 31 – August 2, 2017.
In the concluding round, competitors participated in unique project-based tests to demonstrate their ability to create documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Certiport and Microsoft recognized the top competitors at the MOSWC Student Awards Ceremony at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California. Each first-place winner was presented with a $7,000 cash prize, second place $3,500 and third place $1,500.
The competition itself is the experience of a lifetime but every participant, all 560,000 of them, earned MOS certification to bolster their employability opportunities.
“The Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship is inspiring – not only because these students won an impressive award, but because they have gained valuable workforce skills that will benefit them throughout their academic and career pursuits,” said Aaron Osmond, General Manager at Certiport. “The best part is watching the champions go home and then report back to us with all of the amazing things they are doing academically and in the workforce. Microsoft Office Specialist certification truly changes lives.”
MOS certification is the only official Microsoft-recognized certification for Microsoft Office globally, and serves as a powerful instrument for assessing student skills and preparing students for real-world application.
“We are proud to support the MOS World Championship and grateful to meet young people from all parts of the world who have discovered the power of Microsoft Office skills for productivity and employability,” said Anneleen Vaandrager, Senior Director, Education Industry at Microsoft. “The competition itself is the experience of a lifetime but every participant, all 560,000 of them, earned MOS certification to bolster their employability opportunities.”
Of the 157 student finalists in Anaheim the UK and Ireland was also represented by two other students:
Next year, the 2018 MOS World Championship will be held in Orlando, Florida…watch out for entry instructions this September from Prodigy Learning!
