Championships

The Office of Workforce Development is pleased to announce the following competition updates for the 2027 National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC). Gateway resources and related materials have been updated to reflect these changes.

Following the State Director Association Conference, several final decisions and updates have been made for the 2026–28 competition cycle.

Occupational Health and Safety:

Middle school division has been added to the newly combined

Occupational Health and Safety competition to support participation and future growth. This brings the total number of middle school competitions to 25. Occupational Health and Safety (Single) and Occupational Health and Safety (Multiple) have been combined and renamed Occupational Health and Safety. The Single and Multiple designations will no longer be used.

The 2026–2028 SkillsUSA Championships Technical Standards are now available for State Directors in the Gateway under SkillsUSA Championships.

The technical standards will also be published in Pathful soon, and we will let you know once they are available there for advisors and students.

As you begin preparing for the year, please remember to review the Competition Updates associated with each competition. The updates will contain important information, forms, and challenge guides that supplement the technical standards.

Thank you for your continued support as we prepare for another successful SkillsUSA Championships season!

During the 2026 NLSC CNC competitions, an issue was identified that affected internet connectivity for competition devices. Once the problem was discovered, the Workforce Development team and the National Technical Committee worked quickly to implement solutions that restored direct internet access and allowed competition activities to continue. 

Later, Thursday, we became aware of a separate file transfer issue related to the intermittent connection disruptions. Due to the loss of connectivity, several programming files became unrecoverable. 

The judging team evaluated all files that were successfully transferred; however, during the transfer process, file names were lost due to the aforementioned connectivity issues, making it impossible to reliably match programming files to individual competitors and their scores. After a thorough review of the available data and consultation with the National Technical Committee on Friday, it was determined that the only fair and equitable solution was to award full points for the affected programming station to all competitors. 

SkillsUSA remains committed to maintaining the…

Not all competitions will host a webinar. Advisors and competitors should check the Competition-Specific Updates page to confirm whether their competition is offering one and to access the latest information.

Please have students and advisors mark their calendars for any sessions that apply to their competition. These webinars provide key expectations, updates, and guidance directly from the National Technical Committees.

Webinar titles will clearly identify any sessions that serve as a mandatory orientation. Competitors must either attend live or watch the full recording before arriving at NLSC.

Recordings will be posted on the Competition Updates page within approximately 48 hours of the live session.

To view the full webinar list and access links, click HERE. Sessions are listed in date and time order.

New this year: A link to the SkillsUSA Pathful webinar tool has been included. Competitors can log into their SkillsUSA Pathful account to view technical standards and use the webinar series…