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Esports (with a foundation year)

Entry requirements


A level

A,E

AS

A,E

Pass Access to HE Diploma with 48 UCAS points

Extended Project

A*-E

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H5,H6,H6,H6,H6

OCR Cambridge Technical Certificate

D*-P

OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma

D*D*-PP

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate

D*-P

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

PPP

OCR Cambridge Technical Foundation Diploma

D*D*,PP

OCR Cambridge Technical Introductory Diploma

D*-P

OCR Cambridge Technical Subsidiary Diploma

D*D*,PP

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)

D*-P

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

D*D*-PP

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)

D*-P

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

PPP

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

D*-P

UCAS Tariff

48

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time including foundation year | 2024

Subject

Computer games

Our BA (Hons) Esports degree is unique as it combines the production side – digital media and broadcasting – with practical experience of business, marketing event management and the theory-based community and cultural studies aspects of the industry.

It means you’ll have lots of transferable skills and knowledge, relevant to other careers as well as the esports world. You can choose to specialise in an area you’re interested in as you progress on the course through optional modules and flexible assessments.

You’ll be studying at an award-winning games university and will learn how to host small and large-scale tournaments, events and productions for esports and how to adapt for clients external to our sector.

The course will teach you how to work across different platforms using industry-standard broadcast technology. You will also get to grips with how to market your events, use data analytics and thrive in roles such as community management, league ops, event management, production/broadcast or marketing.

Develop a critical insight into issues facing the multi-million pound global esports industry, including corporate social responsibility, regulation, emerging technologies and the need for innovation to drive growth.

Our students get lots of opportunities to organise events, from varsity tournaments to charity fundraisers. They’ve also worked with the Alpine F1 team on their 'Community Cup' Series culminating in the final week being hosted at Alpine's Enstone factory! Every year, we also stage ‘Campus clash’ a friendly competition between year groups.

Although gaming skills are not taught on the BA, you’ll get to pursue your passion for playing games through extra-curricular activities. Some of our Esports teams have even been crowned champions. Opportunities include:

- Taking part in UK and international varsity leagues like NUEL and NSE

- Joining competitive societies featuring games such as League of Legends, Call of Duty, Valorant, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros

- Visiting esports events in the UK to network and get inspiration for your own events

We’ve worked with industry professionals to ensure the course meets their needs and produces graduates with the exact skills they are looking for in applicants. Alongside completing live industry briefs and running your own projects, you’ll look at how to freelance and market your skills to employers. There’s also an option of a placement year, or study exchange with our partner institute in Finland.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Esports

Modules

You can either go straight onto your main degree programme or start with a foundation year. In the first year of the main course, you will get hands-on with all the kit in our Esports Hub. Including cameras, studio lighting, vision mixers, audio solutions and professional streaming kit to run your own broadcasts. Alongside this you'll learn about what makes esports unique and why the community is so passionate, as well as how to market yourself and your output to those who matter.

The second year will involve optional modules to help you move towards what you want to specialise in. And you’ll also plan a major project for an industry client, embedding yourself in pre-production, execution and post-production elements of a live event.

The third year will explore the future of esports and critical issues that are holding us back. It’s also when you’ll devote time to your final-year project, which could be a dissertation, production or creative output.

We have a strong focus on student research, with projects exploring everything from the impact of publicly listed esports teams through to exploring barriers to entry for minority groups within esports, with the opportunity to present these to industry at GradEx.

You’ll be taught by research-active staff. Who bring a wide variety of industry and academic experience, including in esports coaching, broadcasting, marketing, events and business skills.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,750
per year
International
£16,750
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus)

Department:

Digital, Technologies and Arts

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

86%
Computer games

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Computer games and animation

Teaching and learning

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
92%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

87%
Library resources
69%
IT resources
91%
Course specific equipment and facilities
72%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

95%
UK students
5%
International students
85%
Male students
15%
Female students
70%
2:1 or above
17%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Computer games and animation

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£21,000
med
Average annual salary
96%
high
Employed or in further education
62%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

60%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
7%
Design occupations
6%
Teaching and educational professionals

This is a relatively new subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. Gaming is a growing industry, and if it continues to grow we should see the rather high unemployment rate coming down over the next few years. Much the most common jobs for graduates who do get work after six months are in programming roles - but as things stand, be aware that jobs in the field are very competitive and personal contacts - either through family, friends or via specialist employment agencies - are a crucial way into the industry so be prepared to talk as well as code!

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Computer games and animation

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£22k

£22k

£28k

£28k

£33k

£33k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
Staffordshire University | Stoke-on-Trent
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UCAS Points: 112-120
Lower entry requirements
University of Bedfordshire | Luton
Events Management with Foundation Year
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 32-48
Nearby University
University of Derby | Derby
Event Management with Foundation Year
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 72
Same University
Staffordshire University | Stoke-on-Trent
Esports (with a placement year)
BA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 112-120

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here