Esports
Subject update |
4 September 2023
Esports delivery support page
The purpose of this page is to help with the delivery of our Esports qualifications.
Delivery support
Your first step will depend on whether or not your school or college already has, or needs to apply for, centre approval. If your centre is already approved, or once you have centre approval, the next step is to obtain programme approval.
Once these preliminary steps have been taken you are ready to embark on the twelve steps of the delivery cycle. The whole process has been summarised on the page below (Getting started with BTEC).
Esports is organised, competitive, human-versus-human video-gaming where people play against each other online and at live spectator events.
Esports is played by both amateurs and professionals and is open to all, regardless of gender, physical or mental ability.
Esports can be played on PCs, consoles and mobiles. Depending on the game, the format can be 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, 6v6 and so on. At the top level, leading global teams and players can earn significant sums in wages and prize-money each year.
Esports can be team-based and is always played against another person or people, therefore it is more social and more beneficial than the stereotypical perceptions of solo video-gaming.
In the UK, esports is classified as a game, like chess and bridge, not a sport. In some other countries around the world, where ’mind’ games are classified differently, esports is recognised as a sport.
| Will the centre requirements be checked by Pearson to ensure that they were in place? | When we visit* in the first year of delivery to support the QA process, we will want to see that you have sufficient resources to give a good quality qualification experience for your learners.
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| We have PCs in our centre, but they don’t match the system requirements you have published. Can we still run the course? | Our published requirements are a recommendation because using PCs without our recommended features could affect the game-play experience of the learners and the overall quality of the course. Some of the programmes that will be used will be harder on the specs than the games themselves. However, this would not make it impossible to run the course. In applying for centre approval, you must commit to ensuring that you have all the resources available that allow the qualification to be delivered at the required level. If your centre is satisfied that your PCs allow this then you are fulfilling this requirement. |
| Given that cross-play is possible, would it be possible to use Playstations and/or X-Boxes instead of or as well as PCs | Only Rocket League allows cross-play, and students could potentially play this game competitively via cross-play. However, we expect centres to enable students to play via a PC in order to replicate the vocational norms in this sector. Centres will also need to have PCs in order to complete many of the course requirements, in particular the optional units (see recommended PC specs in course requirements document for details). |
In order to be able to offer Esports qualifications please download the following documents:
- BTEC in Esports Centre Requirements Updated 2022
- BTEC in Esports Physical Resources Requirements
Once you have read the Requirements documents please complete the approval form below.
Approvals form (docx|638kb)
Episode 1 – Grants and Funding for Esports Equipment
Episode 2 Part 1 – The Commonwealth, Careers and Qualifications
Episode 2 Part 2 – Teaching Pedagogy, Constellation Thinking, Safeguarding
Episode 3 – Steven English, Director of Esports at Williams Racing
Episode 4 – ‘IDEA’ – Inclusion, Diversity, Equality and Accessibility in Esports
The Esports learner
Esports offers numerous opportunities for young people. In particular, the intersection of esports and education has the potential to provide 16-18-year-olds with valuable skills and experiences that can benefit them in a variety of ways.
The British Esports Association has developed a new parent and carers guide in collaboration with the NSPCC, which aims to educate parents and carers about esports and online safety.
This guide has been created to provide information to help parents understand more about the esports industry.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) has added esports to DofE programmes.
The DofE’s CEO, Ruth Marvel said: “Esports is one of the fastest growing activities in the UK and helps young people develop essential skills. DofE has a proud history of evolving our programmes to reflect the changing interests and needs of young people, so I’m delighted that, following a successful pilot, we’ve added esports to the DofE Skills list.
The British Esports Association (BEA) Head of Education, Tom Dore, praised the DofE for adopting esports into its programme.
“The BEA couldn’t be more delighted that the DofE is now recognising value of esports. Like all traditional sports, it teaches young people many life-enhancing skills. It can also lead to a whole host of exciting education and career opportunities, not just within the global esports industry, but also wider digital, creative and STEM based industries.
The College of Esports is the world's first university-level institution dedicated to esports.
Undergraduate courses lead to
- BA (Hons) International Esports Business
- BA (Hons) International Esports Business & Digital Media
- BA (Hons) Esports Coaching & Management
- BA (Hons) International Esports Business & Digital Marketing
- BA (Hons) International Esports Business & Events Management
Where can Esports take you? In Unit 1 Learning Aim C learners get a chance to explore this in detail and the documents below also provide information related to this.
The article below suggests that you might be able to help your learners develop their research skills by taking out a free institutional subscription to the Financial Times which provides them with free access to this resource.
The Esports teacher
Kalam Neale, British Esports Head of Education, spoke as part of an EduGeek webinar last week. This is the recording.
Nik Turner has written this guide to help you get started in delivering a BTEC qualification in Esports.
Our VQ Bulletin is a consolidated briefing from Pearson, which contains all the key updates you need about our vocational qualifications.
To view all past issues, please see our VQ Bulletin Blog, and if you would like to sign up please visit the sign up link.
Get notified about the latest news, events and press releases from British Esports.
Thoughts on why esports is important within an educational institute and what you can do to introduce esports to your students.
An interview with a BTEC Esports teacher from Gower College, Swansea.
An interview with a BTEC Esports teacher from Gower College, Swansea.
Videos
For many colleges across the country, this year will be the first time they’ve introduced the esports BTEC into their curriculum. For some this will be a seamless transition, but for others it may create more questions than answers. The BTEC has been designed in such a clever way that it enables colleges to run the course in lots of different ways based on a range of situations, staff and equipment bespoke to each institution.
Lecturer, consultant, and teacher of esports, Nik Turner has written his first blog post.
This article looks at how esports can be beneficial for mental health, and also discusses the negatives surrounding it too.
The ‘Williams’ brand conjures up images of Formula One, rubber tyres screeching on concrete, engines roaring and mechanics rushing, tools in tow. But there’s a new sound emerging from the famous racing company to accompany the talking team and hubbub of working together – the sound of buttons mashing.
Our qualifications
There are four qualifications:
- Extended Certificate
- Foundation Diploma
- Diploma
- Extended Diploma
These qualifications are 100% internally assessed.
These qualifications attract UCAS points but are not eligible for inclusion in the DfE performance measures.
Delivery Guides are available for Units 1-5. Delivery guides include suggested resources.
We also have schemes of work for units 1-7, 11, 12, 14, 17, and 18.
The drop box includes some case studies relevant to Unit 1 which have been written by adapting articles from the Financial Times.
A blog from Nik Turner about Unit 2.
Blog: 10 ways players can improve their health, wellbeing and performance.
There are many benefits that esports can provide for individuals, but how can players maximise their potential?
The British Esports Association have an interesting article on different tournament formats used in esports.
The British Esports Association have an interesting article containing advice on how to get into esports casting which may be of interest to our esports teachers and learners.
BTEC Level 2 Esports
| Qualification name | Qualification number |
|---|---|
| Pearson BTEC Level 2 Award in Esports | 603/5803/8 |
| Pearson BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Esports | 603/5804/X |
| Pearson BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Esports | 603/5805/1 |
No external assessment
Please note that these qualifications are not part of the KS4 performance tables and are not part of the funding for pre-16.
Performance tables (England): Not on performance measures (England)
These qualifications are for learners who want to develop a range of skills within the esports and related industries. They are designed primarily for learners at post-16, but are suitable qualifications for 14-16 and post-16 learners as part of their wider study programme. They are ideal qualifications for learners intending to progress to further education at level 3 or to an apprenticeship within esports and related industries.
Funding: 16-18, 19+
Getting started: BTEC Level 2 in Esports
Content:
• Course structures
• Exploring the units
• Planning and delivery
• Resources and facilities
• Qualification grading
Level 1 Esports
Esports can be delivered at level 1 by changing the context of units within our Vocational Studies qualifications. All units are internally assessed. Centres will need to follow the rules for vocational studies i.e. cover the required mandatory units and correct number of sector units depending on the size of the qualification. - please refer to the specification for guidance.
Subject advisors
Colin Leith
Esports
Email :
Phone :
+44 (0) 344 463 2535
(Teaching Services team | Mon - Fri, 8am - 5pm GMT)
Subject updates
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September 2023 Esports update
Welcome to the September update!
The first item is for learners completing a Level 2 or Level 3 qualification in Esports this year and information about claiming a digital badge from Credly.
The BTEC Centre Guides for this year are now available (please see the BTEC Assessment section).
I hope that the start of term goes well.