Esports in Education Summit Breaks Record Attendance

British Esports International Education Summit breaks record attendance for the fifth successive year with 42% increase in new institutions attending.  

British Esports, the UK’s national esports federation, is delighted to announce a 42% increase in unique institutions attending the fifth Esports in Education Summit.

Designed for Senior Leaders, Curriculum Managers, Lecturers, and Educational Institutions with a keen interest in esports, as well as those from amateur and professional esports organisations, British Esports’ Esports in Education Summit provides a platform to discuss the ongoing impact, developments, and opportunities available in competitive gaming and esports for schools and colleges, especially those in varied stages of esports development.

Initially launched in 2019 as the Esports within Further Education Conference, the event has grown significantly in popularity over the previous years, with the latest edition featuring more than 250 institutions from over 20 countries around the world. 

In 2020 British Esports and Pearson launched a suite of esports qualifications, the first of their kind globally, that have been enjoyed by over 5,500 students throughout the UK and Internationally.  Furthermore, with almost 40 university esports related degrees now available in the UK and US, as well as a range of esports scholarships available at universities, students are able to study a range of areas in esports, such as Esports Business, Esports Events Management, Esports Production and Esports Coaching.

To accommodate the rapid rise in interest, the 2023 edition, hosted at Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies’ brand new £5m, 14,000 sq ft dedicated esports production complex for the second successive year, welcomed speakers and panellists from educational institutions across the UK and beyond, British-based esports organisations, leading safeguarding platforms, charitable foundations, as well as teachers and students with first hand experience of esports education delivery, and competitive esports tournament play.

Visitors on the day were able to take advantage of new networking opportunities, alongside a Student Champs show match featuring Confetti Arrows and Loughborough Lycans in Confetti X, Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies’ state-of-the-art esports arena. 

As esports education continues to see exponential growth, students are now able to progress into a range of careers and areas of study such as business, law, finance, entrepreneurship, journalism, video production, games development, graphic design, marketing and traditional sports routes such as sports science, psychology, nutrition and health and wellbeing. 

“Esports education continues to provide an opportunity for students to access state-of-the-art facilities, develop skills for digital and creative industries and to pursue a passion in education that has previously been unavailable.” said Kalam Neale, Head of Education, British Esports. 

“Centres offering esports are reporting substantial increases in student engagement, re-engagement of students into education, as well as increased retention and attendance figures.”

British Esports would like to extend its thanks to all attendees, as well as extending special thanks to the team and students at Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies.