Dundee and Angus College will launch Scotland’s first esports-related degree in August 2023.
The Esports and Creative Industries Art Foundation Degree will teach students a variety of key transferable skills, including how to manage and organise events. It will be a two-year course, with the opportunity to do an additional year to gain a full degree potentially becoming an option in the future. Applications for the course are now open.
In addition, the degree will provide students with the knowledge required to understand the culture of Esports, analyse audience engagement, as well as the role of professionalism and ethical conduct. Learners will also develop digital skills in live event production, broadcasting, commentating and streaming whilst looking at the importance of coaching, strategy and sports psychology.
The college has also opened its esports offering to school pupils with a weekly club for young people. There have also been esports holiday camps with 110 children attending the last one in October 2022.
According to the announcement, students will benefit from a dedicated esports classroom comprising of gaming PCs and an Esports Society hub equipped with consoles. New plans are also underway to develop two tournament rooms, two broadcasting studios and a recording studio.
Lee Lappin, Head of Sector, at Dundee and Angus College, told Esports Insider: “Our Foundation Degree in esports has been uniquely created from scratch with a range of academic, industry and professional playing experts to ensure that it is current and relevant to the esports industry.
“We have focused on the practical elements of esports and will provide our students with multiple placement and project opportunities throughout the course with our range of industry partners.”
Dundee and Angus College is the latest in line of education institutions in the UK to offer a course tailored specifically to esports. Only a few days ago, the University of Sunderland announced an Esports Management degree available for students from September 2023.
Lappin continued: “Our new innovative esports hub will allow learners to set up, run and stream live tournaments and we have embedded this practicality into a modern way of assessing. As an educational partner for the newly proposed arena in Dundee we are also creating a pathway for our learners to enter the industry on completion of the course.”
