Access Creative College launches esports facility, expands esports course offering

30 November 2023

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Access Creative College
Image credit: Access Creative College

Access Creative College (ACC), a network of colleges in the UK offering training in creative subjects, launched a brand new esports facility in London in November.

The facility expands ACC’s esports offering and will be used to teach Pearson’s Level 3 BTEC in Esports Management. ACC’s new esports facility is part of a new campus in Aldgate, London that will host over 750 students across gaming, music, media and computing.

Access Creative College is the largest independent education provider in the United Kingdom based on funding received, offering industry-led training and education in creative subjects. It was founded in 1992 to improve popular music education in the UK, and counts popular musician Ed Sheeran as an alumni and Patron.

ACC said the new esports facility will enable the expansion of its esports offering to facilitate more students and grant them access to leading equipment.

The esports space on the campus includes two scrim rooms and a fully-killed classroom with capacity for over 750 students. The campus partnered with Overclockers for custom-built gaming PC’s featuring AMD7 7700 processors and RTX 4060TI graphics cards, amongst other high-end peripherals.

The college also announced the opening of an event space that will be used to host tournaments, providing a platform for students and the wider community to engage in competitive gaming events.

Access Creative College already runs the Esports BTEC at several of its other campuses, including X. The institution also has an esports team, ACES, that competes in the British Esports Association’s British Esports Student Champs league.

The college is also partnered with UK esports organisation Fnatic, through which they jointly organise webinars, industry guest speakers and networking events for students on its course.

Launched in 2020, the Level 3 BTEC in Esport is a UK qualification run by education provider Pearson in partnership with UK esports non-profit British Esports Federation. BTEC’s are practical skill-focused qualifications for 16-18 year-olds — equivalent to A-Levels — that are recognised by universities.

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Nathan Loughran, Director of ACC’s London Campus, commented on the new project: “Our new esports facility is a testament to our commitment to offering the best possible education and opportunities to our students. We are thrilled to provide students and the gaming community with a facility that rivals the most advanced educational gaming spaces in the world.

“This campus is not just about gaming; it’s about innovation, community, and fostering the next generation of esports professionals across all aspects of the industry, from competitive gaming to event production and digital art”.

Access Creative College said the new facility better positions it to make its mark in the world of esports education, providing an ‘immersive and dynamic environment’ where students can pursue competitive gaming, streaming, and content creation.

Jake Nordland
Jake has worked at Esports Insider as a journalist and editor since early 2021. Now ESI's Media Manager, he continues to act as lead editor of print magazine The Esports Journal, and contributes his words to the website from time to time.

Supported by Access Creative College