First cohort of Sunderland College esports students make the grade

Sunderland College’s first cohort of Esports students are celebrating after receiving impressive grades in their technical qualifications.

The students collected their results last month on Thursday 15 August, achieving 100% overall pass rate, and are now progressing to a range of degrees or embarking on exciting careers.

The college partnered with British Esports in 2022 to combine their expertise and offer young people the opportunity to gain the skills, knowledge, and qualifications to prepare for a career in the rapidly growing industry, and support Sunderland in becoming a global esports hub.

Among the first students to complete the Level 3 technical qualification was Luke, who received three Distinction*’s and will be progressing to an HNC in esports this September.

He said: “When I opened my results, I was happy and shocked. The environment at Sunderland College is excellent and studying at British Esports’ Performance Campus helped me a lot.”

Another proud student, Nicholas, got Triple Distinction*’s and said: “I got Distinctions all around, so of course I was very happy when I found out.”

Sunderland College offers a 1-year Level 2 Esports Diploma and a 2-year Level 3 Esports Extended Diploma which are delivered at ‘The Place’ in Sunderland, part of British Esports’ multi-million-pound National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC).

Students have access to dedicated esports classrooms, performance rooms and streaming booths. The campus also plays host to regular esports events, community tournaments. The NEPC is also a bootcamp space for the Team GB esports team and professional teams from around the world.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Toni Rhodes said: “It has been great to see the achievements across a broad range of Level 3 qualifications.

“We are always incredibly proud of all our students and staff that make days like results day happen and we wish all our students’ huge success in their next steps.”

Sheree Rymer, Faculty Director for Creative, Digital & Computing at Sunderland College said: “We are all incredibly proud of what our students have achieved with us at Sunderland College, through our unique partnership with the British Esports Federation, it has enhanced our student experience resulting in some amazing high grades.

“This comes from a culmination of the expertise within our teaching team, the facilities that our students are studying in, as well as the opportunities of the Student Champs and visits.

“We are even more delighted that with us now offering level 4 and level 5 Higher National qualifications in Esports, and our students have decided to stay with us for that Higher Education experience. I can see the impact of our reputation with our Esports enrolments for 2024/2025 growing daily.”

Kalam Neale – Head of Education at British Esports said: “Congratulations to all students obtaining their results from Sunderland College. It has been a great experience working with the esports students over their last few years with us at the National Esports Performance Campus and it’s amazing to see the impact of all their hard work.

“We can’t wait to see what you do next as you take your next steps towards becoming the innovators, leaders, creators and working professionals of our future industry.”

Early this academic year a Formula 1 Esports team was formed between students from East Sussex College and Sunderland College to take part in the first season of the UK-held Student Racing League, a joint venture between Williams Esports and British Esports – the national body for esports in the UK.

Lucas Hull, representing Sunderland College, and Jayden Brunsdon from East Sussex College travelled to the iconic Williams F1 Headquarters in Oxfordshire where they secured first team place and the title in dramatic fashion.

They stormed to victory in the Student Racing League Split 3 Season Championship. Lucas said: “Every race I would have my lecturer Chris Jeffrey by me to support and help me grow as a person which helped a lot when it came to the final being in such a professional environment.

“I went into the race as the only person from the North of England, representing Sunderland College nationally across colleges across the UK. The whole experience was amazing – I went in only expecting to get second in the championship and ended up winning the Williams Student Racing League Champion.”

Lucas has also recently completed a work placement at Williams F1, who support multiple pathways through which young aspiring talent can join Williams Racing, including work experience, apprenticeships, industrial placements, and graduate programmes.

Lucas got to learn on the job in a variety of areas, including coaching and human performance, broadcasting, event management, and marketing (social, media and content) and he gained experience across so many different aspects of the esports industry.

For more information on Esports or to book a place for the Esports Open Event, please visit our website: https://sunderlandcollege.ac.uk/courses/school-leaver/vocational-courses/vocational-course-subject-areas/esports/.