Barnsley College has announced it’s running its own foundation degree in esports coaching and wellbeing.
The new Level 5 undergraduate degree will launch this September at the SciTech Digital Innovation Hub, and will be titled ‘Esports Education: Coaching, Health and Wellbeing Foundation Degree’. It will be validated by Leeds Trinity University.
The qualification aims to ‘develop students’ existing skills and support the development of transferable skills related to esports, sport, health, physical activity and coaching’.
After completing the course students will be able to progress onto a BA (Hons) Top-Up course in September 2024.
Barnsley College says it was the first further education provider of an esports education programme in the UK in 2019, and has been part of the writing team for the Pearson and British Esports Association suite of Esports qualifications.
“Whilst many other esports degrees are centred heavily around business, events or production, our degree has a focus on providing students with access to other careers within the industry and beyond such as teacher, coach, health professional, personal trainer and analyst to name a few.”
Barnsley’s is the latest esports degree course in the UK, joining the likes of Staffordshire University (which was the first to launch an esports degree course here), the University of Chichester (esports), Confetti Institute/Nottingham Trent University (esports production), the University of Portsmouth (esports coaching and performance) and the University of Roehampton (which has a UK esports scholarship). There’s also Birmingham City University which runs an esports management program.
Kalam Neale, sport curriculum leader at Barnsley College, said: “We are very excited to launch our esports degree in September 2022. Esports covers a wide range of careers across media, business and sport and our degree provides students with a broad knowledge base so they can apply and progress in their chosen area.
“We have brand new, internationally recognised, state-of-the-art esports facilities alongside an expert teaching team who are trailblazing esports in education. With the emergence of over 160 approved centres to teach Esports at Level 2 and Level 3, there is now a huge demand for teachers.
“Our degree aims to fill this gap and provide the esports educators of the future. Whilst many other esports degrees are centred heavily around business, events or production, our degree has a focus on providing students with access to other careers within the industry and beyond such as teacher, coach, health professional, personal trainer, analyst, entrepreneur, psychologist, esports development officer and dietitian to name a few.”
There’s more info on the Esports Education: Coaching, Health and Wellbeing Foundation Degree on the Barnsley College website.
Dom is an award-winning writer who graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV as well as Riot Games and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Association up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and as an esports consultant helping brands and businesses better understand the industry.
You can follow Esports News UK on Twitter, Facebook, Discord, Insta, Twitch and YouTube, and get the latest updates from the Esports News UK RSS feed.
Tweets by Esports_News_UK
Affiliate links: 10 recommended esports betting sites from Bettingsites.ltd.uk | Visit newbettingsites.uk for a detail comparison of bookies offering esports markets | Best eSports betting software provider | sportsfreebets.uk | Bet on LoL, Dota and other eSports at eSportbetting.eu | Online eSport News and Scores | Useful link – Now Loan help UK residents find loans for all purposes including funding their E-sports set ups! | Best offers at NotGamstop UK Casinos | Best CS:GO betting & gambling sites reviews at csgobWTTEttings.com with the latest updates | Compare UK Bookmakers at WhichBookie | Find the best new esports betting sites at BettingLounge.co.uk | Top 10 recommended Canadian esports betting sites on BettingGuide.com |
Light
Dark
