Digital Schoolhouse's National Esports Tournament
Overview
Ukie's Digital Schoolhouse together with Nintendo UK, delivers its annual esports tournament to schools & colleges across the UK. Through participation in this immersive careers experience, students aged 12-18 years develop practical and soft skills in professional esports roles, crafted by the video games industry for education. Skills that students develop whilst participating in the tournament are recognised by the Duke of York’s Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA).
In the 2019 tournament, together with Nintendo Switch, the Digital Schoolhouse Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Team Battle is estimated to reach over 6,000 pupils in schools & colleges across the UK this academic year. This immersive experience provides a unique insight into the creative digital sector, to promote homegrown talent and to enable students to aspire to careers pathways they may not have otherwise considered.
Digital Schoolhouse's esports tournament is supported by the Creative Careers Programme from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Evidence-based approach
Digital Schoolhouse's landmark report, Esports: Engaging Education, provides evidence that participating in the Digital Schoolhouse esports tournament helped to engage students with developing digital skills and broader soft skills, in addition to enabling them to aspire to career pathways that they may not have otherwise considered.
The Digital Schoolhouse esports programme has seen a 46.3% rise in female participation since 2018. Nearly 90% of students on the programme said it increased their interest in pursuing a career in the video games industry.
Gameplay timeline
| Academic Year | Featured Game |
|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | Super Smash Bros Ultimate |
| 2018-2019 | Overwatch |
| 2017-2018 | Overwatch |
| 2016-2017 | Rocket League |
