The UK’s first inter-school esports tournament – Digital Schoolhouse – is returning for a second bout.
Regional heats will get underway at the end of this year, culminating in a grand final at the London Games Festival in April 2018.
More than 1,000 pupils across the UK are expected to take part.
The first Digital Schoolhouse Rocket League tournament took place earlier this year, with St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy school in Dewsbury (pictured) claiming first place at the Gfinity Arena in London.
According to this announcement post on the Digital Schoolhouse website, 87% of participating pupils in the first tournament reported a greater interest in studying computing and tech-related qualifications, and 75% of students showed increased interest in a career in the games industry.
Each school in the next tournament will be paired with an industry coach to offer careers advice and gameplay tips, with the quarter finals featuring industry speakers talking about careers.
Pupils who don’t enter the tournament as a player will be encouraged to try out other roles such as casting, event production, marketing and more.
Digital Schoolhouse is an initiative of UK games trade body Ukie, focusing on teaching coding and computing skills to children.
“Esports is a growth sector as part of the games and interactive entertainment industry and we want the next generation to experience it not just watch it.”
Dr Jo Twist OBE, Ukie
Ukie CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE said: “We are delighted to be bringing the tournament back again. Esports is a growth sector as part of the games and interactive entertainment industry and we want the next generation to experience it not just watch it.”
The game for the next tournament has not yet been announced.
The first tournament was backed by PlayStation, 505 Games, Sega and the National University Esports League (NUEL).
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He 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 and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
