The University of Portsmouth has halted plans to launch an esports coaching degree.
The University of Portsmouth had planned to launch an esports course in September 2021, in partnership with the International Federation of Esports Coaches (IFoEC) but it was delayed by a year – now it’s been shuttered entirely.
“The number of applications to the BSc (Hons) Esports Coaching and Performance degree course at the University of Portsmouth unfortunately did not meet the expected threshold to make the course viable,” a University of Portsmouth spokesperson told Esports News UK.
“After careful consideration, the university has made the decision to close the course now to allow applicants time to find an alternative course.
“The course was designed in partnership with the International Federation of Esports Coaches as an innovative and unique esports coaching and performance course, focused on developing graduates who would positively contribute to the performance and wellbeing of the esports player and coaching community.
“Unfortunately the market was not quite ready for this type of bespoke course. However, with the development of the Esports BTEC qualification, in time this type of course will be a necessity to ensure a safe and effective performance environment for esports players to flourish.”
“The number of applications to the BSc (Hons) Esports Coaching and Performance degree course at the University of Portsmouth unfortunately did not meet the expected threshold to make the course viable.”
University of Portsmouth spokesperson
When asked if the university may offer a different course in the future, the spokesperson responded: “We need to allow the Esports BTEC qualification, which only started in 2020, time to grow the number of students studying this area before we can determine if an undergraduate degree qualification in esports is viable.”
The admissions requirement for the course was 112-128 UCAS points, which is equivalent to BBC-ABB at A level, or DMM-DDM at BTEC level.
Esports News UK understands there were more than 50 applications to the course.
The International Federation of Esports Coaches added in a statement: “Over the last two years we’ve strived to create the best possible student experience for our BSc Esports Coaching and Performance degree at the University of Portsmouth. Unfortunately, the university recently made the decision not to run the course. We’re certainly disappointed and feel particularly for the applicants hoping to join us, but ultimately this decision was out of our hands.
“Preparing this course involved a significant amount of work, thought and time. We ensured that we had quality teaching staff with industry experience and a curriculum that provided practical knowledge and meaningful experiences to open up a range of career paths for graduates.
“We believe that we’d put together something very promising, and it’s regrettable that we won’t get to see things through to fruition. We now have to look forward and are exploring ways to share the quality content we’ve created with the wider esports community.”
International Federation of Esports Coaches
“We’re considering partnership options with esports organisations and other academic institutions around the world and hope to be able to utilise the expertise of our team in new settings in the near future.”
The IFoEC is giving talks as part of a diploma at the University of Paris, with associate professor Nico Besombes, as well as Team Vitality and others. Members of the IFoEC including UK League of Legends coaches Karl ‘Reclamation’ Dixon, Neyas ‘Raizins’ Guruswamy and more.
The course would have joined other esports-related degrees in the UK including the University of Chichester’s, which recently held a CSGO esports event, Barnsley College’s esports coaching, health and wellbeing degree, Staffordshire University (which was the first to launch an esports degree course here), Confetti Institute/Nottingham Trent University (which teaches esports production) the University of Roehampton (which has a UK esports scholarship) and Birmingham City University to name a few.
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.
