Left to right: Barnsley College governor and British Esports head of education Kalam Neale, student winner Layton Ripley and British Olympic gymnast Max Whitlock
Layton Ripley from Barnsley College has been recognised as the Esports Learner of the Year 2022 at the 2022 BTEC Awards.
Layton’s achievements stood out among an international field of candidates and wowed the judges, who found his ‘amazing leadership and get-up-and-go attitude incredibly impressive’.
The judges also recognised how ‘not only does he regularly help others understand the material or break down misconceptions around esports, but his relentless commitment to supporting his family financially as well as other extracurriculars is startling’.
The student was one of 20 award winners in categories including Health and Social Care, Engineering, Music, Esports and Creative Media, each selected from thousands of eligible students.
Also, Barnsley College governor and British Esports head of education, Kalam Neale, won Gold at the Pearson National Teaching Awards for Digital Innovator of the Year.
Kalam told Esports News UK: “It’s been a great week of further recognition and validation for esports education on a national level. I hope it will inspire other educators to consider how they can bring esports into their classrooms.”
Hundreds of thousands of student learners across the globe have completed BTEC courses over the past year. The career-focused qualifications help those pursuing careers in sectors such as IT, business, the creative industries, healthcare, engineering, construction and future industries.
The judges also commended the efforts of other local BTEC students who achieved remarkable success in their fields. Specifically, Silver Awards went to Barnsley College’s Tristan Brown-Wagstaffe for BTEC Esports Learner of the Year and to Barnsley College’s Dillon Bateman for BTEC Esports Learner of the Year.
Earlier this year, Barnsley College launched an esports coaching, health and wellbeing degree.
Education qualifications provider Pearson has overseen BTEC qualifications for more than 30 years and is recognised in 60+ countries. The Esports BTEC was first announced back in 2020 with the British Esports Federation and today is taught in more than 200 colleges across the UK.
It’s the latest piece of news around esports in education, with many companies getting involved and courses being added in the UK specifically over the past couple of years.
Layton Ripley, Esports Learner of the Year, said:
“I’m really proud to win the award for BTEC Esports Learner of the Year. I’m so happy to have won this award and have loved studying the esports qualification.”
Layton Ripley, Barnsley College
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to Barnsley College for their help and support over the last two years and for providing me with experiences that have inspired me to want to become a primary school teacher. I’m looking forward to progressing to university in September.”
Freya Thomas Monk, Senior Vice President for Vocational Qualifications and Training at Pearson, said: “After two long years spent giving or receiving lessons behind a computer screen, through face masks, or socially distanced, 2022 has been a whirlwind for everyone involved in education. Considering this, it makes the inspiring achievements documented in Layton’s submission all the more impressive.
“The hard work and commitment he – and all our award winners – demonstrated is extraordinary, and I am proud we were able to recognise them all through this year’s set of Awards.”
Visit btec.co.uk/awards for the full list of BTEC Awards winners
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.
