Welcome to esports
Immersive Careers Education
Together with Nintendo Switch, the Digital Schoolhouse Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Team Battle is estimated to reach over 6000 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 the Creative Careers Programme from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Sign up for next year's tournament
Due to overwhelming demand, applications have now closed for the 2019-2020 tournament.
Story
In 2017, we piloted our inaurgal schools-based tournament - a seed of an idea which started with just 4 schools...
Impact
How is esports relevant to computing education? Our landmark report examines the impact of the tournament on students, teachers and schools.
5000 Students
5000 students took part in last year's tournament throughout the UK.
94%
of students said that taking part in the tournament made them more interested in computing.
88%
88% of students said that taking part in the tournament made them more interested in a career in the video games industry.
How Does it Work?
STAGE 1: SCHOOL HEATS
This is the initial stage of the tournament which takes place in each participating school or college from 4 September 2019 - 31 January 2020. Schools are encouraged to make this stage as student-led as possible: in addition to players, job descriptions have been developed with industry expertise, for schools to implement. This enables teachers to recruit students in event teams. The aim of this stage is to whittle down competing teams to a single team - the school champion. The school champion will go on to represent the school or college at the regional qualifiers.
STAGE 2: REGIONAL QUALIFIERS
This is the first knockout stage of the tournament which takes place throughout February and March 2020. Qualifiers are held in various locations across the UK, with each participating school or college allocated to their nearest venue by Digital Schoolhouse. Video games industry guests are invited to attend, and are encouraged to mingle with attending students. Each qualifier is streamed live on Twitch, whilst students shoutcast (commentate) alongside professionals on the day. At each qualifier, a single team is crowned the regional champion. All regional champions then go on to compete in the North or South Semi-final.
STAGE 3: NORTH & SOUTH SEMI-FINALS
The north and south semi-finals are a new addition to this year's tournament! In March 2020 regional champions compete for the chance to represent their school or college in the highly coveted grand final. Only four teams from each semi-final can move through to the final stage.
STAGE 4: THE GRAND FINAL
The grand final takes place in April 2020 and is hosted in London as part of the London Games Festival. Here, regional champions compete for the winning title of UK esports champions. In attendance are their peers, teachers, parents and industry guests. The day concludes with a prize giving ceremony for the winning team and a special award for the best student shoutcaster.
