One year on… Esports at Loughborough College goes from strength to strength

It’s been just over a year since we launched our Esports offer at Loughborough College - and what a year it has been.

Our vision for Esports, like everything else we do at Loughborough, was to become one of the leading Esports FE colleges in the UK. 

With our ambition set and course programme devised, we then launched our intention to test students against their peers throughout the UK and, after a public vote, we settled on our Loughborough Lycans team brand.

And boy did the brand make an impact on the national stage!

The Rocket League team won the Acer for Education invitational tournament at BETT and they also made it through to the last four of the British Esports National competition. The team was also nominated for ‘Team of the Year’ at the recent Loughborough College Sport Awards.

Our Overwatch team made the last 16 of the British Esports National Championship out of 124 school and colleges who entered. To achieve these results in our first year is exceptional and beyond our expectations.

We also entered teams into the League of Legends and Valorant competitions and more than 30 of our learners have now competed for the College in various British Esports championships this year.

We have also offered the opportunity for learners to train in FIFA Pro Clubs in partnership with Leicester City in the Community, the charitable arm of Leicester City Football Club.

Learners have enjoyed a series of guest talks throughout the year and during the upcoming Careers week, will spend the day at Williams Esports to see how a professional Esports team operates, getting the golden opportunity to quiz professional players.

We have also supported professional players at the College with participation in international tournaments. Jack Benton, who plays for Dignitas, has competed in the RLCS championship series, flying to LA and Stockholm to compete against the world’s best! Jack was also crowned the Loughborough College ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ at this year’s sports awards.

Applications for next year are up by 350% already and we are building another world class learning space for the programme!

This is just the beginning. Watch this space for more exciting announcements in future as we continue to work towards our ambitious vision.

I look forward to helping unlock your potential as an Esports pioneer!