Why students are being paid £2,000 to play computer games
Roehampton University offers students £2,000 a year to play esports alongside their studies.
Parents and students across the UK are grappling with the rising cost of living and university expenses. Unfortunately, many scholarships and bursary funding opportunities go unclaimed each year due to a lack of awareness. However, the University of Roehampton is now offering a unique scholarship to students who excel in both academics and competitive video gaming, also known as esports.
Esports is a form of competitive video gaming that involves spectators and high-stakes tournaments, much like traditional sports. The University of Roehampton is providing esports scholarships to undergraduate and postgraduate students who can show they can balance their academic progress with exceptional video gaming skills.
To qualify for the scholarship, students must meet minimum rankings in major games and have the potential to compete in weekly university tournaments as well as represent the university at in-person events. The scholarship amount was initially £1,500 but has since been raised to £2,000 due to the team's performance and growing popularity.
One former esports scholar, Cameron Dray, found out about the Roehampton scholarship after seeing similar initiatives at American universities. He encouraged other students to take advantage of every scholarship and bursary opportunity available to them, as many funds are not being claimed due to a lack of awareness. The scholarship can help reduce student debt, which averages over £47,500 for graduates in England.
Thomas Cole, an esports player, believes that offering unique scholarships like esports encourages academic performance by reducing financial stress. He would have loved such an opportunity during his university studies. Tom Allingham, a student money expert, regularly advises incoming first-year students to seek out scholarships and learn more about what their university offers, as many funds go unclaimed due to a lack of awareness.
Save the Student, a personal finance site, helps share various scholarships and bursaries on their website, emphasizing that extra funding is available for various reasons.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Technology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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