HNC Esports

The HNC in Esports is an exciting new course designed to give students in-depth knowledge of the fast-paced world of Esports and competitive gaming industry. Specialised talent is already in high demand, and this qualification will allow you to grow within this new and expanding industry.

As the global popularity of competitive gaming and Esports continues to expand, the demand for skilled professionals in this industry is higher than ever, so thinking about combining your passion for gaming with you career ambitions could be a great move.

The programme of learning on the HNC Esports is designed to be highly transferable to a range of careers in business, project and event management, digital production, live streamer, content creation and coaching to name just a few. Our passionate and industry-experienced team will help you to develop to stand out from the crowd in this competitive sector and ensure that you gain industry experience and knowledge. 

The objectives of the HNC qualification is:

• to develop students skills, knowledge and understanding they need to achieve high performance in the esports environment
• to develop students with enquiring minds, who have the abilities and confidence to work across different esports functions and to lead, manage, respond to change, and tackle a range of complex esports situations
• to provide the core skills required for a range of careers in esports, including operations management, production and athlete support and development
• to offer a balance between employability skills and the knowledge essential for students with entrepreneurial, employment or academic ambitions
• to develop students’ understanding of the major impact that new digital technologies have on the esports environment
• to provide insight into esports operations and the opportunities and challenges presented by a global marketplace
• to equip students with knowledge and understanding of culturally diverse organisations, cross-cultural issues, diversity and values, and to allow flexible study to meet local and specialist needs

Students who have recently been in education are likely to need:

• a BTEC Level 3 qualification in esports
• a GCE Advanced Level profile that demonstrates strong performance in a relevant subject or adequate performance in more than one GCE subject. This profile is likely to be supported by GCSE grades at A* to C (or equivalent) and/or 9 to 4 (or equivalent) in subjects such as maths and English
• other related Level 3 qualifications
• an Access to Higher Education Diploma from an approved further education institution
• relevant work experience, or
• an international equivalent to the above qualifications.

Assessments will be ongoing via assignments that can develop a broad range of higher level skills. The overall award of the HNC a student must have completed units equivalent to 120 credits at Level 4 and achieved at least a pass in 105 credits at Level 4.

During your studies, you could study industry-specific units including:

• Audio-Visual Production
• Coaching Practice
• Esports Ecosystem
• Event Planning and Delivery
• Project Management
• Skills and Tactics Analysis
• Streaming and Broadcasting
• Tournament Operations

For further information on the course content, please email robin.tankard@nscg.ac.uk, Curriculum Leader for HNC Esports.

On successful completion of the course, you will gain a widely recognised qualification. You could choose to continue your university-level studies in Esports or alternatively, you may wish to pursue employment opportunities in roles such as event coordinator, game development, talent management, team coaching and social media management.

There are two types of loans to help students cover the costs of their higher education course in college: tuition fee loans and living cost loans (also called maintenance loans). You pay these loans back when you finish your course and earn over £25,000. If you earn less than that, you won’t have to repay anything. If you’re earning more than that, we’ll work out your repayments at 9% of your income over that amount.

Maintenance loans are only available to students studying on a full-time basis. They are not available for students studying on a part-time basis. For more details visit nscg.ac.uk/finance

You can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan or Higher Education Loan to help with the costs of your course if you are 19 or older and the course you are studying is an eligible Level 3, 4, 5 or 6 course. If you have any queries with regards to the funding of your course, please contact Charlotte Robertson on 01782 254141 or email charlotte.robertson@nscg.ac.uk