Is anyone here currently doing, or know of anyone doing, a BTEC in eSports at college? My eldest is in year 11 and is looking at options for A-Levels next year. We recently attended the local 6th Form to get ideas on subjects he could study (as with most teenagers he has no real clue what he wants to do for a career).
He's a bright lad and was considering traditional A-Levels along the lines of Physics, Geology and Engineering, but just before we left the college we checked out their new "Creative Media" dept. My mind was blown to discover that a BTEC in eSports is now a thing, and it has really piqued his interest. He had mentioned before we visited that they do eSports there, but I thought he was talking about an after hours club etc, not an actual academic qualification! He's a massive gamer (like myself), but I'm worried this sort of course will be looked upon as a bit of a "joke" qualification. In fairness, when I spoke to the course tutor raising these concerns (while trying not to offend him too much...), he said it was a common worry and explained that it has a lot of transferable skills, from law, networking, business, event management and health and fitness. But it's a "2 block" course as well, so would be equivalent to 2 A-Levels, but as it takes up the study time of 2 of his 3 study blocks, it would leave him time to study for only 1 traditional A-Level.
The facilities for the course do look incredibly impressive, with 3 huge dedicated "classrooms" containing rows of high-end gaming set-ups, and is the exact sort of thing I would have wanted to do when I was his age if it was available! But I still have my concerns. The entry requirements for the course are one of the lowest for any of the courses they offer, and I worry he would be selling himself a bit short. But I also think it's important that he does something he'll actually enjoy. Another option is for him to instead do the 1 block Digital Games Production course, allowing him time to study 2 other traditional A-Levels.
Gives back the Course selected
www.eastnorfolk.ac.uk
If anyone has any experience of these, any input would be much appreciated. Cheers.