There will be a UK esports scholarship available from 2019.
The University of Roehampton will start offering scholarships to students who are excelling at any esport. This would make the London-based University the first in the country to provide such a scheme.
The first will be offered for applicants in 2019. They’ll pick up as much as £1,500 for their esports skills whilst studying at Roehampton. Funnily enough, I spent a year there.
Developing a Wider Offering in eSports
Mark Ellul, the university’s registrar, told BT.com:
This scholarship is about recognising talent in a field that has a growing popularity both around the world and among our students.”
The University of Roehampton already has a successful sports programme, underpinned by financial and coaching support for students who excel in their chosen field, and this new scholarship is a natural progression from that as we seek to develop our wider offering in eSports.”
Funnily, when I was at Roehampton, online gaming was banned on the Universities internet connection; if you found a way around it, you would be blacklisted.
This has since been changed, but one commenter on Reddit has pointed out that he can barely get a decent connection unless he is in the shared dining room on his floor.
Hopefully, Roehampton will improve their internet infrastructure to make it a lot easier for anyone gaming to continue their practice.