Opening up Digital Careers
“Keep running these courses as it’s a great opportunity for those serious about wanting to get into the games industry like me.” - Game Academy student
Since 2020, Game Academy has worked with local authorities, colleges and schools to provide careers advice and work experience to video game players 14yrs+.
In our very first programme, we worked with Speakers For Schools to deliver courses for the South Yorkshire Careers Hub / Doncaster Opportunity Area.
Since that time, funding from the Department of Education, Combined Authorities and local authorities have enabled us to run programmes from five days to six weeks throughout the UK - in places such as Nottingham, Lincoln, Sheffield, Rotherham, Gateshead, Croydon, Salford and Moss Side, Manchester.
Often our objective is to invite professionals from business and industry, including video games, to help us inspire learners to think about and develop their in-game skills out of game.
Guest speakers include representatives from games studios such as Sumo Group , commercial organisations such as NCC Group and WPP, the NHS and Armed Forced, Higher and Further Education institutions, as well as apprenticeship and training providers.
Impact
Taking the Speakers for Schools courses in South Yorkshire as our case study here, a total of 120 14yrs+ students were split across the two week-long bootcamps, 53% of whom had a high needs score of 7+.
A total of 2,880 virtual work experience hours were completed, with participation from 35 different schools and colleges including a specialist autism school. Students were inspired by a total of 26 industry speakers.
Before the course, 83% of attendees had no work experience, 70% of those joining wanted to pursue a career in the games industry while 60% felt they didn’t know enough about it.
But the students loved it. In fact:
100% found the bootcamp enjoyable, informative, interesting and interactive.
92% rated the bootcamp experience as excellent/good.
83% particularly liked the group task - working with their team in breakout rooms and presenting ideas to industry judges on the final day.
73% valued the different speakers, the Q&A and finding out about the world of work.
“I really enjoyed the speakers, they were really informative and well-versed. The tips they gave were incredibly useful as well, some which I hope I can take into the world of working.” - Game Academy student
What did the students learn?
Each day of the bootcamp had a key theme and included industry talks, personal development sessions and industry-set tasks.
The packed schedule was designed to deliver as much actionable value and experience as possible in a week-long summer course.
Monday - Your Game Powers: An introduction to the industry, an opportunity to complete the Game Academy skills analytics tool to assess your in-game skills, and a meet-your-team session ahead of the Team Challenge.
Tuesday - Your Life Powers: Workshops on public speaking, overcoming anxiety, learning to focus and a chance to kick off the Team Challenge task.
Wednesday - Games & Careers: Talks from entrepreneurs who play video games and on how to progress into further and higher education programmes which focus on game design and the relevant creative and digital skills for the industry. There is also a chance to complete more self-reflection tasks using the Game Academy skills analytics tool.
Thursday - Team challenge: All the teams get ready for pitch day, preparing their presentation on game design and mechanics.
Friday - Pitch day: Each team meets the industry judges and pitches their ideas gleaned from critiquing an existing game. Feedback follows and awards are presented for the Community Support Champion, Growth Mind Set and Team Challenge.
“This was a really fun and informative experience and has made me think a lot more about my future.” - Game Academy student
QUOTES
“This Bootcamp provided our students with the opportunity to showcase their capabilities. Adjustments were made to accommodate their needs, enabling them to produce fantastic work which impressed the industry professionals. Over the course of the week they developed their skills; teamwork, negotiation, problem solving and working to deadlines. The outcome was a huge boost to their self-confidence. Many thanks to the team for working with our school. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all employers looked to recruit for talent and capability rather than focusing on deficits?”
Farheen Khan, Careers Lead, Sutherland House School - Specialist Autism School
“We know that the games industry is very neuro-diverse and these bootcamps attract a high level of neuro-diverse young game players. It’s been an absolute privilege to have worked with Game Academy to develop and deliver such a unique and interactive industry-supported programme in which young people embrace inclusion, recognise different skill sets, support each other and grow in confidence and creativity in less than a week. ‘This is probably the most fun, stressful situation I have ever been in (lol)’ This is a quote from a student, not me - but it could have been!”
Julia Massey, Speakers for Schools.
