British Esports Championships Season 2 details for schools and colleges: Sign-ups now closed

Last chance for schools and colleges to sign up to Season 2 of the British Esports Championships

Registrations for Season 2 of the British Esports Championships closed on Friday January 11th at 4pm.

What are the British Esports Championships?

The British Esports Championships is a series of competitive video gaming tournaments for students aged 12+ in schools and colleges across the UK.

It includes three games: 5v5 fantasy strategy game League of Legends (PEGI 12 age rating), 6v6 team-based shooter Overwatch (also PEGI 12) and 3v3 car football title Rocket League (PEGI 3).

This initiative has been put together by the British Esports Association, the not-for-profit organisation set up to promote and support grassroots esports in the UK, along with AoC Sport and Twitch Student.

What’s changed for Season 2?

Season 1 of the Championships is over and now Season 2 sign ups are open. Registration for this closes on January 11th 2019 and the first week of fixtures commences on January 21st. Matches will run every Wednesday until the week commencing March 25th (except during half term).

Following feedback from Season 1, Season 2 will feature group stages initially (no Swiss brackets), a bigger (two-week) reschedule window for teams and for participants to know more of their matchups in advance. The elimination/playoff stage will remain in the same format as Season 1 with matches to be played during the scheduled week.

Default match times will be set on Wednesdays (15:45 for schools, 16:00 for colleges) – if teams are unable to agree a reschedule, then the default match day will stand and the team that provides evidence of joining the lobby on the scheduled day (e.g. screenshot) will receive the default win.

The winning team from each season (in each tournament) will progress to the grand finals to face off against each other. They will play live at the Insomnia Gaming Festival at the Birmingham NEC on Friday April 19th 2019.

The overall winners will receive trophies, special British Esports jerseys (see above) plus other goodies including Triumphant Ryze skins for the winning League of Legends team. More details to follow.

Teams can also get their own custom jerseys made as part of British Esports’ partnership with Raven.

Who is eligible?

Any secondary school or further education college in the UK can sign up to take part. Teams must consist of students aged 12+

How can you sign up?

Visit champs.epiclan.net and follow the steps there to sign up. This site allows teachers to register teams on behalf of their school or college. Team registration closes January 11th 2019.

Schools and colleges can enter as many teams as they like into the Championships, but each student may only be a part of one team per game. A full rulebook can be found here.

How much does it cost?

The entry fee for the British Esports Championships is £25 per school or college for the 2018/19 academic year, plus £5 per team, per game, per season. For example, if a school wanted to enter one Rocket League team for two seasons, this would be £35.

Teams that already took part in Season 1 will not need to pay the central £25 entry fee again.

The fees from the schools and colleges will fund the costs of operating the British Esports Championships, whilst remaining affordable for educational institutions and students.

All schools and colleges signing up for Season 2 will receive 6 free copies of Overwatch and/or hopefully other games (TBC). These game keys must be used to create generic accounts owned by each school or college and aren’t for individuals’ personal accounts.

More info

If you are interested in taking part in the British Esports Championships, or you have further questions, please visit the dedicated website at champs.epiclan.net

For more detailed info, download our Season 2 handbook deck for teachers here, or read our British Esports Champs FAQ guide here. A full list of other resources and updates are on our British Esports Championships hub.