Esports students given behind the scenes access at VCT Masters London

Esports students in the UK had a fantastic opportunity to see how a major event is run with exclusive behind-the-scenes visits to the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Masters London 2026 this month.

British Esports invited several schools and colleges that compete in its British Esports Student Champs (the grand finals of which are taking place at the University of Staffordshire this week – see the Student Champs 2026 finalists and key info here).

Schools and colleges received discounted tickets to VCT Masters London, which took place at the Copperbox Arena.

There, they had the chance to have a group experience, including a playtest, front of stage experience, venue tour, photo opportunities at the pro zone press tent, giveaways and seats to watch all the action. This also gave them an insight into the work that goes into running an event of this kind, and the careers available to them.

Those involved included students and lecturers from Warwickshire College, Bedford College, Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, Capital City College and South Devon College.

Behind the scenes at VCT Masters London (photos courtesy of Warwickshire College)

Nathan Luccarini, Esports Lecturer at Bedford College Group, told British Esports: “Firstly, thank you so much for helping facilitate this. The day could not have gone any better and all 11 of my students had an amazing time.

“This is our first year running Esports at Bedford College (Level 2 and Level 3 courses), so opportunities like this mean a great deal to the group. I have been leading the course as the sole Esports Lecturer this year and it has been brilliant to see how much the students have already bought into the space.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity and appreciate British Esports working alongside colleges such as ourselves to help students gain these experiences.

“The games themselves were amazing, and it was the first live esports event experience for all of the students. A number of the group were shown in the crowd and four of my students were even interviewed by Frankie Ward outside the arena, which was put on broadcast!

“Opportunities like this FUEL their passion for esports, I am very grateful that my students were able to experience it.”

VCT Masters London ran from June 6th to 21st 2026, and featured some of the world’s best VALORANT teams including G2, Vitality, Heretics, EDG and more.

The event was won by Leviatán, who defeated Paper Rex 3-2 in the grand final.

Students soak up the atmosphere at VCT Masters London (photos sent by Nathan Luccarini, Esports Lecturer at Bedford College Group):

Students from South Devon College also visited the event, and took an impressive amount of photos and videos.

One of their Esports HND (Higher National Diploma) students, Mylan, made a well-edited and detailed vlog on YouTube about the VCT Masters London experience.

You can also view this here:

“Come with me to VCT Masters London day 10 where XLG fight LEV and VIT face FUT,” Mylan wrote about the vlog. “We also got to experience a behind the scenes tour from Will at Riot Games to take a deeper look into what goes into an event at this scale and how they do it!”

Check out more images from South Devon College/University Centre South Devon here:

Thanks to Riot Games and the Copperbox Arena for the opportunity, and to the the colleges and students for getting involved!