British Esports Student Champs 2026/27 adds Marvel Rivals, Clash Royale & community broadcasts as sign-ups open: Join the UK’s largest gaming competition for schools and colleges!

The British Esports Student Champs, the UK’s largest video game competition for students aged 12+ in schools and colleges, is back for 2026/27 bigger and better than ever!

With registration opening for the new Student Champs season on September 14th, here’s all you need to know about the tournaments this academic year, including new games, format tweaks and more.

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Why join the Student Champs? Benefits for students

Esports is one of the most engaging ways to boost student skills and wellbeing.

Competitive video gaming is a fun and exciting recreational activity that allows students to improve their teamwork, critical thinking and communication skills.

Working as part of a team can also promote leadership, and allow students to make new connections and build friendships.

Esports has also been shown to improve behaviour, attendance and concentration levels.

Top teams have a chance to reach an in-person grand finals event and compete on stage at the state-of-the-art British Arena for the first time in summer 2027.

The tournaments also run alongside esports qualifications well, such as the Esports BTEC. And outside of the competing aspects, it also allows students to get involved in other ways, such as through coaching, commentating and producing content. For example, students from Sunderland College have supported the Student Champs Nationals broadcast in roles such as directing, commentating, broadcasting, observing, moderating and administrating, with oversight from British Esports staff.

As well as boosting student wellbeing, promoting digital skills and helping young people to make new friends, the Student Champs also embraces teachers, parents, family and friends to get involved and support the exciting collegiate esports competitions.

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How the British Esports Student Champs works: Formats, eligibility and size

The Student Champs is open to all secondary schools, Further Education (FE) colleges and Alternative Provision (AP) schools throughout the UK.

It engages a wide demographic of young and diverse students, and continues to provide a platform to motivate and inspire participation in creative studies.

More than 3,000 students compete across some 700 teams, representing more than 200 schools and colleges.

Students can compete in:

• The Open, an accessible regular season open to all skill levels
• The Nationals, kicking off in January 2027 for those who excel in the Open
• Cups: These are short-form one-off knockout tournaments as opposed to a season-long competition

What is Student Champs? 🎮🏆

Student Champs is the UK's biggest grassroots esports competition, and it's exactly what it sounds like… schools and colleges going head-to-head to find the country's best young gaming talent.

Open to anyone aged 12+ across secondary schools, FE… pic.twitter.com/2OkBvVujpE

— British Esports (@British_Esports) September 4, 2026

Students compete remotely in the winter and spring seasons from their school or college campus, before the top teams qualify for a live in-person grand finals event each year. There, they have a chance to win trophies, medals, winners jerseys and gain access to the Student Champs Hall of Fame. You can see more from the British Esports Student Champs 2025/26 grand final including all the winners here.

For 2026/27, we’re also improving our match-making, giving more teams a chance from September to December to qualify for the higher-tier Nationals.

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More ways to play: New games added to Student Champs for 26/27 including Marvel Rivals

The British Esports Student Champs is expanding for the 2026/27 academic year, giving students more ways to play across a greater variety of games.

As usual, the four standard esports games will be returning once again:

• Rocket League (3v3 football with cars)
• League of Legends (5v5 multiplayer online battle arena game)
• Overwatch 2 (5v5 team shooter)
• VALORANT (5v5 team shooter for students aged 16+)

New for 2026/27 is a full Marvel Rivals (6v6 team shooter) Open/National tournament, moving beyond a limited-time Cup to become the fifth title in the full Student Champs.

We’re also adding a Clash Royale Cup (1v1 strategy game), bringing a mobile esports title to the Student Champs for the very first time. This will join existing Cup tournaments in Apex Legends (16+ 3v3 team shooter), Street Fighter 6 (1v1 fighting game) and EA Sports FC (1v1 football game).

The Women in Esports Overwatch 2 Cup will also return for 2026-27, providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive competitive pathway specifically for female and marginalised gender students.

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Introducing the Student Champs Racing League

Another exciting first for 2026/27 is the Student Champs Racing League coming fully into the British Esports fold.

This will host the F1 sim racing game tournament.

It’s different to the usual Student Champs in that participants typically use sim racing rigs to compete in F1, complete with pedals and a steering wheel.

The Student Racing League was formerly operated by Williams Esports and backed by the British Esports Federation, and will now be fully organised by British Esports going forwards.

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Community broadcasts bring more student voices to the fore

Community broadcasts are a new addition to Student Champs this year!

This means your school or college can now be a part of the spotlight and host Student Champs matches on their own livestreams, separate to the main British Esports Twitch channel.

Watch this space for concrete details on how to get involved. Expect more information to be announced soon.

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‘The Student Champs has been a game-changer’ – what they say

Shamil Mohamed, Esports Lecturer at Croydon College, commented: “The Student Champs has been a game-changer, because without it we wouldn’t really have a platform. And now these players can come out and say they’ve had competitive experience.”

SebaPem, another student from South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, added: “I think it’s cool to be able to play with people my age in a competitive setting in a game that I enjoy playing.”

Louis Skilton, British Esports Media Operations Executive, added: “The Student Champs has expanded further than it ever has before, with more titles and more reasons to be part of the community! We can’t wait to invite you all back for another season and see how you get on. GLHF!”

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Sign up to the Student Champs today

Register for the British Esports Student Champs 2026/27 season here!

If you’re a school or college and want to find out more about taking part in the Student Champs, you can view our Student Champs info page and also email us at champs@britishesports.org.