Why students are being paid £2,000 to play computer games

Dray encouraged students to make use of every scholarship, bursary and opportunity available to them.

He said: “Many of these funds are available to more students than they realise, and everyone should be taking full advantage.”

The average graduate in England leaves university with debts of more than £47,500. Scholarships such as Roehampton’s can reduce student debt and provide additional financial support.

Thomas Cole, an esports player nicknamed Pac who specialises in the racing game Trackmania, said universities offering unique scholarships, including esports, encourages students academically by reducing the level of financial stress they might face.

“Uni students being paid to play a game alongside doing their studies, it’s definitely cracking. If I had gone to uni, I would have loved that,” he says.

“If it doesn’t let the academic side suffer, then I think being offered something like that really spurs on people to be better in gaming,” he says.

Tom Allingham, student money expert from the Save the Student personal finance site, regularly advises incoming first years to seek out scholarships and learn more about what their university offers.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think there is enough awareness on scholarships,” he said.

“There is a lot of funding that goes unclaimed because students don’t know that they’re eligible for it,” he added.

Save the Student helps share various scholarships and bursaries on their website.

“What we try to get across is you can get extra funding for so many different reasons.”