The University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) Swansea Waterfront campus hosted its first-ever Gaming Day, an immersive, student-led event celebrating the power of gaming, Esports, and interactive learning.
Delivered in partnership between UWTSD Swansea Business School, the Institutes across the university, the Digital Experience and Engagement team, and the Students’ Union, the event welcomed learners from multiple disciplines to explore how gaming can enhance education, skills development, and student wellbeing.
As part of the university’s growing commitment to gamified learning, the initiative highlighted how game-based approaches are being embedded across teaching and student experience, encouraging collaboration, creativity, problem-solving and confidence-building.
Students from Swansea Business School played a central role in managing the event, coordinating logistics, scheduling, and overall operations. This hands-on opportunity enabled them to develop essential leadership and project management skills in a live environment, while contributing to ongoing Esports development at UWTSD.
Students from the Institute of Education and Humanities (IEH) showed how gaming helps build key skills such as communication, teamwork, strategic thinking, and inclusion.
Adding further real-world expertise, the event welcomed Euan Ingram, Head of National Esports at Esports Wales, who engaged in gameplay activities and shared professional insights into the growing Esports sector and related career pathways.
Laura Hutchings, Institute Digital Lead for IEH, said:
“Gaming Day beautifully demonstrated the potential of gameplay as a tool for learning. Seeing students connect across disciplines and apply their skills in creative ways was inspiring. Gaming and Esports are becoming increasingly popular across all ages of education, not just for developing skills but also for supporting wellbeing, engagement, and inclusion. Experiences like this show how gamification can enrich both education and student life.”
Robyn Griffiths, Programme Manager at Swansea Business School, said:
“As well as the super high levels of fun, the games and the thumping tunes, it was incredible to see the students push themselves out of their comfort zones and truly come alive when given responsibility for running, and ultimately determining the success of the day.”
Laura added:
“The event also showcased the wider university commitment to interactive and gamified learning, supporting student engagement, digital creativity, and personal growth. Students from disciplines including Business, Education, Youth Work, Sociology, Psychology, Events Management, Computing and Games Design joined together to share ideas and build new connections.
“Gaming Day emphasised that gaming is far more than entertainment, it is a meaningful platform for learning, collaboration and belonging within the UWTSD community. With further events already being planned, this marks the start of an exciting ongoing initiative designed to expand opportunities for students to explore gaming and Esports as part of their academic, professional, and social development.”
