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£1m gaming college boosts Manchester’s tech prowess

Manchester’s flourishing tech and creative sector has been given a further shot in the arm with the announcement of a £1m gaming college opening to bolster the city’s video-games industry.

Access to Games, a branch of Access to Music, is investing the sum to create a hub for specialist latest software, facilities and teaching talent.

A privately-owned college, Access to Games’ courses are free for students aged 16-23 offering a pathway to Games Design as of September 2017.

From September 2018 Access will also offer progression routes into Games Art & Technology and Animation & VFX. Students can train between 1 and 2 years and gain a nationally recognised B-Tech qualification extended Diploma in Creative Media Production.

Headed up by 24-year-old Mikael Hellberg, a seasoned game developer from Sweden, the college will be found at the Access to Games centre on Hulme Street, in the heart of the city centre.

With the games industry standing as the fastest growing creative sector in the world, contributing over £4 billion to the economy in UK, Michael will be overseeing the development of Access’ games courses in a creative and collaborative environment.

Mikael said: “Manchester’s games and tech sector competes on a global level. To keep it that way, and to cope with the predicted continued growth of the sector, we need to find and nurture home-grown talent. This helps with responding to the skills needs of the games community and develop a real eco-system’.

He continued: “Our students come from all backgrounds and academic achievements, as passion is key to succeed in any creative industry. Our team will teach and nurture the skills required by the industry.

“These include games art, character modelling and animation. They will also learn best practices about the business side of games production, including marketing, distribution and ultimately prepare them for the industry.”

Jason Beaumont, Director of Business Development commented: “Access to Games is part of Access to Music a national creative college now celebrating it’s 25th year in teaching and training young creatives.

“We have centre’s throughout the UK and are renowned for training some of the UK’s finest music talent, including Ed Sheeran - who is now a patron of the brand.

“We look forward to training the next generation of gaming talent and contributing to a rapidly growing creative sector”.

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