Education and Social Impact
At Creative Assembly we believe that everyone has a right to education.
There is a longstanding and persistent lack of diversity within the computer education pipeline which heavily impacts the diversity of the games industry workforce. Through our award-winning industry education and social impact programme, The Legacy Project, we work to break down existing educational barriers and give people from all backgrounds the skills and information to become the game development talent of tomorrow.
From playground to industry, we provide accessible support to education institutions. Our focus is on schools and colleges in our local community, on establishments that we know have a high-quality bar with their curriculums, and on those who are actively working to address inequalities in society such as those working with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
We recognise that education beyond Further Education in the UK is increasingly becoming a privilege; under-represented groups in the games industry such as Black and ethnic minorities are disproportionately impacted by education barriers. However, the desire of many young people to learn technology or STEAM related subjects is increasing.
We work with partners including BAFTA, Women in Games, Pixelles, Into Games, Ukie, Digital Schoolhouse, Teesside University and the East London Academy of Music and Arts (ELAM) to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to consider a career in games. Over a quarter of ELAM’s students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and over 70% are from BIPOC backgrounds.
Our ambition is to provide a sustainable and valuable impact for future generations to come. We remember the beginning of our gaming journeys and want to help others realise theirs. The Legacy Project is a studio initiative which encompasses 200 CA Ambassadors across the UK and Bulgaria; members of staff who provide mentorship, expert advice, workshops and more to support students across the globe. Our work is recognised as best practice, garnering multiple Best Place to Work Awards for Education and CSR.
EDUCATION OUTREACH
Our focus is on schools and colleges in our local community both in the UK and Bulgaria, on establishments that we know have a high-quality bar with their curriculums, and on those who are actively working to address inequalities in society.
We provide outreach work: visiting schools, providing expert-led talks, workshops and mentorship. We provide studio-based experiences and contribute to games education curriculums.
For lower education we work with local councils, libraries, teachers and careers advisors, utilise education tools by running Scratch game jams and Makey-Makey competitions.
For middle and higher education, we run expert workshops, talks and provide mentorship for both students and teachers. We also run a global free student conference with our partners at Gamesindustry.Biz each year.
Over the last year we have supported more than 120 education events.
Contact The Legacy Project Education and Social Impact Team here.
"Creative Assembly represents the gold standard for educational outreach work among UK games studios. The internal ambassador programme alone continues to be a source of inspiration and guidance for the next generation of game makers, providing support across the whole learning ladder from primary school, higher education and into work. Creative Assembly has made developing and nurturing diverse talent a core tenant of its operation, providing resources and nurturing a wonderful internal culture of volunteering and community engagement."
Declan Cassidy, Chief Executive at Into Games
EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS
We work with partners including BAFTA, Women in Games, NextGen Skills Academy, Into Games, Pixelles, Ukie, Digital Schoolhouse, the East London Academy of Music and Arts (ELAM) and Teesside University to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to consider a career in games.
In 2021 we donated over £30k to support disadvantaged students with technology to assist their studies during COVID-19, and launched the CA Scholarship Programme with Teesside University, to support disadvantaged and underrepresented students to study Game Design.
We hold key relationships with high performing universities and colleges including ELAM, Abertay, Bournemouth, Goldsmiths, Newcastle, Teesside, Staffordshire and Escape Studios.
We are actively working with bodies to improve UK education and teaching capabilities via The Careers and Enterprise Company, National Computer Centre of Excellence (NCCE) and the British Computer Society (BCS).
We have partnered with Into Games to deliver parents events and address misconceptions in 2022 and beyond.
"Creative Assembly stand out because they really understand the value of long term strategic partnerships with a University like ours collaborating on ideas that are beneficial to the company and our students. They are forward thinking, generous, open and innovative as a company.
We are looking forward to the next academic year with Creative Assembly inputting into our modules, connecting with our students and feeding into our curriculum so that it is fit for purpose when companies like Creative Assembly are looking to recruit skilled, forward thinking, creative ad flexible students."
Siobhan Fenton, Associate Dean (Enterprise and Business Engagement) at Teesside University
INDUSTRY TRAINEESHIPS
Creative Assembly offers a Trainee Programme which helps the next generation of talent bridge the gap between education and industry.
Alongside our standard junior roles, we open several traineeships each year across a variety of disciplines. These traineeships are open to everyone from all backgrounds, irrespective of education. We believe in talent, no matter where it comes from.
Our traineeships provide invaluable experience. They are full-time competitively paid, permanent positions in which individuals receive mentorship, skill specific training and work closely with our experts across multi-disciplinary teams. Many of our past trainees have, in fact, continued their careers at Creative Assembly into more senior roles.