Games Design learner completes prestigious research project

Congratulations to Games Design learner Keah Parke, who completed a Nuffield Research Placement this summer to help boost her university application.

Keah, who is on Level 3 Year 2, was one of just 1,000 young people from the area who was accepted onto the programme. She conducted research about electric vehicle charging for York City Council, examining the potential for street charging points.

As part of the project, which has a £200 bursary for eligible students, she completed a 3,000-word report in the style of a dissertation, whilst also undertaking data analysis and spreadsheets.

“I did lots of research on my own and learned a lot,” she said. “You get tutorials and they’re all really supportive. I’ve already had feedback that my report was really good and they were really impressed with me.”

Keah is now planning to apply for Brunel University and University of Liverpool, studying games design with a specialism in writing, creating stories and characters.

“They want high grades and a really good personal statement. To me, if I want to stand out and show I’ve put the effort in during the holidays, this will give me something really strong to put in my personal statement.”

Describing her studies at Scarborough TEC as “really good”, she added: “All the staff are very supportive of everything I do, whether it’s college work or more personal.

“The lessons are great, but the environment really brings it together. You’re around a load of people who love what you love, and all support each other.

“I’ve learned so much; I joined the course thinking I’d write something for a game and that’s it, but I’ve learned how to draw more and do more coding so am a lot more versatile in different areas.

“The whole class has brought out my confidence. I was the only person from my friendship group to come here and it’s a class predominantly of men, so it felt daunting. I thought I’d just do my own thing, but they were all so welcoming and within two weeks I had a whole friendship group in class.

“Nobody understood why I wanted to come to TEC and do Games Design but it’s my passion, and it’s amazing to be able to share it with other people. It’s given me the confidence to understand what I want to do and why I want to do it.”

Long term, Keah is aiming to join a game company and continue to develop her skills.

“My dream role would be creative director, but I want to start from the bottom and work my way up.”

For more information about our Games Design course, visit: https://scarboroughtec.ac.uk/full-time-course/games-design/