College recreates campus in video game Minecraft for open day

A Glasgow college will open its doors in the metaverse after computer whizzes re-created its campus virtually for prospective students to explore.

Glasgow Clyde College’s open day in the popular computer game Minecraft will give school pupils finishing their exams this week the chance to explore and ask questions of the staff as they make the all important decision about their next steps towards their dream career.

John Rafferty, deputy principal, said: “In the next decade, many young people expect to be working in jobs, spending money and regularly socialising with friends entirely online so we’re proud to be the first college in the UK to host a 3D open day in cyberspace, welcoming prospective students into an incredible recreation of one of our biggest campuses.”

The college’s Langside Campus in the city’s Southside has been reproduced in detail, creating an environment which gamers can interact with and explore.

Glasgow Clyde College’s main building, theatre, five-a-side pitches, and student areas all feature in the interactive map.

And prospective students exploring the college in Minecraft will be able to hear from staff and avatars, on hand to answer questions about courses, admissions, and career pathways as well as advice on how to sign up or access funding.

Mr Rafferty said: “Thousands of school pupils will be finishing their final exams this week, considering those all-important next steps. Open days are a really key part of this decision-making process, a chance to get a glimpse of the places you might be studying in next.

“Whether it’s through computer games or social media, many of these pupils already have one foot in the metaverse and we wanted to bring our world into theirs, showing off the best Glasgow Clyde College has to offer as a realm they can explore from their gaming console.”

The open day goes live on June 1 at 4pm, the college said and, to join, students will need to connect to their Minecraft server.

The college will live stream the event on its Twitch channel, where questions can be put to staff in the live chat, for those who do not have access to the game.

In addition to Langside, Glasgow Clyde College also has campuses in Anniesland and Cardonald, Glasgow.