Scott Leatherbarrow may have been born two minutes before his twin brother Justin but both were neck-and-neck in their studies as they graduated with first-class honours degrees in BSc (Hons) Games Development.

The brothers were inseparable at University, often mistaken for the other, and their parents Karen and Colin were beaming with pride as they collected their degrees in a ceremony at Wycombe Swan Theatre this week.

“Everyone we met seemed to ask how we ended up at the same university and they were shocked that we did the same thing, as the perception is that twins are unlikely to be interested in the same subject after leaving school,” said Scott.

“The answer is that we are both interested in games development so this was the obvious choice. There were some funny moments. We look alike and lecturers took a while to remember which one of us was which and to call us by the correct name. Even new friends we made at university took some time to figure us apart.

“We are both incredibly happy with our results, which we partly attribute to driving each other on as we competed against each other throughout our modules, and we are both very pleased with what we got out of the course. Our results have shown that we have really learned games development and programming techniques which we can use to successfully progress in the industry with.”

The pair even teamed up to play in doubles at badminton when Bucks New University competed in its annual Varsity fixture against the University of Roehampton, and enjoyed success this year as the University won Varsity, and said they see their success as ‘a team effort’.

Speaking about the course and studying at Bucks, Scott said: “The best thing about studying at Bucks was that the course was really engaging and the lecturers ensured it was enjoyable and challenging. We always looked forward to seminars.

“Another positive was the Students’ Union which was amazing for us throughout our three years as we took part in its Sport for Fun initiative, which was great for exercise and recreation and led to us playing for the badminton team. I was captain in the third year. We also worked behind the bar in The Lounge.”

Scott said a project in the second year was particularly enjoyable. “This project required us to take a few months to create a virtual reality game and we got to experience working with some awesome technology and ended up with an amazing game by the end of it. The AI modules were also memorable as we mastered how to make AI for games.”

Scott is now aiming for a game programming job and Justin already has a job as a games programmer developing voice games. Both see ‘huge potential’ in the games industry.

“It’s such a growing industry and I can see so much potential for it to grow on many more platforms than it is now, such as VR, AR, voice and more,” said Justin.

“It is only getting bigger year on year so I feel like going in to this industry now is going to provide us with so many amazing experiences and opportunities to do some amazing things.”

Dr Kevin Maher, Head of School for Business, Law, and Computing, said: "It was a pleasure to have the twins in my agile development class. They were a dedicated pair of hard-working students, who led by example and encouraged other students to strive to do their best. Their first-class degrees were well deserved and while I still may sometimes mistake one for the other I know, in all seriousness, that they will both go on to enjoy successful careers."