Playing video games can help students get better university grades, according to new research.

Tomahawk console

Tomahawk console

The study carried out by the University of Glasgow showed gaming helped students gain "graduate attributes" including communication skills and adaptability and Matthew Barr, author of the study, says the attributes are gained by puzzle solving in the games.

Matthew said: "The findings suggest that such game-based learning interventions have a role to play in higher education.

"Graduate attributes are those generic skills such as problem solving, communication, resourcefulness or adaptability which are considered desirable in graduates, particularly where employability is concerned. Modern video games often require players to be adaptable and resourceful and finding multiple ways of accomplishing a task.

"The way games are designed often encourages critical thinking and reflective learning, commonly cited as desirable attributes in graduates."

In an eight-week period undergraduate students were randomly placed in two different groups and games labs were open for the students on a drop-in basis and the students had to log 120 minutes of gameplay.

The games used in the study including 'Borderlands 2', 'Minecraft', 'Portal 2', 'Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light', 'Warcraft III', 'Reign of Chaos' and 'Team Fortress 2'.

The study was carried out on a small group of students but the difference in results was huge with 40 per cent of the control group showed improvements compared to the 81 per cent of those playing games.

While research shows video games can have a positive effect, you people are being victims of high levels of bullying while on online games.

Out of 2,500 people in another survey, 57 per cent said they have been bullied while on an online game with 64 per cent having been trolled.

Others included 47 per cent receiving threats, 39 per cent got unwanted sexual contact, 34 per cent had private information shared and 38 per cent have been hacked.