Video Game Digital Art with a Foundation Year
Birmingham City University
UCAS Code: 1143 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
A maximum of 4 subjects are considered. These can be other A/S Levels (as long in a different subject) A-Levels or Level 3 equivalents.
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications (AS Levels must be in different subject to A-Levels) to obtain 80 pts
Pass with 60 credits overall. At least 45 credits at Level 3. Information, Communication Technology and Business subjects preferred but other subjects also considered
Must be in a topic related to the degree subject being applied for Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English Language or English Literature and GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above. If you do not have these or are not undertaking them, we accept other Level 2 equivalents, or we may ask you to pass BCU's GCSE equivalency tests.
Obtain a minimum of 24 points overall For students who do not already hold a GCSE in English Language at Grade C/4 or above Standard Level English Language (not literature) English A - Grade 4 or above or English B - Grade 5 from the IB Diploma will be accepted For students who do not already hold a GCSE in Mathematics at Grade C/4 or above Standard Level Maths, grade 5 or above from the IB Diploma will be accepted
Pass the Irish Leaving Certificate with a minimum of 80 tariff points, achieved in five Higher level subjects. This must include English Language and Maths taken at either Ordinary Level (minimum grade O1-O4 (or A-C/A1-C3)) or Higher level minimum grade H1/H7 (or A-D / A1-D3 up to and including 2016
See level 3 entry under Irish Leaving Certificate for full details
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
Achieve a minimum of 80 tariff points achieved in either three Advanced Highers or from a combination of two Advanced Highers plus two Highers. Where three Advanced Highers have been taken achieve a minimum of grades DDD. Where a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers have been taken you must achieve (grades of DD in two Advanced Highers plus grades of DD in two Highers).
Achieve a minimum of 80 tariff points achieved in either three Advanced Highers or from a combination of two Advanced Highers plus two Highers. Where three Advanced Highers have been taken achieve a minimum of grades DDD. Where a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers have been taken you must achieve (grades of DD in two Advanced Highers plus grades of DD in two Highers).
T Level
Pass (C and above)
in Digital Production, Design and Development
UCAS Tariff
Considered with a maximum of 3 other Level 3 qualifications to obtain 80 pts
About this course
This Foundation Year has been specifically designed to allow you to undertake an additional year of study to build stronger creative footings that ensure successful progression through your chosen degree.
Working in a friendly, lively and energetic environment, you will be given the freedom to expand your knowledge of practical skills, creative exploration and conceptual thinking, underpinned by broad critical understanding, academic writing and emerging theoretical principles.
Dedicated Foundation tutors will support you throughout the year and BA teaching staff from across all the schools within the Birmingham Institute of Creative Arts (BICA) will work closely with you to prepare you for progression.
There will be a range of opportunities to work on collaborative and individual projects, aimed to build your social skills and identify your role as a developing practitioner.
Throughout the year you will be challenged with projects that question your current creative experiences and explore a breadth of experimentation to broaden your technical and critical understanding.
You will be encouraged to analyse methods and materials appropriate for creative development and to question your position in relation to historical, contemporary and future world scenarios. Both practical and written research tasks will be supported by one to one tutorials and small discussion groups to help you constructively build academic and social confidence.
The two first semester modules will form the building blocks for future work and will explore core principles of creative practice focussing on the development of technical confidence, study skills and productivity.
The two final semester modules will encourage a positive integration between research and practice, challenging decision making and technical competency. This semester is designed to empower you with independent learning skills appropriate for your future BA studies.
On successful completion of the Foundation Year, you will have the flexibility to change direction and switch courses onto a related undergraduate degree programme within Birmingham School of Art, School of Visual Communication or the School of Games, Film and Animation.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Curzon Building Campus
School of Games, Film and Animation
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Computer games and animation
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Computer games and animation
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
This is a relatively new subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. Gaming is a growing industry, and if it continues to grow we should see the rather high unemployment rate coming down over the next few years. Much the most common jobs for graduates who do get work after six months are in programming roles - but as things stand, be aware that jobs in the field are very competitive and personal contacts - either through family, friends or via specialist employment agencies - are a crucial way into the industry so be prepared to talk as well as code!
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Computer games and animation
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£24k
£27k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Higher entry requirements
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Course location and department:
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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