Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Visual Effects and Motion Graphics with Placement

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,B-B,B,B

Obtain a minimum of 120 UCAS tariff points in the Access to HE Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3.

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

M2,M2,M2

GCSE/National 4/National 5

A minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade C or grade 4 and above are required, including English Language (or grade B/5 in English Literature).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

30

including SL5 or HL4 in English (if applicant does not have GCSE English grade C/4 or above)

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H3,H3,H3,H3,H3

OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma

DM

in any subject and A level at grade B

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate

D

in any subject and A levels grade BB

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DDM

in any subject

Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)

DM

in any subject and A level at grade B

Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)

DDM

in any subject

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DM

in any subject and A level at grade B

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)

D

in any subject and A levels grade BB

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM

in any subject

Pearson BTEC Subsidiary Diploma (QCF)

D

in any subject and A levels grade BB

Scottish Advanced Higher

B,B,B

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

120-144

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

You may also need to…

Present a portfolio

About this course


Course option

4years

Sandwich | 2024

Subjects

Computer animation and visual effects

Cinematics

Our Visual Effects and Motion Graphics BSc degree is a modern, hands-on course that combines digital technology and creative design. It has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills required by the visual effects and motion graphics sector within the entertainment and creative industries.

At Brunel, we combine a study of visual effects with motion graphics so you can learn a wide range of creative and technical skills required to produce high-quality visual assets and artefacts for film, TV, the Web, games and other creative outlets. You’ll study VFX acquisition, motion design, CGI, digital graphic design, digital photography and video. You will then progress to producing more complex post-production assets and artefacts involving compositing, advanced CGI, 3D animation, media aesthetics, motion graphics and mixed reality. In your final year, you can choose from modules in advanced digital graphics and motion design and advanced 3D animation with additional options in digital experiences and creative technology design.

Professional and transferable skills required for working in the creative digital industries are developed throughout each year of the course.

Our modern, industry standard digital media facilities include a green screen and post-production studio, motion capture, sound and photography studios, 4K digital cinema cameras, and a dedicated render farm. You will have independent access to exclusive PC and Mac computing laboratories and benefit from the latest industry standard specialist software for graphics and image/video editing, 3D animation, digital compositing and high-quality asset creation. There's also the opportunity for you to use our immersive virtual environment laboratory. This includes an immersive dome (planetarium) set up for Brunel by the National Space Centre in Leicester, and is one of only a few in the UK!

There are guest lectures covering lots of digital media topics and visiting lecturers provide industry insight and advice on how to structure your portfolio and showreels. Speakers include creative and design directors, motion graphics professionals, 3D graphic supervisors, and VFX specialists and generalists.

Visits are arranged to TV and photography studios, and post-production houses. There’s also the opportunity to go to conferences and this is your chance to build networks with key industry experts. In addition, you have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London for trips to exhibitions celebrating the creative industries.

The course can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate.

The end-of-year highlight is the BrunelDigital degree show hosted on Brunel’s one London campus. Exhibiting your creative work at this event is a great way for you to connect with leading creative technologists and showcase your talent.

Brunel’s visual effects and motion graphics course is fully accredited and industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based industries. It carries the ScreenSkills Select quality mark which indicates that it is best suited to prepare you for a career in the screen industries. An added benefit as a student on this ScreenSkills endorsed course, is that you're eligible to apply for a Royal Television Society (RTS) bursary.

The digital media courses at Brunel are the only ScreenSkills-accredited degree programmes in London and the South East.

Our graduates take up posts as motion graphics designers, compositors, animators, 3D graphic artists and designers, digital video editors and producers, directors of photography, games designers/developers, and post-production engineers. Many become self-employed, either as freelancers or by setting up their own companies.

Modules

https://www.brunel.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/visual-effects-and-motion-graphics-bsc

Assessment methods

Typical Modules

Virtual Production
Applied Media Aesthetics
Digital Photography & Video Production
Advanced 3D CGI and Compositing
Programming for the Moving Image
Working in the Digital Creative Industries

For a full list of modules please visit our website https://www.brunel.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/visual-effects-and-motion-graphics-bsc

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£23,615
per year
International
£23,615
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Brunel University London

Department:

Electronic and Computer Engineering

Read full university profile

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.

91%
Computer animation and visual effects
52%
Cinematics

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

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
87%
Staff are good at explaining things
96%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
92%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

83%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
91%
Course specific equipment and facilities
87%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

80%
UK students
20%
International students
81%
Male students
19%
Female students
50%
2:1 or above
25%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

Cinematics and photography

Teaching and learning

60%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
67%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
56%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

75%
Library resources
72%
IT resources
89%
Course specific equipment and facilities
56%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

81%
UK students
19%
International students
50%
Male students
50%
Female students
82%
2:1 or above
21%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
C

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.

£29,000
high
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

58%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
6%
Information technology technicians
5%
Business, research and administrative professionals

This is a newly-classified subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. Over time we can expect more students to study them — there could be opportunities that open up for graduates in these subjects as the economy develops over the next few years. But at the moment this looks to be a good degree if you want to work on the technical side of film and TV and this is the most common industry for new graduates.

Cinematics and photography

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
84%
low
Employed or in further education
39%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

29%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
24%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
9%
Design occupations

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.

£26k

£26k

£41k

£41k

£41k

£41k

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.

Cinematics and photography

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£22k

£22k

£27k

£27k

£31k

£31k

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.

Share this page

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here