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Game Animation

Entry requirements


We welcome A Levels in a wide range of subjects, especially in those relevant to the course for which you apply.

We may consider a standalone AS in a relevant subject, if it is taken along with other A Levels and if an A Level has not been taken in the same subject. However, you will not be disadvantaged if you do not have a standalone AS subject as we will not ordinarily use them in our offers.

60 credits (with a minimum of 45 credits achieved at level 3) in a relevant subject.

A typical offer is between 104 and 120 UCAS points

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

24

A typical offer is between 104 and 120 UCAS points

A typical offer is between 104 and 120 UCAS points

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications

A typical offer is between 104 and 120 UCAS points

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications

A typical offer is between 104 and 120 UCAS points

A typical offer is between 104 and 120 UCAS points

T Level

P-M

P (Pass) grade must be C or above, not D or E

UCAS Tariff

104-120

A typical offer is between 104 and 120 UCAS points, primarily from Level 3 equivalent qualifications, such as A levels, a BTEC Extended Diploma or a Foundation Diploma, or current, relevant experience. Grade 4 (or C) or above in GCSE English Language, or equivalent, is a minimum language requirement for all applicants. Due to the creative nature of our courses, you will be considered on your own individual merit and potential to succeed on your chosen course. Please contact the Applicant Services team for advice if you are predicted UCAS points below this range, or if you have questions about the qualifications or experience you have.

a minimum of 40 UCAS tariff points, when combined with a minimum of 64 UCAS tariff points from the Supporting Qualifications

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Computer games

Specialise as an animator working on games.

Specialise as a games animator, one of the industry’s most sought-after roles. If you have the passion, we’ll teach you what you need to know – from mastering core character animation skills to integrating real-time animation into projects. On this Game Animation course, you'll work in studio-style collaborative teams that mirror industry practice, and experience working through full implementation of the game animation pipeline.

You’ll graduate with a rich portfolio of work, ready to launch your games career after studying at the No. 1 university for game design in England according to the Princeton Review, 2023.

You will:
Develop key animation principles in a game development context
Learn how to animate believable and stylised characters
Rig and animate characters in real time to implement into major game engines Unreal and Unity
Learn how to use motion and facial capture equipment effectively
Collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, keeping the Intellectual Property (IP) of games you produce
Work in one of the largest, best-equipped dedicated game-making spaces of any UK university

Modules

You'll build up your core skills as an animator, learning game development processes and the roles of different specialisms within the games industry. You'll then work on team-led projects and collaborate with artists and programmers to create rich characters that are responsive to player controls. You'll rig and animate digital models to bring your ideas to life.

Year one:
You'll learn what it takes to make an animated game, including asset creation, project management and development pipelines, pitching ideas and considering theories about what games are and how they engage players. Developing your skills in animation, you'll enhance cross-disciplinary groups as you pitch a game and build it as part of a collaborative team.

Modules:
Development Foundations
Digital Creativity
Game Animation 1
Reading Games
Multidisciplinary Teamwork
Game Animation 2

Year two:
With greater confidence in your skills, you'll mirror professional game development as you tackle a larger game project in a multi-skilled group. Over the course of the year, you'll research and experiment with various approaches and create innovative features. You'll investigate strategies to enhance the player experience and learn what drives industry trends and developments from visiting professionals. Throughout the year you’ll continue developing your specialist game animation practice.

Modules
Game Form and Player Experience
World Building: Pre-production
Game Animation 3
World Building: Production
Portfolio Development

Year three:
During the final year of your Game Animation course, you'll produce a complete and potentially publishable game as part of a team. By pitching it to industry professionals, you'll receive reliable and insightful feedback. You'll also research a topic relevant to your project and build an online portfolio with a clear centrepiece, sharpening your real-world insights and building valuable career contacts.

Modules
Experience Design
Future Skills
Professional Portfolio
Future of Games
Major Collaboration

The modules above are those being studied by our students, or proposed new ones. Programme structures and modules can change as part of our curriculum enhancement and review processes. If a certain module is important to you, please discuss it with the Course Leader.

Assessment methods

Teamwork features heavily to reflect the industry.
Game making is the primary form of assessment.
Continuous assessment with no formal examinations.
Visual, verbal and written assignments.
Portfolio of project work.

The Uni


Course location:

Penryn Campus

Department:

The Games Academy

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.

85%
Computer games

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

92%
Staff make the subject interesting
93%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
91%
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

89%
Library resources
79%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
66%
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?

90%
UK students
10%
International students
74%
Male students
26%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
17%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
B

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.

100%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

30%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
26%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
13%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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

£20k

£16k

£16k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
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Lower entry requirements
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UCAS Points: 80-120
Same University
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UCAS Points: 104-120

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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.

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Course location and department:

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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.

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here