Illustration and Animation
Entry requirements
UCAS Tariff
We would normally expect applicants to have achieved 80 UCAS Tariff Points at entry but whilst qualifications are important, our offers are not solely based on academic results and we may make offers based on other evidence of talent and suitability for the course. Portfolio submission (where applicable) and successful interview or audition are required.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Present a portfolio
About this course
The huge growth in our consumption of media on small-screen mobile devices is changing the landscape for visual content creators. Programme makers and advertisers are hungry for imaginative, entertaining work, especially moving-image and animation. This course responds to this demand and embraces the natural link between illustration and animation.
Our students engage with traditional and experimental illustration and animation processes that offer alternatives to a pervasive digital aesthetic. This includes illustration that moves, animation that isn’t led by drawing, and short, sharp, witty film-making that doesn’t require lengthy and expensive production. You will share a studio space with the specialist illustration students, and work closely as a group to discuss ideas and support each other. You will become adept in the creative cycle of research, planning, developing, shaping, making and finishing, for a wide range of outcomes. The final year allows you to experiment with more ambitious projects in either illustration, animation, or both, defining your own specialism and preparing a distinctive portfolio and showreel.
**Industry Links**
A range of expert visiting practitioners contribute significantly to the course. These have included award-winning Illustrators: Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Jonny Hannah, Alice Pattullo, Geoffrey Grandfield, Mark Hearld, Martin Ursell and Rebecca Gibbon and Animators: BAFTA winning director Jonathan Hodgson and Sandra Salter of Salty’s Animation. Our students have taken part in seminars at Hay Festival with Quentin Blake, Oliver Jeffers and teamed up with HCA honorary fellow Nick Sharrat. You will meet professional practitioners on inspiring local, national and international visits. In the past students have met Creative Director Barbara Ryan in Amsterdam, and Animation Oscar-nominated Javier Mariscal in Barcelona.
**After this Course**
You will be able to use your showreel to begin your career as a freelance illustrator-animator, or to work in-house for related media and design houses or multi-media production companies. Graduates are also equipped for a broad range of roles in the creative industries as technicians, demonstrators and teachers, or may progress to further study as part of an MA programme.
**Highlights**
1. Boost your employability with flexible skills across illustration and animation.
2. Explore expressive, innovative, creative animation.
3. Small group teaching in a friendly studio environment with exceptional access to tutorial and technical support.
4. Inspiring invited practitioners and visits.
5. Develop your own visual language and evolve a unique style
Modules
From your first day at HCA you will work as a creative, developing your skills and your own voice through a series of projects. You will develop your creative practice, practical skills alongside your critical awareness and theoretical knowledge. You will study a range of modules that build your knowledge and confidence and total 120 credits each year.
YEAR ONE: Practice in Context 1 (20 Credits), Practice 1 (30), Practice 2 (30), Foundations for Learning (20). Skills 1 (20)
YEAR TWO: Practice in Context 2 (20), Practice 3 (30), Practice 4 (30), Professional Practice 1 (20), Skills 2 (20)
YEAR THREE: Practice in Context 3 (20), Practice 5 (30), Practice 6 (60), Professional Practice 2 (10)
Tuition fees
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What students say
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How do students rate their degree experience?
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Design studies
Teaching and learning
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Student voice
Animation
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After graduation
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Design studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£13k
£17k
£18k
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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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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