Animation & Games
Entry requirements
UCAS Tariff
Although many of our students do come in with top grades and high UCAS points, these aren’t necessarily essential for entry. We typically ask for a minimum of 112 UCAS points, but we understand that talented artists, designers and makers can have a wide range of relevant strengths and skills beyond formal qualifications. We’re just as interested in exploring your portfolio and discussing your creative experiences as we are in seeing your grades.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Present a portfolio
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**Plymouth College of Art has been granted full university status and formally recognised with the new title of Arts University Plymouth, following approval by the Privy Council. This makes us the City of Plymouth’s first specialist arts university.**
The title of Arts University Plymouth signifies a change to the way that the world will see us, our position within the sector and the mobility of our graduates; but not a change in the way that we see ourselves or what we do. Arts University Plymouth will build upon the existing strength of our unique culture and incredible community; we have no plans to change the specialist focus of the work we do together. The name Arts University Plymouth will appear on our qualifications, making it easier for employers and peers to recognise that our students were taught at a leading specialist arts university.
In May we were awarded the **Best Small or Specialist University at the 2022 WhatUni Student Choice Awards**, coming top in a list of well-respected specialist UK universities, based on unbiased and honest reviews from students across the UK, in a category that highlights the quality of our provision as a specialist creative university.
**Bring your character designs and illustrative concepts to life with our BA (Hons) Animation & Games course, where you will invent new, imaginary worlds using the latest 2D and 3D software and techniques. You’ll develop the technical skills and production experience necessary to thrive in the top animation and gaming creative studios internationally.**
Globally the animation industry is estimated to be worth £170 billion, with the gaming industry predicted to be worth £140 billion by 2021. Whether your interest is in film, television, video games, online content, VFX, motion graphics or VR, we’ll help you enter the market with the knowledge and skills necessary for a leading role in the industry.
In our state-of-the-art multimedia studio environment, you can explore the full range of the drawing, modelling, editing, rendering, and scripting techniques, giving you an unrivalled opportunity to take a multifaceted view of the animation and games world. Working within the creative incubator of our School of Arts + Media, you’ll not only gain knowledge of the latest software used in the creative industry and develop collaborative skills across disciplines, you’ll be encouraged to develop as an emerging artist-designer with your own unique creative voice. You’ll also have the opportunity to work alongside students from our award winning Film & Screen Arts course and Film Studies, as well as collaborating with Animation and Games students in interdisciplinary projects.
Our animation and games studio facilities are fully equipped with industry-standard hardware and software such as Unreal Engine, Substance Painter, Toon Boom, 3D Studio Max, Maya, Marmoset Toolbag, Z-Brush and Adobe Master Suite. You’ll have your own high-spec, cloud-render enabled workstation with drawing monitors, as well as access to VR devices, cintiqs, a stop-motion studio, green screen studio and a state-of-the-art 3D printing and scanning studio.
Core specialisms you’ll study include preproduction concept art for the entertainment industry, 2D and 3D world-building, drawing, environment art, environmental and particle textures, game play, level design, 2D and 3D character design, stop-motion animation, 2D and 3D animation, and special effects.
Our Animation & Games students have gone on to work at leading creative studios such as Creative Assembly, Playstation, Rebellion Studios, and Industrial Light and Magic. Recent contributors to the course include Jim Parkyn from Aardman Studios, Jack Eaves and Frederic Fitzpatrick from Rebellion Studios, Tim Nguyen from Playstation, and Henry South from ILM (Industrial Light and Magic).
Graduates can become:
- UX & UI designers
- Animators
- Filmmakers
- art directors
- Illustrators
- Special effects artists
Modules
In your first year, you’ll explore all aspects of animation through a range of short projects, covering key production skills such as narrative development, storyboarding and character performance.
You will learn technical production skills in 2D, CGI and stop-motion methods of practice, giving you an opportunity to see which way you would like your own work to develop.
Your second year is more focused, with an emphasis on production team working, as you share skills with others while you develop your own specialism. You will be supported in progressing your animation career path through professional development modules.
In your final year, you’ll put your own stamp on a dynamic and professional showreel, which will demonstrate your production skills to the industry and associated sectors that use animation as a creative medium.
You will have focused lectures on marketing and distributing your work either to the independent film sector or to the commercial end of the animation and games industries.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Arts University Plymouth
Arts and Media
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.
Cinematics and photography
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)
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
We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Creative arts and design
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£14k
£16k
£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.
Computing
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
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.
- What's it like studying a degree in Computing
- What's it like studying a degree in Computer games and animation
- What's it like studying a degree in Animation
- What's it like studying a degree in Computer games design and programming
- What's it like studying a degree in Computer games design
- What's it like studying a degree in Design, and creative and performing arts
- What's it like studying a degree in Cinematics and photography
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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:
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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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