Games Design (with integrated foundation year)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
60 credits, 45 must be graded at Level 3
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
T Level
Pass (C and above)
UCAS Tariff
Potential to succeed can be measured in a number of ways including academic qualifications and skills obtained outside academic study such as work experience. You can find out more about the tariff and qualification options from the UCAS tariff table. Please check selection criteria for any additional entry requirements.
You may also need to…
Present a portfolio
About this course
Have alternative qualifications or don't quite meet our entry criteria? No problem.
Whether it's Nintendo's Super Mario Bros, Ion Storm's Deus Ex, or Rockstar's GTA V, all successful games throughout each generation are built on good game and level design, story-telling, 2D and 3D modelling and texturing.
This is the games design course for you, made to enable you to get ready for a career in the multi-billion pound games industry. Spark your imagination and let that creativity run riot at our dedicated arts campus.
**Course Overview**
Turn your ideas into exciting new games. Seventy-five percent of your course is practical – designing, developing and creating new game experiences to create a portfolio for future employers.
This games design degree is all about the art and design work related to video games, creating storyboard concepts and turning them into playable prototypes. You’ll gain the skills to compete in this growing industry.
Industry-standard 3D and games engine software will help you develop essential skills including drawing, modelling, texturing and using the games engine. Our dedicated arts campus will allow you to mix with other creatives, allowing you to work on joint projects and develop your own network of creative practitioners.
**On this course you will...**
- Have access to dedicated Games Design labs with industry-standard software, providing a friendly, collegiate, and supportive environment.
- You learn games specific topics like drawing & concept art, character design, environment design, 3D modelling, texturing, level design, and game theory.
- Have the opportunity to take a range of trips outside of the lab to gain inspiration and improve creative thinking. In previous years they have included games expo – EGX and Develop: Brighton.
- Take part in our annual Game Jam that culminates in an award ceremony featuring Industry experts as judges and delivering a keynote lecture.
- Develop a wide range of transferable digital skills allowing you to take up a number of internships during your studies.
**What you will learn**
Our foundation year will help you reach the right level for taking the rest of the degree, building a solid foundation of skills from which to expand upon.
On this programme, you will learn to design, develop, and create new and unique gaming experiences. However, this is not a programming course; it is all about the art and design work related to video games. You will learn all about art and design, developing storyboards and concepts which you will later turn into playable prototypes (both 2D and 3D).
**Year One**
- Media in Context
- Professional Practice
- Media Narratives
- Published Media Products
- Introduction to Drawing for Gaming
- Creative Technologies for Game Design
**Year Two**
- Cultural Contexts
- Collaborative Practice
- Drawing, Visualisation and Concept Art
- 3D Modelling
- Gaming For Game Designers
**Year Three**
- Understanding the Creative Economy
- Working in the Creative Economy
- Concept To Prototype
- Concept Art & Visualisation 2
- Texturing
- Digital Sculpting (Optional)
- Games Creation - Design to Distribution (Optional)
- Motion Capture and Animation for Games (Optional)
- Digital Painting Techniques (Optional)
**Year Four**
- Theory and Research Methods in the Arts
- Dissertation
- Group Game Project
- Markets, Audiences & Exhibition
- Major Project
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Carlisle - Brampton Road
Institute of the Arts
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.
Design studies
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.
Design studies
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
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
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
£16k
£19k
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...
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