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Game Design with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

D,D

Access to HE Diploma (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 must be at Level 3 (48 UCAS point equivalence, minimum 45 credits at pass)

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

PPP

Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)

MP

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

PPP

T Level

P

Core grade needs to be D or E

UCAS Tariff

48

Including level 3 qualification in Art & Design subject We also accept UAL L3 Extended Diploma in Art and Design or Creative Media Production & Technology - grade P Equivalent experience. We can consider applicants with other qualifications or relevant experience so if you do not have 48 UCAS points, please make sure you outline this experience within your personal statement. This can also be assessed through an alternative assessment route such as an academic essay.

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About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Computer games design

**This is a 4 year degree course. Please ensure that when you apply for this course you choose Point of entry 1 in your UCAS Hub.**

The Foundation year prepares students for university level study. Successful completion of our Foundation course permits access to any of our Art or Digital Media BA (Hons) or BDes (Hons) degree courses, which include Computer Games Design, Animation and Film and Television Production. The Foundation year begins with modules aimed at providing transferable study skills and then, in the second semester, gives students the opportunity to study more specialist modules, with a focus on various aspects of Art and Digital Media.

If like us, you are excited by games and are fascinated by how they are made; and if you want to develop your skills and turn your ideas into games, you will enjoy our course. We will introduce you to all the main processes involved in the design and making of computer games. What makes our course special is that it covers both the artist side as well as the technical side of computer games. You will be involved from the initial idea generation to making the final game while working individually or as part of a team

The focus of the course is on creativity, innovation, ideas generation, drawing and design as well as critical thinking, problem solving and passion for games. Yes, you will use a variety of specialist and industry-standard software packages; yes, you will do some coding; yes, you will learn about the gaming hardware; but all because you want to bring your creative game ideas to life. In this course, there is a fine balance between theory and practice on the one hand and design and making on the other.

You will study theories of game design, research and ideas generation, concept design, level design & development, character design, 3D modelling & texturing, environmental design, audio design for games, animation and interaction design through visual and nonvisual coding. You will have the opportunity to experiment with Virtual Reality and motion capture technology as part of your projects. Throughout your study, we will encourage you to develop the ability to be reflective and critical about the game industry and about your own work. We will prepare and support you for getting a job in the industry and self-employment.

You will be guided and supported by a friendly and highly experienced professional educators. We have a track record of high student satisfaction rate about their teaching and learning experience on our course. We will treat you with care and respect while giving you the individualised attention and support that you need. We always see you as a student not a ‘customer’.

The industry needs more female game designers. We are therefore actively encouraging and supporting applications from female candidates with suitable art and design and other creative backgrounds.

The Uni


Course location:

University of Wolverhampton

Department:

Wolverhampton School of Art

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What students say


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

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

80%
UK students
20%
International students
85%
Male students
15%
Female students
72%
2:1 or above
25%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
C
D

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.

£21,000
med
Average annual salary
81%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

42%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
16%
Information technology technicians
6%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

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.

£18k

£18k

£25k

£25k

£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.

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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?

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