Game Art
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
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 (Pass) grade must be C or above, not D or E
UCAS Tariff
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
Gain the creative and technical skills to succeed as a digital artist.
On this Game Art degree, study fundamental game art principles alongside traditional art practice, building your expertise to contribute to a major game development project in your second and third year.
You'll be studying at the No. 1 university for game design in England according to the Princeton Review, 2023, and graduate as a confident, industry-ready game artist. You'll be equipped to join one of the fastest growing sectors of the games industry where skills are in high demand.
You will:
Develop expertise in character, concept and environment art, gaining industry skills in 3D modelling, UV mapping, baking, composition and shading
Work in one of the largest and best-equipped dedicated game-making spaces of any university in the UK
Study in a studio environment with access to industry standard hardware and software
Master a range of industry-standard tools used to produce game art including ZBrush, Maya, Substance Painter and Marmoset
Collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, keeping the Intellectual Property (IP) of games you produce
Network with industry through our guest speaker programme and end of year Games Expo.
Modules
You'll study the principles of game art in the context of traditional art practice, combining subjects like life drawing and composition with digital 2D and 3D modelling. We'll also build your expertise in concept, character and environment art, agile project management, and game development pipelines and processes.
Focused on industry practices, much of your learning will come from working in game development teams – devising and developing real games using real-world practices.
Year one
During the first year of your Game Art degree, you'll build the basic skills demanded by the industry, and learn about game artists' major roles and techniques. Working with industry-standard software, methods and processes, you'll develop your drawing skills, better understand anatomy, and apply these abilities to 3D modelling and related elements.
You'll learn traditional and digital art skills – both 2D and 3D – alongside concept, environment and character art to build digital worlds and characters.
Modules:
Concept Art 1
Character Art 1
Environment Art 1
Concept Art 2
Character Art 2
Environment Art 2
Year two
You'll grow your confidence in game art and your skills in using professional digital tools. You'll provide art assets to a collaborative project with game students of different disciplines, giving you valuable experience in an industry-style development pipeline.
An additional specialist practice project lets you hone your skills in a particular area of game art and create high quality work for your portfolio.
Modules
World Building: Pre-production
Developing Concept Art Vocabularies
Developing Character Art Vocabularies
Developing Environment Art Vocabularies
Art Research Practice
World Building: Production
Portfolio Development
Year three
With specialism, independence and professional practice at the front and centre of this year, you'll join a multi-skilled team on a game development project. Working in a studio, you'll contribute art assets using industry-standard methods and pipelines.
You'll also create distinctive and polished work for your growing portfolio by working on specialist game art. We'll then help you commercialise this work and prepare you for the transition to professional life.
Modules
Future Skills
Professional Portfolio
Technical Art Practice
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
Continuous assessment with no formal examinations.
Visual, verbal and written assignments.
A portfolio of personal and group project work is developed over the course of the degree to boost your employability.
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.
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
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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
£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.
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Course location and department:
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Teaching Excellence Framework (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?
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