Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Animation with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


Access to HE Diploma

D:0,M:15,P:0

An Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 15 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

English Language or Literature at grade C or 4 or equivalents; Maths at grade C or 4 or equivalents.

UCAS Tariff

80

With at least 32 points from one A level or equivalent BTEC National qualifications. For example: CDD at A Level. MMP in BTEC Extended Diploma. Pass overall from a T level qualification with C from core. A combination of qualifications which must include an A level grade C or BTEC grade M.

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

4years

Full-time including foundation year | 2024

Other options

5 years | Sandwich including foundation year | 2024

Subjects

Animation

Computer animation and visual effects

**Please check the Sheffield Hallam University website for the latest information.**

**Course summary**
- Prepare for the degree with an extra foundation year at the start.

- Work across a variety of forms including 2D drawn and digital-based animation, stop motion and 3D CGI animation.

- Specialise in your preferred animation discipline for your major project film.

- Produce a portfolio of project work to showcase your skills to potential employers.

Learn a broad range of techniques and theoretical knowledge underpinning the form, including storyboarding, life drawing and concept art with this practical animation course. You graduate with the experience necessary to work in the animation industry, or in a wide range of other sectors that require creative professionals with animation skills.

**How you learn**
All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

The course is suitable if you don’t meet the entry requirements for our BA (Hons) Animation course, or you want extra preparation before starting degree-level study. You share the first year with other media arts and communication foundation year students, then move on to the degree.

Throughout the course you will experience a range of teaching methods, from specialist workshops and media labs to lectures and seminars, individual tutorials and group work. You will be able to develop your own area of interest and specialise in your preferred discipline for your major project film (including 2D drawn, stop motion or 3D CGI animation).

You learn through:

- coursework

- portfolios

- projects

- written reports

- peer critique groups

In the foundation year, you’ll study wide-ranging media arts and communication topics, while also focussing on your particular subject area and completing assignments in that field. You’ll grow as a creative, and begin developing a professional portfolio. You’ll also become familiar with Hallam’s exceptional facilities and staff, so you’re fully prepared for undergraduate study.

**Applied learning**
**Work placements**
You will have the opportunity to arrange a year-long work placement in between your third and fourth years. This gives you a real-world experience to prepare you for your future career.

**Field trips**
To help create a stimulating environment and to ensure that you gain the latest industry knowledge, you attend animation festival trips, film seminars and guest lectures by industry experts. Our industry links include Double Negative, Frame Store, MacKinnon and Saunders, Cartoon Saloon, Finger Industries and Mew Lab.

**Competitions**
In your fourth year you have the opportunity to submit your work for the Nick Park Award, an annual competition exclusive to Sheffield Hallam students which is judged by the team at Aardman.

Modules

Module and assessment information for future years is displayed as currently validated and may be liable to change. When selecting electives, your choices will be subject to the core requirements of the course. As a result, selections may be limited to a choice between one of two or more specified electives in some instances.

Important notice: The structure for this course is currently being reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment are all likely to change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Once the changes have been confirmed, updated module information will be published on this page.

You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.

**Year 1**
**Compulsory modules**
Creative Synergies In Media Production
Media In Context
Media Project
Preparing For Independent Practice And Study

**Year 2**
**Compulsory modules**
2D Animation Foundation
Animation Analysis
Cgi Animation Foundation
Creative Challenges
Drawing For Animation
Stop Motion Animation Foundation

**Year 3**
**Compulsory modules**
Level 5 Live Industry Project
Showreel Project
Visual Storytelling

**Year 4**
**Optional modules**
Placement Year

**Final year**
**Compulsory modules**
Dissertation 20 Coursework
Major Animation Project

**Elective modules**
Life Drawing
Sound Design And Sonic Arts Practice
Visual Effects Project

Assessment methods

Coursework, practical

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,655
per year
International
£16,655
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Scholarships, discounts and bursaries may be available to students who study this course.

The Uni


Course location:

Sheffield Hallam University

Department:

College of Social Sciences and Arts

Read full university profile

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.

82%
Animation
47%
Computer animation and visual effects

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

88%
Staff make the subject interesting
91%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
88%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

76%
Library resources
84%
IT resources
87%
Course specific equipment and facilities
61%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
53%
Male students
47%
Female students
75%
2:1 or above
3%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
B

Computer games and animation

Teaching and learning

61%
Staff make the subject interesting
68%
Staff are good at explaining things
56%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
71%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

38%
Library resources
47%
IT resources
57%
Course specific equipment and facilities
33%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
53%
Male students
47%
Female students
75%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
B

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.

Cinematics and photography

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.

£16,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
med
Employed or in further education
24%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

24%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
23%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

£18,500
low
Average annual salary
82%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

26%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
12%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
9%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

This is a newly-classified subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. Over time we can expect more students to study them — there could be opportunities that open up for graduates in these subjects as the economy develops over the next few years. But at the moment this looks to be a good degree if you want to work on the technical side of film and TV and this is the most common industry for new graduates.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Cinematics and photography

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£16k

£16k

£19k

£19k

£23k

£23k

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.

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.

£25k

£25k

£27k

£27k

£30k

£30k

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...

Higher entry requirements
University of Hertfordshire | Hatfield
3D Games Art and Design
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 112-120
Same University
Sheffield Hallam University | Sheffield
Animation
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 112
Nearby University
Futureworks | Salford
Digital Animation with Illustration
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 104-120

Share this page

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