Animation BA (Hons)

Taking this course will help you improve your core animation skills and unleash your creativity. Our animation course fosters individuality and professionalism in animation practice, ensuring you stand out in the competitive field. 

You'll learn to create captivating animated stories. You'll design characters and environments, and choose the best animation methods for your work. Throughout the course, you will also gain valuable knowledge about the industry.

• Our animation course fosters individuality and professionalism in animation practice. 
• Exposure to traditional and digital media improves your knowledge of animation techniques. 
• Visit studios, work with others, and complete at least three short films to showcase on your professional website, making you ready for an exciting career in animation.

What makes this course different

• Specialist practitioners- Our expert staff, all seasoned industry professionals, provide one-to-one guidance and feedback to help you confidently choose the professional path that’s right for you.
• Visits to animation studios- Animation production in the classroom studio reflects industry standards. Students visit animation studios annually, meet professionals, and gain insights into how their skills transition to careers.
• Industry visitors- The course invites renowned directors, animators, and producers for talks and lectures. The team collaborates with leading animation studios to align the curriculum with industry standards and practices.

Course modules
Foundation Year

You can also take this course with a foundation year (FY), which means it will take you four years to complete the course full-time, and eight years to complete the course part-time.

• Professional Life (Mental Wealth) Core Module
• Art & Design Workshops, Processes & Skills Core Module
• Art & Design Studio Practice & Portfolio Core Module
• Art & Design Specialist Workshops, Processes & Skills Core Module
• Art & Design Specialist Studio Practice & Portfolio Core Module
• Art & Design Contextual Studies Core Module

Year 1
You'll develop your skills, starting with core animation techniques, and building into your unique way of working. You will learn how to tell your own stories through animation. You'll design characters and environments, structure, and produce animated stories that will captivate, inspire, educate and entertain.

• Story and Editing Core Module
• Character Design and Sound Design Core Module
• Animation Principles 1 Core Module
• Animation Principles 2 Core Module
• Professional Practice 1 Core Module
• Mental Wealth: Agency 1 Core Module

Year 2
This animation course will help you develop an individual creative approach which is embedded in professional practice. We introduce you to a broad range of hand-crafted, traditional, and digital media that will help you make an informed decision on the animation techniques and methods you choose for your work.

• Animated Documentary Pre-production Core Module
• Animated Documentary Production Core Module
• ​​​​​​​Animated Fillers/Stings Pre-production Core Module
• ​​​​​​​Animated Fillers/Stings Production Core Module
• Professional Practice 2 Core Module
• Mental Wealth: Professional life: Agency 2 Core Module

Year 3
You will gain a thorough understanding of the social, cultural, and professional contexts of the field of animation. This will happen through practical work, studio visits and talks by industry professionals, You'll learn to put these skills together in an original way that will make you a unique voice in your chosen field.

• ​​​​​​​Final Major Project (FMP)- Pre-production Core Module
• ​​​​​​Final Major Project (FMP)- Production 1 Core Module
• Final Major Project (FMP)- Production 2 Core Module
• Final Major Project (FMP)- Post-Production Core Module
• Professional Practice 3 Core Module
• Mental Wealth: Professional Life: Agency 3 - Freelancing at UEL Creatives Core Module

Your future career

This is an exciting industry and there are several career pathways that you can choose from once you graduate.  Careers in animation are diverse, ranging from film and television to video games and advertising. Industry and practical experience give you a good understanding while allowing you to develop your unique voice in the field.  Gain a wide range of experience and be equipped to enter the animation (or related) industries as a confident, skilled professional. 

• Industry links- We have an extensive network within the animation industry. Strong industry links are crucial for animation students looking to break into the field. Guest speakers include Aardman Animation, Animation UK, Lupus Films and Blink Ink. Every year students visit a range of studios such as Passion Pictures, Nexus, Lupus Films, Studio AKA and Karrot Animation. We stay in touch with animation studios to make sure that the course is always in line with industry trends.
• Graduate employers- We prepare our graduates to enter the 2D animation industry as technically competent, professional animators. Our graduates have gone on to work in various large animation studios including Blink Ink and Passion Pictures, as well as smaller studios. Some of our graduates have set up their own studios and collectives.

Job roles

• Typical roles which our animation graduates have gone on to include: 2D animators, animation directors, storyboard artists, concept artists, editors, character designers, set designers, illustrators, asset designers and scriptwriters.
• Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

Further study

• You could go on to further study and do an MA in Filmmaking, or Creative Enterprise, which will help you learn how to work as a freelancer or entrepreneur. Advanced degrees can help you open even more doors in the industry, providing specialised skills and knowledge.

How we support your career ambitions

• We offer dedicated career support, and further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Support for your career in animation is available through various channels, including internships and mentorship programmes. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting-edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone
This digital platform provides you with careers and employability resources, including:

• Jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work 
• Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts
• 1-2-1 career coaching services
• Careers workshops and employer events 
• Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

• Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you've mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

We are careers first
Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top:

• Work-based projects
• Networking and visits to leading organisations
• Support in starting a new business
• London on our doorstep

How you'll learn

Each module is designed with practical components and a reflective component, with the intention that students develop an ability to reflect on the processes that they have followed in the development of their work. This approach ensures you master both the creative and technical aspects of animation.

You will be taught by staff who are practitioners in the area they teach. Our faculty members bring real-world animation experience into the classroom, enhancing your learning. Our staff are also well placed to take advantage of a range of professional networks and industry contacts. This ensures that practice-led teaching is relevant to industry and practice.

• Guided independent study- When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, and access to software, specialist facilities, such as edit suites, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.
• Academic support- Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas – including learning and disability support.
• Dedicated personal tutor- When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of the academic course team who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at UEL and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer.

Workload

• Each year you will spend around 280 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.

The approximate workload hours for this course per year are:

• Scheduled teaching - 284 hours
• Guided independent study - 916 hours

Your timetable

• Your individualised timetable is normally available within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, usually 11-1.30pm or 2-4.30pm for three days a week, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. 
• For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

Class sizes

• To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts 10–30 students a year. We have workstations for each student in a class, so you can always be learning 'hands-on'.
• In the classroom, you will be taught in groups of 10-20 students. However, this can vary by academic year. Smaller class sizes allow for personalized attention, enhancing your learning experience in animation.

How you'll be assessed

• Coursework will focus on practical outcomes from projects and exercises, e.g. films, clips, pre-production artefacts, occasional individual or group-based presentations and research-based assignments. We do not have timed practicals or exams. 
• The approximate percentages for this course are 100% course work. 
• Coursework will focus on practical outcomes from projects and exercises, e.g. films, clips, pre-production artefacts, occasional individual or group-based presentations and research-based assignments.