Animation (MA)

Animation is a dynamic visual communication paradigm. Join us to develop your creative expertise to influence how audiences see and understand the social, political and cultural animated worlds and experiences you create.

Whether you’ve worked in animation for several years or are just starting out, we’ll challenge you to push the boundaries of what’s possible. To find a way of working that resonates with you, you might experiment with analogue and digital tools, from motion capture and XR to classical and stop motion animation.

Renowned for artistic excellence and risk-taking. Bring your vision to life with our director-led approach

• Shape the future of animation by joining a community that drives creative boundaries and embraces innovation
• Benefit from our director-led approach and enjoy the freedom to bring your own vision to life
• Grow your network and get support from renowned animation directors

Take part in serious play

• We believe in being bold but also carefully considering what you want to do to change your practice. You'll experience various techniques, concepts and canons.
• Although the focus is on developing your own work, engaging with other students is key for making the most out of your time at the RCA. You’ll also learn from a teaching team specialising in a range of areas across the field. 

Our mixed-use studios encourage collaborative working, thought, awareness and action. In addition, you have access to craft and technical workshop areas and excellent technical support in the College.

Our alumni

• Our alumni form an international network of creative individuals who have shaped and continue to shape the world. Click on each name to find out more.

What will I learn?

• The curriculum revolves around practice-as-research, experimentation, and constructive critique, with a discursive approach emphasising the development of creative time-based content through collaboration, questioning, exchange, and process exploration. Our world-class programme team and state-of-the-art facilities support your journey, enabling you to explore enduring historical relations with material-based media like painting, drawing, illustration, and sculpture – the core of animation practice. 
• Digital tools, deep learning processes, sound, display practices, and film language enhance these traditional media. We engage with various screen-based and related forms, including installations, projection mapping, VR, AR, extra-cinematic animation, theatre environments, sci-tech visualisation tools, and the spatial politics of citizen science games or apps. You will grasp opportunities from animation’s increasing pervasiveness and shape how your audiences perceive and understand the worlds and experiences you create. You will experience a collaborative professional environment and build an equitable, encouraging, challenging community of practitioners with your peers from other programmes.
• Throughout the programme, we challenge and encourage you to engage in innovative practice-oriented research, paying close attention to the nuances of cultures, ethics, diversity, identities, traditions, environments, and futures. Our students engage in diverse interdisciplinary contexts, spanning drama, literature, philosophy, fine and applied arts, film and media theory, art history, STEM disciplines, and architecture. By deepening your understanding of animation, you will develop a critical approach to your practice, intellectually challenging yourself with fresh ideas to broaden and influence social, political, and cultural perspectives through creative engagement.
• MA Animation fosters your aspirations and creative transformations as an ethically minded thinker and professionally astute creative artist, filmmaker and problem solver. As part of a vibrant community, you will engage in dialogues exploring new perspectives on the persuasive potential of animation in the digital humanities and STEM disciplines.

Requirements
What you need to know before you apply

• The programme attracts individuals from a notably wide range of disciplines who wish to explore their fields through animation, including, for example, film, architecture, graphic design, literature, communication arts, performance, art history, computing, illustration, pure and applied sciences and maths or fine art, or a combination of these.
• Candidates are selected entirely on merit and applications are welcomed from all over the world. The selection process considers creativity, imagination and innovation as demonstrated in your application and portfolio, your technical animation skills and your potential to benefit from the programme and to achieve high MA standards overall.
• Candidates are selected on the basis of a body of work that demonstrates an advanced understanding of the subject and sufficient technical animation and moving image skills to realise intentions, evidence of commitment to the subject, intellectual curiosity, open-mindedness, the ability to collaborate, to engage in debate and respond to constructive criticism, and the ability to engage in sustained and consistent study. We also want enthusiasm for your practice, commitment and a strong sense of personal responsibility for your subject matter and your own learning and development.

Scholarships

• The RCA scholarship programme is growing, with hundreds of financial awards planned for the 2025/6 academic year.