University of Portsmouth
Animation BA (Hons)
University of Portsmouth

Course modalities offered

Key Course Facts

Student Reviews

Below you can see course specific reviews for 20 graduates of Animation BA (Hons) at University of Portsmouth for each of the survey questions in comparison to the average for all UK degree courses in Cinematics and Photography.

Overall student satisfaction
64 /100
20 total respondents
The NSS is commissioned by the Office for Students

Salary

Salary of Graduates in Cinematics and Photography

Important: Salary data below is not course specific, but contains data of all students of Cinematics and Photography at the university. Due to data collection methodology, salary data is mainly based on data related to undergraduate students.

  15 months after graduation 3 years after graduation 5 years after graduation
Median salary £22000 £21000 £26000
25-75 percentile range £20000 - £25500 £16000 - £25000 £20000 - £30500


Salary of all UK Graduates of Cinematics and Photography

  15 months after graduation 3 years after graduation 5 years after graduation
Median salary £20933 £18108 £21051
25-75 percentile range £18375 - £24906 £13095 - £22569 £15928 - £26889

Course Description

Overview

Visual communication and entertainment have become a dominant force in the last 20 years, with animation at their core. Animators are in demand across a range of creative industries including television, film, web, computer games, education, and marketing.

With our Animation degree course, you'll gain the sought-after technical skills, artistic insight, and platform diversity to apply your talent to any form of visual arts, media, or communication. You'll develop advanced abilities in character animation, visual storytelling, compositing and editing, and learn from active industry professionals who’ve directed animations for Disney, Warner Bros. , and Cartoon Network, and produced special effects for prominent film franchises like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Chronicles of Narnia.

At the end of the course, you’ll be primed for a successful career in 2D or 3D animation across multiple industries.

Course highlights

  • Practise the techniques that animators use in the film industry, such as the performance capture process used in the film Avatar
  • Learn industry-standard software and production methods and use professional animation equipment including Adobe Creative Cloud, Autodesk Maya, TV Paint, and Wacom Cintiq digital drawing displays
  • Meet prospective employers and industry contacts by showcasing your work at our student screening in London
  • Gain valuable industry experience and knowledge by taking an optional placement year – either with a company or as self-employed
  • Demonstrate your technical proficiency to industry peers by earning Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) accreditation
  • Impress the public and potential employers by showcasing your final-year work at our annual Graduate Shows
  • Put your artistry and skills to prize-winning test by taking part in our annual University GameJam

Accreditation

This Animation degree course is accredited by JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Services), a group of industry professionals and employers.

The JAMES accreditation lets potential employers know that this course gives you the relevant skills and abilities you need to work in the animation industry when you graduate. This gives you an edge over students who didn’t do an accredited course when you’re applying for jobs.

JAMES reviews our accreditation every 3 years to make sure the Animation course content remains up-to-date with industry trends and developments. So you’ll always be learning skills relevant to your career.

Careers and opportunities

The UK’s animation industry creates pioneering content and visual effects worldwide for commercials, websites, games, and interactive technologies. Animations for events, concerts, theatre performances, and theme parks are also on the rise (Animation UK). With the rapid development of future technologies such as virtual, mixed, and augmented reality, animation continues to be a growing sector of the global media and entertainment market.

Upon completing our Animation degree course, you can be part of this vital industry that transcends all sectors.

Graduate roles

Our graduates have worked in a wide range of artistic roles, including:

  • animators
  • concept artists
  • directors
  • compositors
  • creative directors
  • art directors
  • modellers
  • user interface (UI) designers
  • post-production technical directors

Graduate destinations

Our graduates have worked at renowned companies such as:

  • Climax
  • Framestore
  • The Mill
  • Sony Pictures Animation
  • Kuju Games
  • Centroid 3d in Pinewood Studios
  • Cartoon Network

Graduate productions

Some of our alumni have worked on high-profile feature films and cartoons, including:

  • Avatar
  • Life of Pi
  • Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland
  • The Amazing World of Gumball

After you graduate, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.

Accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Services (JAMES) on behalf of Audio Technology, Music, Recording, Music Production, Games, Media and Audio Post Production Industries.

Jobs & Career Perspectives

15 months after graduation, graduates of this course were asked about what they do and, if they are working, about their current job and their perspectives.

Current jobs

Required skill level of job after 15 months

Jobs of graduates of this course (15 months after graduation)

Example below based on all graduates of Animation BA (Hons) at University of Portsmouth

40% Artistic, literary and media occupations
25% Caring personal services
10% Leisure, travel and related personal service occupations
10% Design occupations
10% Business and public service associate professionals
10% Elementary occupations

You’ll be assessed through animation design projects, a showreel and portfolio, written coursework (one module per year) and a dissertation. You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark. You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future. The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows: **[Year 1 students]:** 100% by coursework; [Year 2 students]: 17% by practical exams and 83% by coursework; [Year 3 students]: 17% by practical exams and 83% by coursework.

Entry Requirements / Admissions

UCAS Tariff of Accepted Students for this course

English language requirements

test Grade Additional Details
IELTS (Academic) 6

English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.

PTE Academic 54

An overall score of 54 with a minimum of 51 in each skill.

TOEFL (iBT) 79

79 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing.

Cambridge English Advanced

Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.

Cambridge English Proficiency

Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) taken after January 2015. An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.

Trinity ISE

Trinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components

Get advice on which foundation courses are best for you to still study Animation, BA (Hons), if you do not meet the minimum requirements in terms of UCAS score, A levels, or English language requirements.

Costs

Tuition Fees Animation BA (Hons)

EU £9250 year 1
England UK £9250 year 1
Northern Ireland £9250 year 1
Scotland £9250 year 1
Wales £9250 year 1
Channel Islands £9250 year 1
Ireland £9250 year 1
International £18800 year 1

Additional fee information

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship

Placement Year and Year abroad:

UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £925 |

EU – £925 (including Transition Scholarship)|

International (Non-EU) – £2,000

Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice.

Fees may also go up in later years, in line with inflation

Average student cost of living in the UK

Rent £518
Water, gas electricity, internet (at home) £50
Supermarket shopping £81
Clothing £35
Eating out £33
Alcohol £27
Takeaways / food deliveries £30
Going out / entertainment (excl.alcohol, food) £24
Holidays and weekend trips £78
Transport within city £17
Self-care / sports £20
Stationary / books £13
Mobile phone / internet £13
Cable TV / streaming £7
Insurance £51
Other £95
  
Average student cost of living £1092

London costs approx 34% more than average, mainly due to rent being 67% higher than average of other cities. For students staying in student halls, costs of water, gas, electricity, wifi are generally included in the rental. Students in smaller cities where accommodation is in walking/biking distance transport costs tend to be significantly smaller.

How to apply

Application deadline:

January 1, 2025

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Possible Entry Points:

  • year 1 (Default entry point)
  • year 2
  • year 3

University Rankings

Positions of University of Portsmouth in top UK and global rankings.

See all 31 university rankings of University of Portsmouth

About University of Portsmouth

The University of Portsmouth is located on the United Kingdom’s only island city, Portsmouth. This public university, which was previously known as Portsmouth Polytechnic, forms part of the University Alliance, an organisation whose aim is to promote growth and innovation in the UK by putting an emphasis on links with business and industry.

List of 234 Bachelor and Master Courses from University of Portsmouth - Course Catalogue

Student composition of University of Portsmouth

undergraduates:
18085
postgraduates:
5005
Total:
23090
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Where is this programme taught

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