Course summary

This course follows the same specifications as our three-year BA (Hons) Film, TV & Games Music degree, but the extra Foundation Year will allow you to gain the essential musical and theoretical skills you'll need to study classical music at university level. Our BA (Hons) Film, TV and Games Music degree is for aspiring composers, producers, and storytellers who want to shape the emotional core of film, TV, animation, and games. Designed with the screen industries in mind, this hands-on course combines composition and cutting-edge music production training with deep artistic exploration and real-world experience. You’ll compose for real film, television, animation and gaming briefs, learning how music drives narrative, builds atmosphere and elevates storytelling. Across core modules, you’ll master orchestration, digital audio workstations (DAWs), adaptive music techniques for games, and recording with live ensembles. Alongside your creative practice, you'll gain an understanding of music business, freelancing, and industry workflow – equipping you for a career as a professional screen composer. From scoring across the full range of genres in Film, TV and Games, you’ll develop a diverse, industry-ready portfolio. Modules like Music for the Moving Image, Aesthetics and the Meaning of Film, and Music for Video Games help you blend theory with practice – giving your compositions the emotional depth and technical polish they need to shine. Throughout the course, you’ll collaborate with filmmakers, animators, and game designers, and benefit from masterclasses, guest lectures, and links with production companies, festivals and gaming studios. This is a degree for the next generation of screen composers – adaptable, original, and ready to make a mark in the UK’s booming creative industries. The Foundation Year modules provide a comprehensive introduction to composing and producing music for film, TV, and video games. You’ll develop core skills in composition, music theory, and production using digital audio workstations, while learning how music shapes narrative and emotion in visual media. Through lectures, seminars, and guided composition sessions, you'll explore key techniques for scoring, collaborate with peers, and build a solid creative and technical foundation. As the year progresses, you'll refine your compositional voice, deepen your understanding of orchestration and storytelling, and tackle more complex scoring challenges. You’ll analyse a broad range of screen music and apply advanced techniques in both composition and production, preparing you for further study. On completion of the Foundation Year, you'll continue to Year 1 of the BA (Hons) Film, TV & Games Music degree.