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Computer Games at University of Essex - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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University of Essex has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

Course summary

This is a degree in world-making. You craft stories, characters and plot in order to build imaginary worlds that a player can journey through. Our work is driven by creativity and imagination as well as technical excellence; at Essex you master both game design and computer programming, giving you total control over the worlds you want to create. Our course gives you the skills to design and specify complex, non-trivial games through focusing on the following areas:

  • The mechanics of a game, including gameplay elements and the relationship with story
  • The concepts and techniques of computer game programming
  • Real and virtual worlds
  • Artificial intelligence behaviours for non-player characters
  • 2D and 3D graphic effects and game objects (e.g. weapon systems)
At the end of your course, you will be able to create the outline design specification for a computer game of your own design, and to implement a game using industry-standard techniques. Our School is a community of scholars leading the way in technological research and development. Today’s computer scientists are creative people who are focused and committed, yet restless and experimental. We are home to many of the world’s top scientists, and our work is driven by creativity and imagination as well as technical excellence. Both for entertainment and for more serious purposes such as virtual reality training, computer games, gamification and games intelligences are increasingly important in today’s world. Programming at Essex Teaching someone to programme is about opening a door. In your first year at Essex you will study a module that introduces you to programming using Python. We assess your ability to think in a programmatic way in the very first week of term and if you require additional support, we offer classes which will boost your skills and confidence with programming.

Modules

Many of our courses offer a choice of optional modules to tailor your learning experience. More information about these can be found on the University of Essex website.

How to apply

29Jan

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.

Application codes

Course code:
G610
Institution code:
E70
Campus name:
Colchester Campus
Campus code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

At Essex we consider your whole application – not just grades. If you don’t meet the exact grade requirements, you may still be considered. We’re dedicated to helping students from underrepresented groups to access an Essex education. We may give you a Contextual Offer up to two A-Level grades below our standard conditional offer based on where you live, your school, and other details from your application. Involvement in our on-campus events may also support eligibility for a Contextual Offer.

Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course

https://www.essex.ac.uk/undergraduate/applying-to-essex

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
65%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
80%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £9250 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9250 Year 1
Scotland £9250 Year 1
Wales £9250 Year 1
Channel Islands £9250 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9250 Year 1
EU £23850 Year 1
International £23850 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Fees displayed are for the 2025-26 academic year. Fees may increase for each academic intake and each academic year of study.
Computer Games at University of Essex - UCAS