Course summary
This is a Connected Degree Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course. Overview 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
- animators
- concept artists
- directors
- compositors
- creative directors
- art directors
- modellers
- user interface (UI) designers
- post-production technical directors
- Climax
- Framestore
- The Mill
- Sony Pictures Animation
- Kuju Games
- Centroid 3d in Pinewood Studios
- Cartoon Network
- Avatar
- Life of Pi
- Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland
- The Amazing World of Gumball
Modules
Year 1 Core modules in this year include:
- Introduction to 2D Animation (20 credits)
- Introduction to 3D Animation (20 credits)
- Introduction to Visual Research for Animation (20 credits)
- Modelling for Animation & VFX (20 credits)
- Narrative (20 credits)
- Signs and Meaning in Animation (20 credits)
- Animation Group Project: Introduction (20 credits)
- Animation Group Project: Production (20 credits)
- Experimental Animation (20 credits)
- History and Theory of Animation (20 credits)
- Engaged Citizenship Through Interdisciplinary Practice (20 credits)
- Intermediate 2D Animation (20 credits)
- Intermediate 3D Animation (20 credits)
- Professional Experience (20 credits)
- Real-Time Animation and Vfx Project (20 credits)
- Sound and Visualisation (20 credits)
- Student Enterprise (20 credits)
- Visual Effects (20 credits)
- Employment Preparation (20 credits)
- Major Project: Part 1 (20 credits)
- Major Project: Part 2 (20 credits)
- Written Project (20 credits)
- Advanced 2D Animation (20 credits)
- Advanced 3D Animation (20 credits)
- Advanced Pre-Production Methods (20 credits)
- Advanced Visual Effects (20 credits)
- Intermediate Visual Effects (20 credits)
- Motion Capture Applications (20 credits)
Assessment method
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.
Professional bodies
Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.
- The Joint Audio Media Education Services
How to apply
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:
- W615
- Institution code:
- P80
- Campus name:
- Main Site
- Campus code:
- -
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)
We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.
This course may be available at alternative locations, please check if other course options are available
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - 112 - 120 points
A level - BBB - BBC
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DDM - DMM
Access to HE Diploma
Scottish Higher
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 25 points
Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017) - H3, H3, H3, H3, H4 - H3, H3, H3, H3, H3
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
GCSE/National 4/National 5
T Level - M
Additional entry requirements
Portfolio
All applicants will be asked to provide a digital portfolio of work.
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 | Pass | Trinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components |
Student Outcomes
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
EU | £9535 | Year 1 |
England | £9535 | Year 1 |
Northern Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
Scotland | £9535 | Year 1 |
Wales | £9535 | Year 1 |
Channel Islands | £9535 | Year 1 |
Republic of Ireland | £9535 | Year 1 |
International | £17900 | 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
Provider information
University of Portsmouth
University House
Winston Churchill Avenue
Portsmouth
PO1 2UP