Skip navigation
Animation at Nottingham Trent University - UCAS

Course options

Course summary

The UK's animation industry is a global success, so there's never been a better time to start your career in this field. As an ambitious storyteller and creative thinker, you’ll explore all aspects of 2D and 3D animation on this innovative degree course. We'll equip you with the critical and technical skills required to become an animator, engaging in every aspect of animation production while gaining knowledge of animation history and context. The course provides a creative and disciplined environment to explore the visual and narrative aspects of this dynamic art form. Supported by the contextual study of animation, you’ll have the opportunity to express yourself as an animation artist in preparation for this vibrant, demanding and forever-changing creative field. You’ll explore the different areas of animation through studio practice, academic research, and independent study. By the end of the course, you’ll have developed project work and films that build into a professional showreel tailored to your own career aspirations, ready to launch your career. Key features

  • Collaborate on live projects: You’ll have the opportunity to complete a work experience placement of up to a year in length. Dependent on the duration of your placement, you could gain an additional Diploma or Certificate in Professional Practice.
  • Learn from experts in animation: Study a wide range of disciplines from experts in drawing for animation, storyboarding, 2D and 3D character animation, experimental animation, visual development, previs, lookdev, story development, production, and direction.
  • Gain professional skills through real-world work: Develop your professional skills through self-initiated work experience placements, industry competitions, collaborations with organisations and guest lectures.
  • Showcase your work: You’ll have the chance to showcase your work to industry professionals and, if selected, at international festivals like Annecy International Animated Film Festival, gaining valuable exposure and connections.
Careers and employability Employability is a key focus of this course, with modules including initiatives such as live projects and trips, and the opportunity to exhibit your work, which will help to raise your profile and enhance your future career. This course will prepare you to work in the digital media field, in areas such as feature film animation, Visual Effects, children’s television, heritage interpretation, advertising, and games production. Recent graduate destinations and roles include:
  • Character Animator, Splash Damage
  • Production Coordinator at Acamar Films
  • 2D Effects Animator at Play n' GO
  • Animator/Producer, Thongkham film, Bangkok
  • 3D Motion Graphics Designer, BritAsia TV
  • Animator, Cloth Cat Animation
  • Layout Artist, Blink Industries, London
  • 2D Animator, Dog Ears!
  • 3D Animator, Random42 Scientific Communication
  • Character Animator at Blue Zoo
  • Background Painter at Lupus Films
  • 2D Animator, Fourth Wall
  • Motion Graphics Designer at Cubaka Studio.
You’ll also develop transferable skills for alternative careers in media, freelance design, illustration, motion graphics, teaching and academia. Facilities You’ll be based in our new Design & Digital Arts Building. Opening for 2024 admission, our new Design & Digital Arts Building will place Nottingham as a UK hub for film, television, animation, UX design, games design, graphic design and more. You'll have access to industry-standard facilities which include a virtual production studio, an in-camera Visual Effects studio and a black box studio, as well as collaborative studio spaces, future technology suites and exhibition spaces.

Modules

Year One

  • Principles of Animation (40 credit points)
  • Animation and VFX Studies (20 credit points)
  • Animation Workflow (40 credit points)
  • Introducing 3D Digital Art (20 credit points)
Year Two
  • Animation Production (40 credit points)
  • Animation Studio (40 credit points)
  • Co Lab: Research, Exploration and Risk-taking (20 credit points)
  • Optional module: You will also choose one optional 20-credit module from:
Storyboarding Character Ideation Experimental Animation Telling Stories Motion Graphics Digital Matte Painting Performance for Motion Capture Open-source 3D Art Final year
  • Animation Specialist Project (60 credit points)
  • Animation Futures (20 credit points)
  • Animation Pre-Production (40 credit points) or;
- Screen Arts Collaboration (40 credit points)


How to apply

Application codes

Course code:
W213
Institution code:
N91
Campus name:
City Campus
Campus code:
1

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

A lower offer may be made based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer and we get data from UCAS to make these decisions. NTU offers a student experience like no other, and this approach helps us to find students who have the potential to succeed here, but may have faced barriers that can make it more difficult to access university. We also consider equivalent qualifications and combinations. Please contact Nottingham Trent University Admissions team for further information.

Additional entry requirements

Portfolio


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

No fee information has been provided for this course

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

Tuition fees for 2026 entry are yet to be confirmed. As a guide and to enable you to plan your finances, the fees for Home undergraduate students for 2025 are £9535 .The current expectation is that the University may increase this for future and subsequent years of study in line with inflation and as specified by the Government.
Animation at Nottingham Trent University - UCAS