Games Design BA (Hons)
Games Design BA is a course created to give you the opportunity to develop the skills...
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UCAS Code
BA: I630
BA with Foundation: I631
Level
UndergraduateUG BA (Hons)
Duration
Full Time: 3 years
Full Time Foundation: 4 years
Part Time: 4 - 5 years
Starting
September
BCC at A Level or,
DMM at BTEC
Full Time: £9,250
Part Time: £1,540 (per 20 credits)
Integrated Foundation Year: £9,250
Full Time: £15,200
Integrated Foundation Year: £15,200
Waterside
Updated 23/09/2024
Updated 23/09/2024
For questions regarding study and admissions please contact us:
study@northampton.ac.uk
0300 303 2772
The University of Northampton’s Games Art BA (Hons) degree programme focuses on the visual side of the video game industry, including specialist areas such as concept art, UI, 3D modelling, environment and character design. You will be introduced to the key points in the creative process, from initial concepting through to the production of final assets, as well as the technical skills required to implement these into a working video game.
The Games Art programme has a collaborative group project module with our Games Design and Games Programming courses, so students on the Games Art course can work with programmers and designers to produce commercial quality games.
The University is a member of the Unreal Academic Partner Program.
Student using a virtual reality headset, as part of their class work during Animation or Games.
Class session, where academic is teaching class about animations with a visual demonstration.
Students use a mixture of software including touch screens for their design work.
Academic talking to three students during a class session, using the computers and real work for discussion
Example of the computer suites for Game and Animation courses.
Example of the type of academic and group discussion that takes place in Animation and Games classes
A typical offer for the BA Games Art degree is:
All selected applicants will be invited for a portfolio review and discussion.
We welcome applications from students with a mix of A levels and BTEC/Cambridge Technical qualifications.
For more information on how to make an application, please visit our How to Apply page.
If you are an International student and would like information on making an application, please see our How to Apply page.
Admission to this foundation course is normally:
However, we would also like to hear from you if you have professional or industry experience instead, a range of other qualifications or self-developed subject knowledge that relates to the course you wish to study.
All International and EU students applying for a course with the University of Northampton must meet the following minimum English language requirements:
For information regarding English language requirements at the University, please see our IELTS page.
Our annual Changing Futures Week is an exciting event and an excellent opportunity for our students to explore the potential of their course and understand where their university experience can lead them beyond graduation. It offers a unique chance to network with high profile industry professionals from the arts, TV, film, fashion and more.
On this Games Art BA (Hons) course, you will focus on the production of professional standard art assets for video game development, but you will also be exposed to the whole life cycle of game production from the initial ideas process, through testing and iteration stages, to the final release stage. Students in this game art degree will work with programmers and designers from the Games Programming BSc (Hons) and Games Design BA (Hons) courses to ensure you understand the requirements of games development for specific platforms and markets.
We will give you the creative skills, technical software skills and industry knowledge about gaming art, required by leading games developers. You will produce a personal portfolio of your work to reflect industry and professional practice needs, informed by historical and contemporary references as well as cultural and social contexts. Take a look at some of our past Games Art students’ work on YouTube.
Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 24/25. The modules relating to the academic year 25/26 will be available from June 2025.
At the University of Northampton, everything we do, from funded trips to paid internships, is to give you everything you need to make a difference when you leave.
If you join this full time Games Art degree at Northampton, you will receive a laptop when your course begins*. The laptops are built to a bespoke custom specification ideal for use in the seminar room, collaborative group work or studying at home for game art courses.
Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills about gaming art you’re learning during your games art course, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd. We’ve created the Northampton Employment Promise because we are so confident that if you focus on your studies and complete one of our awards you’ll be highly employable by the time you graduate. Putting you in a great position to secure employment or continue your studies.
To check out the full list of perks, visit our Student Perks page or dedicated International Perks page.
*UK fee payers only (see Terms and Conditions for further details).
The Integrated Foundation Year (IFY) offers a new and exciting route into studying for a degree, attracting ambitious and driven students who are willing to learn and advance.
If you have non-standard qualifications or do not quite meet the admissions requirements we can offer you a fantastic opportunity to study a four year programme which includes an Integrated Foundation Year. The Integrated Foundation Year will help you develop the theoretical/practical and academic skills you need, in order to successfully progress to the full award.
Our four-year courses will enable you to successfully follow the degree pathway of your choice while gaining essential study skills. The foundation year of your chosen degree will be studied on a full-time basis and is aimed at supporting the transition to higher education. Years two, three and four are then studied as a standard degree programme.
Your teaching will take the form of practical activities, group work, assignments, seminars and written assessments around games art.
Assessment on the games art degree is a mixture of studio based design projects (continual assessment), portfolio development, and written assignments. At each stage, there will also be a joint group project with students from the Games Design BA (Hons) course, resulting in a fully developed game.
"My ambition is to immerse myself in the game industry as a game writer, driven by my profound passion for story-driven games." - Elisa-
Fees quoted relate to study on the games art degree in the Academic Year 24/25 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.
For information on the scholarships available to you, please see our scholarships page.
For more information about possible funding options, please visit our Fees and Funding pages.
Materials for workshops and for master classes, entry to competitions associated with your programme of study, and those visits that are necessary for your course are all made available at no additional charge.
You will be expected to have a basic drawing kit for the start of the course, including a sketchbook, pencils, pens etc. A complete kit list will be supplied before the start of the course, which will cost approximately £20 in total. In addition we expect that you have a large portable storage device to save your work to. This could either be a USB memory stick or portable hard drive. A 64GB USB memory stick will cost from around £15. All submissions of work are required to be done via DVD. We have 6 DVD submissions a year so we advise you to buy a spindle of 10 DVDs before the first submission in December, which will cost around £4.
This course will give you all the skills and experience you need to find work in the broad field of games design and games art.
Previous games art students have gone on to work at:
You may also be able to secure work in areas such as animation, architectural visualisation, visual effects, and model-making for film and TV.
Specialist features include:
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