BA (Hons) Animation is a practice-led course, where you will develop animation, production, concept art and storytelling skills. You will be encouraged to explore hand-rendered, digital and sculptural productions to tell engaging stories.
You will learn, explore and develop industry standard practices and software to meet the demands of the animation, production and concept art industry.
We pride ourselves on providing a welcoming and creative learning environment where students, due to our small class sizes, have continuous access and support from their tutors. Students enjoy the opportunity and freedom to direct a lot of their learning especially when it comes to materials, techniques and concept art, developing their own style and independence.
Year one (Level 4) units.
Your first year provides an interdisciplinary approach to animation, with a broad, practical and theoretical grounding in digital media production techniques. The focus of the first year is to develop foundation skills in 2D, stop motion and 3D animation. You will develop a number of short experimental animations which will develop your understanding of industry standard software packages, animation techniques and storytelling. You will also work on a complete animation production, applying the skills learnt and refining your technique. These modules will help you to develop an awareness of animation and its uses in the context of contemporary society as you acquire skills in communication, presentation, teamwork, problem-solving, leadership and project management. Production 1 and other material will be displayed in an end of year show.
AN101 Theory as Practice 1
AN102 Animation & Art Fundamentals
AN103 Storytelling
AN104 Pre-Production 1
AN105 Production 1
Year two (Level 5) units.
The second year focuses in on specialist modules to build upon the broad practical and theoretical knowledge gained in year one. The focus is on skills-based and professional practices, alongside working with external clients on live projects. Your skills will be expanded in a variety of contexts, for differing media and audiences in all genres of animation practice. Additionally, you will be able to explore career development opportunities in animation and the creative industries.
AN201 Theory as Practice 2
AN202 Creative Industry Practices
AN203 Performance & VFX
AN204 Pre-Production 2 AN205 Production 2
Year three (Level 6) units.
The third year of the programme will allow you to apply the skills and ideas you have developed in the previous two years to your own practice. The focus is on developing independent ventures, supporting a degree project (AN303 Pre-Production 3 and AN304 Production 3) and dissertation (AN301 Theory as Practice 3) as the culmination of your practical and theoretical learning. You will complete a substantial piece of animation work to help you gain employment or further academic study opportunities. You will produce a professional animation portfolio that is to be supported by advanced research into critical theory and the work of contemporary practitioners. The professional practice module supports your transfer into employment or higher study.
AN301 Theory as Practice 3
AN302 Creative Industry Brief
AN303 Pre-Production 3
AN304 Production 3
Coursework is assessed in the following ways a range of different ways in order to accommodate a variety of learning styles and aptitudes including:
• Practical Portfolio and/or sketchbook
• Solo/Group Presentations (These will be recorded)
• Written Essays
• Research Portfolios
Canvas is integrated into the deadline structure of the course with all assignments submitted to the platform. Any optional physical extras can be handed in via the designated hand in areas. This is in order to provide the most amount of choice for our students and prepare them for this ever changing and expanding technological landscape.
There are no examinations on this course.
Year 1
100% coursework: 88% Studio based with a written element 12%
Year 2
100% coursework: 88% Studio based with a written element 12%
Year 3
100% coursework: 75% Studio based with a written element 25%
This course is available in Clearing. If you have submitted an application, you can add this course. If you haven’t sent us an application yet, you can do this until 24th September 2026.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
University Centre South Essex has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6 | IELTS 6.0 - minimum 5.5 across all components. |
This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).
It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.
Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
This report uses your grades to show how students with similar results have done when applying to this course in the past. Sometimes, there isn’t data for every possible set of grades. When that happens, universities and colleges occasionally fill in the gaps for sets of grades that are typically accepted.
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* This is a provisional fee and subject to change.
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.
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Email:headmissions@southessex.ac.uk
Phone:01702 220688
Email:HEadmissions@southessex.ac.uk
Phone:01702 220688
Fax: 01702 432320
Luker Road
Southend
SS1 1ND
At University Centre South Essex
