Ulster University
Cromore Road
Coleraine
BT52 1SA
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Course contact details
Admissions Office
Email:admissions@ulster.ac.uk
Phone:02895367890
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Course summary
Animation has become in integral part of the film, television, games and design industries – from Jurassic Park to Avatar, Angry Birds to Call of Duty, Xbox to mobile. The field of animation has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. With new distribution methods and technologies, your work will have many paths to reach a worldwide audience.
During the course you will study drawing, the principles of animation and design, storytelling and narrative, design and the history, practice and theory of screen production. You will gain an understanding of creative and technical process using industry standard software in order to create interactive designs and computer animations.
As animation is a highly collaborative environment you will learn the principles and practices through teamwork, while developing your individual professional practice. The course enables you to enter the industry with a range of exciting and rapidly evolving platforms as well as facilitating numerous opportunities for employment in a rapidly growing area at an international level.
This course aims to provide you with specialist knowledge and skills necessary to develop and adapt your chosen career in the diverse creative practices associated with animation. The course aims to contribute, through the education of its students as adaptive and resilient designers, writers and thinkers, to the local, national and international practice of design in its current and future forms.
Please note: The course is currently being revalidated and the content is subject to change. Please get in touch with the course team or the admissions team for further information.
Foundation Year
A foundation diploma year gives you the opportunity to explore a range of art and design approaches and disciplines to help you choose your undergraduate specialism.
Find out about our Foundation Year
How to apply
This course is not accepting applications at this time. Please contact the provider to find out more.
Apply by
14 January
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:
- WW26
- Institution code:
- U20
- Campus name:
- Belfast
- Campus Code:
- B
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - Not accepted
A level - BCC
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DMM
We will also accept smaller BTEC/OCR qualifications (i.e. Diploma or Extended Certificate / Introductory Diploma / Subsidiary Diploma) in combination with A Levels or other acceptable level 3 qualifications.
To find out if the qualification you are applying with is a qualification we accept for entry, please check our Qualification Checker - https://www.ulster.ac.uk/study/entrance-requirements/equivalence
We will also continue to accept QCF versions of these qualifications although grades asked for may differ. Check what grades you will be asked for by comparing the requirements above with the information under QCF in the Applied General and Tech Level Qualifications section of our Entry Requirements - https://www.ulster.ac.uk/study/entrance-requirements/undergraduate-entry-requirements
Access to HE Diploma
Overall profile of 60% (120 credit Access Course) (NI Access Course)
Overall profile of 12 credits at Distinction, 30 credits at Merit and 3 credits at Pass (60 credit Access Course) (GB Access Course)
Scottish Higher - BCCCC
Scottish Advanced Higher - CDD
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 24 points
Overall profile is minimum 24 points (including 12 at higher level).
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
104 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English at H6 if studied at Higher level or O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
For full-time study, you must satisfy the General Entrance Requirements for admission to a first-degree course and hold a GCSE pass at Grade C/4 or above in English Language.
Level 2 Certificate in Essential Skills - Communication will be accepted as equivalent to GCSE English.
English language requirements for international applicants
The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.
Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.
Submission of a satisfactory portfolio.
We look at the portfolio as a body of work that can take many forms including but not limited to your digital images, 3D files, games development and movies. What we are looking for are examples of your work that best demonstrate your suitability to the field of animation. We see many great examples of finished work and we want to see more, but we are really interested in the way you got there, your creative processes, sketchbooks and works in progress. Put your best work first.
While a formal qualification in Art & Design will not be required, an interest in art and design in general will be expected. Applicants MAY be interviewed prior to entry. For Animation the portfolio requirement is somewhat different to other Art & Design subjects. Many of our applicants and students are working with a wide range of 2D & 3D digital media, traditional media, technical design and computer sciences.
Acceptable alternative qualifications include:
Pass HND with overall Merit to include 30 distinctions in level 5 credits/units may be specified.
Pass HNC with overall Distinction to include 60 distinctions in level 4 credits/units may be specified.
You may also meet the course entry requirements with combinations of different qualifications to the same standard as recognised by the University (provided subject requirements as noted above are met).
Additional entry requirements
- Portfolio
- Applicants to this course will be required to submit a portfolio.
Historical entry grades data BETA
This section shows the range of grades students (with UK A-Levels or Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diplomas) who received offers were previously accepted 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.
- Data from:
- This course and 5 other computer science courses
- Date range:
- 2022-2024
Grades held by accepted students
- AAA
- Highest grades
- CDD
- Lowest grades
Offer rate for UK school & college leavers
Students aged 17/18 who applied to this course were offered a place.
How do you compare?
See how students with your grades have been accepted onto this course in the past.
Student Outcomes
Operated by the Office for Students
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
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
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|---|---|
| EU | £17490 | Year 1 |
| International | £17490 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £4855* | Year 1 |
| Republic of Ireland | £4855* | Year 1 |
| England | £9535* | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £9535* | Year 1 |
| Wales | £9535* | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £9535* | Year 1 |
* 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.
Additional fee information
Please note that fees for Home and GB for 2026/27 have not yet been set by Department for the Employment in NI and will be subject to an inflationary increase from 2025/26.
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