University for the Creative Arts
Falkner Road
Farnham
GU9 7DS
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Course contact details
Enquiries
Email:enquiries@uca.ac.uk
Phone:01252 918291
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Games Design (with Professional Practice Year)
- BA (Hons)
- 4 Years
- Full-time with year in industry
- 15/09/2025
- Undergraduate
- Farnham
Course summary
Learn how to shape and enhance a player's gaming experience and fully develop exciting ideas on our holistic BA (Hons) Games Design degree course at UCA Farnham.
The role of the games designer is central to the development of any game – it's designers that create the rules, systems and mechanics that form the centre of any gaming experience. You’ll learn to prototype games using games engines, develop design documentation, conduct research, and create experiences. This course is all about developing your ideas, nurturing your creativity, and giving you the skills to make your concepts a reality.
You’ll be supported along the way by a team of lecturers with a wealth of industry experience at AAA games studios, and, since the course is aligned to the most prestigious developers and publishers, you’ll be fully prepared to start your career right after graduation.
Related courses
-
BA (Hons) Comic & Concept Art (with Professional Practice Year)
-
BA (Hons) Games Animation (with Professional Practice Year)
-
BA (Hons) Games Arts (with Professional Practice Year)
-
BSc (Hons) Games Development (with Professional Practice Year)
Modules
Year 1 takes you through the fundamental indie game design processes and introduces technical foundations of design and programming as well as planning. Theoretical units give you a critical and conceptual understanding of your discipline. Year 2 builds on your planning, design and prototyping skills. Approaches to entrepreneurial practice introduced. Theoretical units continue. Study abroad is an option. Year 3 introduces the economics and management of the industry as well as copyright, patents and legal concerns. You will work as part of a team to produce a prototype game. You will write a practice-based dissertation.
Ways to study this course
Campuses
- Farnham
Study options
- BA (Hons) • Full-time with year in industry • 4 Years
Start dates
- 15/09/2025
Apply by
29 January
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
Application codes
- Course code:
- I621
- Institution code:
- C93
- Campus name:
- Farnham
- Campus Code:
- F
- Points of Entry:
- Year 1, 2
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
University for the Creative Arts 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?
How to apply
Apply by
29 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:
- I621
- Institution code:
- C93
- Campus name:
- Farnham
- Campus Code:
- F
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
- Year 2
Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)
This course considers applicants for direct entry into year two. To enter directly into year two, you’ll need to have studied 120 credits in a similar subject area or have work experience equivalent to one year of study. Contact us to discuss your options: admissions@uca.ac.uk or 01252 416110
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - 32 - 168 points
We consider the strength of our applicants’ portfolios as well as their grades and we therefore may make offers which are lower than our standard entry criteria of 112 tariff points. This may be to students who have faced difficulties that have affected their performance and who were expected to achieve higher results - in these cases, a strong portfolio is especially important.
We regularly admit students with a tariff much higher than our standard 112 requirement, and applicants who show potential but aren’t quite at the stage to be able to succeed on the course are offered a 4 year degree with an integrated foundation year which has a standard entry requirement of 32 tariff points.
A level
112 UCAS tariff points from A-Level qualifications. As this course requires a portfolio review, you are not required to have a Art and Design-related subject.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DMM
112 UCAS tariff points from BTEC Extended Diploma qualification. As this course requires a portfolio review, you are not required to have a Art and Design-related subject.
Access to HE Diploma
112 UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma. As this course requires a portfolio review, you are not required to have a Art and Design-related subject.
Scottish Higher
112 UCAS tariff points from Scottish Higher qualifications. As this course requires a portfolio review, you are not required to have a Art and Design-related subject.
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF) - DMM
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 27 points
27 total points in the International Baccalaureate Diploma with at least 15 IB points at Higher level. As this course requires a portfolio review, you are not required to have a Art and Design-related subject.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
In addition to 112 UCAS tariff points, you also required to achieve a minimum of 4 GCSES, grade 4/C or above, including English Language.
T Level - Pass (C and above)
Minimum Pass at C or above. As this course requires a portfolio review, you are not required to have a Art and Design-related subject.
For further information on how to apply to UCA: https://www.uca.ac.uk/study-at-uca/applying-to-uca/
Find out more about qualification requirements for this course.
Additional entry requirements
- Portfolio
- We’ll need to see your portfolio for review. We’ll invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person, meet the course team and learn more about your course. Further information will be provided once you have applied.
English language requirements
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6 | Listening 5.5, Reading 5.5, Speaking 5.5, Writing 5.5 |
We require evidence of your English language ability to meet the requirements for your course.
If you're a Home student and studied in the UK, we require GCSE English at a minimum grade C/4 (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).
If you’re an EU student and studied a European qualification, we may accept the English Language score from your main qualification - please review your country from the list on our website to see whether we will accept it: https://www.uca.ac.uk/international-study/equivalent-qualifications/ If your qualification is not on this list, we accept the following English language qualifications: IELTS (overall score 6.0), TOEFL ibt (overall score 88), PEARSON PTE Academic (overall 55), Cambridge Proficiency Exam (overall score 169), Cambridge Advanced Exam (overall score 169).
If you need a Tier 4 student visa to study in the UK, you will need to take an IELTS test, and achieve an overall score of 6.0 and a minimum score of 5.5 for each element (Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing).
For more information on English Language Requirements, please visit our website: https://www.uca.ac.uk/International-study/language-requirements-support/
Contextual admissions
Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.
UCA is a place for creativity, ingenuity, and personality. We always consider the strength of an applicant's portfolio / audition as well as their grades and may make offers lower than our standard entry criteria to applicants with strong portfolios. We also make lower offers to students with mitigating circumstances or who have faced difficulties.
You shouldn’t be deterred from applying if your predicted grades are lower than the range we’ve accepted in the past.
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.
Not enough data available
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| EU | £17500 | Year 1 |
| International | £17500 | 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
NOTE: Fees for the Professional Practice Year (which is taken between the second and third year of the course) are set at no more than 20% of standard course fees. As a guide, for the 2025/26 academic year, Professional Practice Year fees will be £1,900.
If you are classified as a Home student and qualify for the government-regulated undergraduate tuition fee, you will be charged a single tuition fee for each academic year. Our policy is to charge the maximum regulated fee. To reflect increased costs of delivery and maintain a high-quality student experience, we will therefore increase fees in line with any uplift determined by the UK Government by law or government policy in the second and subsequent years of your course. Such increases are usually linked to inflation and determined using RPIX (the Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments).
For all other students, your tuition fees may increase in the second and subsequent years of your course. Any increase in fees will be in line with inflation as measured by the RPIX but in any event by not more than 5%.
We will notify you of any fee increase by no later than July before the start of the next academic year.
For further information on fees, please go to: https://www.uca.ac.uk/study-at-uca/fees-finance/undergraduate/
Sponsorship information
At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.
Further details can be found via our Scholarships page: https://www.uca.ac.uk/study-at-uca/scholarships/
and our Financial Support page: https://www.uca.ac.uk/study-at-uca/fees-finance/financial-support/
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