BA (Hons) Animation will inspire and capture your imagination, balancing the fundamental principles of animation and design with cutting edge processes. We embrace creativity in all aspects of the course, exploring innovative methods of moving image creation using artistry and storytelling to attract new audiences.
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Why study with us
Explore core animation and compositing techniques in Year One then begin to specialise in Years Two and Three within digital 2D and stop motion with potential to utilise digital 3D.
Gain understanding of the principles of animation: dynamics; character design; storyboarding; animatic production; animation production; sound design; skills of observation and life drawing; acting for animators; editing; compositing; and showreel and portfolio design.
Develop an understanding of visual/film language components such as character analysis, narrative structure, design, colour, and composition.
Work in relation to sustainability, diversity and global contexts; question how the work you create, and the methods you use, can be used to make a difference to others.
Explore your chosen areas of specialisation and develop your skills, with the potential to combine techniques alongside opportunities to collaborate within the course and beyond.
Engage with industry professionals through portfolio reviews, set briefs, studio visits, and our contemporary industry lecture series. You’ll also hear from recent graduates sharing their inspiring early-career journeys.
Develop critical creative thinking skills through your course practice and expanded opportunities to engage with thought provoking lectures (VC talks), cross university activities (Interchange), and specialism linked essay tasks.
Coursedetails
Integrated Foundation Year (optional)
Our Integrated Foundation Year is designed to equip students with the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive in their chosen degree subject. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to various disciplines, blending critical thinking and creative problem-solving with practical hands-on experience. This year serves as a bridge to undergraduate studies, allowing students to explore their interests within a supportive and inspiring environment, while familiarising themselves with the campus, workshops, and tutors.
This unit will introduce you to the fundamentals that underpin all areas of animation and visual effects. You’ll work in 2D drawn animation, 3D computer animation, and visual effects. Through hands on projects, you will cover a range of key production areas, including the principles of animation, ideation and concept development, drawing fundamentals and image manipulation. You’ll attend sessions on character design, film language and storytelling, the principles of animation, and an introduction to digital imaging and compositing software.
40 credits
Explore and Experiment (80 credits)
In this unit you will explore and experiment with techniques, materials and media. You’ll build your knowledge of the animation pipeline and explore underpinning skills in drawing, design and techniques of film language, narrative structures and visual storytelling. You’ll consider the practical, conceptual, and theoretical pathways open to you as an animator and learn to use industry-standard software to support all areas of your work. You will bring animated characters and scenes to life, working from initial concept to final outcome, exploring skills in 2D, CG and stop motion character animation, CG modelling and digital compositing.
80 credits
Core Projects
Wayfinding Week
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
Make it Manifest(o)
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange Week
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Year 2
Core Units
Global Contexts (80 credits)
This unit will enable you to expand your specialist knowledge and skills, taking you to the next level in your creative development. You will have the opportunity to improve your skills through software workshops, story art, and sound design. This will be done through project briefs that emulate a professional studio environment and challenge your visual language, narrative, evaluation, and problem-solving knowledge. You’ll explore materials and processes, including advanced character design workshops in puppet making, 2D puppet animation, and CG modelling and rigging. You’ll be encouraged to consider various contexts and audiences for your work, with sessions on pitching, personal branding, and marketing strategies.
80 credits
Collaboration (40 credits)
This unit focuses on how you work with your peers, or for a real-world client, to take ideas from concept to final presentation through stages of an industry-style production pipeline. This collaborative learning experience will expose you to a range of new processes and approaches that will develop your creative thinking. As the unit progresses, you will cover production pipeline processes, scheduling, casting and the management of contracts, clearances, and crediting work. Focusing on work-based learning, this unit will help you to consider your future career goals and the steps you need to take to achieve them. You’ll also be introduced to essential tools for professional presentations through tutorials and workshops.
40 credits
Core Projects
Wayfinding Week
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
Make it Manifest(o)
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange Week
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Diploma Year (optional)
Level 5 Diploma (120 credits)
Students have the opportunity to spend a year after the second of their degree (or the third year if studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year) enhancing their employability options through a Level 5 Diploma. They can choose from courses designed to provide:
opportunities to gain industry insight, developing employability skills through a series of supported experiences, expanding professional networks and building confidence in the workplace, or
an introduction to creative computing, building an understanding of how coding skills can be used to advance and complement creative practice.
This unit aims to enhance your animation skills by integrating practical and theoretical components, preparing you for the industry. Weekly briefings and meetings with tutors provide guidance and progress check-ups, while creative workshops cover narrative building, performance animation, and fabrication tools. You will explore specific job roles in the industry and engage with sessions on how to present yourself professionally, such as CV’s and personal websites. You’ll gain hands-on experience that lets you connect with people in the animation industry and other creative fields, setting you up for success in your future career.
40 credits
Resolution and Career Development (80 credits)
Your final unit allows you to research, conceptualise and create a self-initiated final-year project(s), building on the skills, knowledge and understanding you have gathered throughout the programme. This gives you a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in an aspect of animation you are most passionate about and enthuse others with your expert knowledge, skills and perspective. You will focus on your creative ambitions and develop a strategy for becoming a professional creative. You’ll be able to participate in competitions, attend conferences, and meet visiting professionals. You will focus on building a unique portfolio that reflects the skills you have to offer, setting you up for a successful career in the industry.
80 credits
Core Projects
Wayfinding Week
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
Make it Manifest(o)
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange Week
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Assessment for this course is entirely coursework-based, meaning there are no exams. Your progress will be evaluated through the projects and assignments you complete for each unit. Throughout the year, you’ll receive ongoing feedback to help you refine your work and develop your skills. To support your learning and ensure you achieve the course outcomes, we use a variety of assessment methods, including:
Look around our city-centre campus, and you will find studios, media labs, and creative spaces in 13 buildings that sit among the cafés, bars, independent galleries and shops of Norwich’s cultural quarter.
The UK’s creative sector is thriving, contributing £111.7 billion annually to the economy and offering over 2 million jobs.
Employability and career development are integral to every unit of our courses, ensuring students are well-prepared for the industry. Our students go on to secure exciting roles, launch successful businesses, and make a lasting impact in many sectors worldwide.
From day one, you’ll also get specialist career advice from our Business and Employability Team to help support you as you plan your career.
Typical career paths
In your final year, you’ll produce a personal portfolio of your specialist skills and develop an original animated film or showreel, getting you career-ready after uni. Our graduates have gained internships at Oscar-winning studios like Aardman Animations, Agile Studios or worked on blockbuster animated movies like Pokémon Detective Pikachu. They’ve also gone on to secure jobs at Lupus Films, Blue Zoo, Meantime Media, and more.
Animator
Storyboard Artist
Producer
Production designer
Concept artist
Motion artist
Editor
Art Director
Director of Photography
Compositor
Character Designer
Layout Artist
Prop Designer
Set Designer
Modeller
Illustrator
92% of our graduates are in employment or further education within six months of graduating”
Graduate Outcomes 2021
Entry requirements
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications.
GCE A/AS Levels 3 A-level qualifications at grades BCC (104 UCAS Tariff points) or above. Where candidates are not taking 3 A-levels, Norwich University of the Arts will consider combinations of A-level/AS-level and other Level 3 qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Distinction* in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
A T Level in any subject with overall grade A* to C (Pass)
UAL Extended Diploma
Merit
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 26 points
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications.
GCE A/AS Levels 2 A-level qualifications at grades CC (64 UCAS Tariff points) or above.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Merit, Merit, Pass in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
Pass (D or E on the core)
UAL Extended Diploma
Pass
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 26 points
We accept qualifications from all over the world.
To find our entry requirements from a specific country, please check our dedicated international pages.
English language qualifications
Most international students are required to hold an English language qualification. Applicants are required to have a minimum UKVI approved IELTS exam score of 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each section. Equivalent English language qualifications are acceptable such as, IB English language syllabus A or B/English Literature (Grade 4).
Portfolios should show examples of your work — both finished and work in progress — that demonstrate your interests and skills. Your portfolio should be made up of work that reflects your creativity, personal interests and influences, as well as demonstrating your technical skills and ability. It doesn’t have to be perfect as we can assess your potential from your work in progress.
Your portfolio should be relevant to this course, but you can include a wide range of work that shows your creativity, technical competence and understanding of storytelling.
Integrated Foundation Year (optional): £9,535 per year
Level 5 Diploma Year (optional): £9,535 year
The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you’re classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Fees for subsequent years
Tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with inflation, subject to government regulations. The inflation rate used is expected to be the Retail Price Index excluding mortgage payments (RPIX). We would confirm this in advance to you of each academic year.
Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for a bursary, scholarship or loan to help fund your study and enhance your learning experience.
Additional Costs
Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert employability team, access to workshops and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses. There are also other costs which you may need to consider.
Tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year:
BA course (three year): £18,500
Integrated Foundation Year (optional): £18,500
level 5 Diploma year (optional): £18,500
The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you’re classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Fees for subsequent years
For Overseas students starting in 2025 inflation will be applied to your fees in later years. We will confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we will limit the increase to no more than the Office for Students’ recommended inflationary measure.
Please take a look at our International students page for information about fees, scholarships for international students, visas and much more.
Additional Costs
Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert employability team, access to workshops and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses. There are also other costs which you may need to consider.
All applications for undergraduate courses will need to be made via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
You’ll need our university UCAS code (N39) as well as your course code which you’ll find on your course page.
When you register with UCAS you will need include your previous and current qualifications information, personal statement, and reference.
Once we receive your application form through UCAS, we will email confirmation that we have received it and will give you access and instructions for logging into the applicant portal. Our decision will be communicated via UCAS.
Full-time Undergraduate International applicants can either apply via UCAS or directly by completing the online application form below or emailing the downloadable form to ioadmissions@norwichuni.ac.uk
“My highlight of University has definitely been the work opportunities I have taken part in. I can’t express enough how important work experience is for professional development, and the fact that the Uni has so many jobs for students is fantastic.”
Celebrating award-winning student work at our Undergrad Festival – and beyond
BA Animation •
This summer saw the launch of the University’s new Sustainability Awards, alongside nominations for Norwich students for a range of high-profile industry awards.