What is our selection process?

After submitting your UCAS application, we may ask you to provide additional information to support your application. We make offers based on the information submitted and meeting the minimum academic requirements for entry onto the course.

Do I need to prepare anything in advance?

What should be in my portfolio?

If we ask for a portfolio, we would like you to submit four of your best pieces of work by email. This can include work you have undertaken as part of a course of study and/or work you have made in your own time.

The work you submit can be games based, animation or work you have done in other media such as still image, graphic design or other interactive media – any work that you feel demonstrates your creative interests and potential.

How should I organise my portfolio?

• if you want to include video based work

For one of your four examples, you may want to submit a video clip of your time based work, whether that is Animation / Game Design / Mixed media for upload to YouTube or Vimeo. Both Vimeo and YouTube will require you to set up an account (which is free to join and use).

YouTube Help
Vimeo Help

When submitting your portfolio by email, the video should be supplied as a URL (along with the password, if password protected).

• if you want to include 2D based work / websites / images or other media

These can either be attached as a file to the email or as a URL linking directly to the work you want to show us. Ensure images are clear and as high resolution as you can send.

Portfolio commentary

In the email, you can include up to 250 words to accompany each piece. (If the description relates to a piece of work sent as an attachment, clearly start the description with the attachment's file name, so we know which one you are describing).

• provide a list, with titles and brief descriptions, of all the samples of work on your show reel and describe your individual contribution to each piece.
• tell us what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the work.
• tell us what has inspired and influenced you in the creation of this work.
• tell us what more you can learn from studying this area and how the work can be improved.

What are we looking for?

Throughout the process, we will be looking for people who are genuinely interested in their subject with an enthusiasm and motivation to guide themselves through self-directed learning.

• a creative and imaginative approach to production work.
• a potential to develop practical, conceptual and analytical skills in the realisation of your ideas.
• an ability to identify the sources you have drawn on.
• an ability to relate your ideas to your own experience.

What decisions can be made on my application?

Our decision will be communicated via UCAS track, so please check your account regularly.

You will receive one of the following decisions.

Conditional offer for the course that you have applied for – you must fulfil certain criteria (usually based on the qualifications you are currently taking) before you can be accepted on the course. If the requirements are met, the offer becomes unconditional.

Unconditional offer for the course that you have applied for – usually made when you have already completed your qualifications and met the academic requirements we are asking for.

Change of course offer for the BA (Honours) Game Design and Development with Foundation Year. If your interviewer decides that you do not yet have the skills and attributes necessary to make a successful start on the degree course that you have applied to, you may be offered a place on this course. This takes the form of a foundation year, run in-house by our tutors, and will build your creative skills and attributes. If you complete this foundation year successfully, you will automatically progress onto the degree course.

Unsuccessful – unfortunately we are not able to offer you a place on the course. We do not feel that you have the necessary skills or experience to be successful on one of our courses. However, this does not prevent you from applying in the future, should you undertake further study to develop your skills and experience.