Location

Farnham

Start date

Sept 2026, Sept 2027

Duration

3 years full-time

UCAS logo

UCAS codes

Course: W280
Institution: C93

+1

Foundation year

Optional extra year of study

+1

Placement year

Optional extra year of study

Entry requirements

Check qualifications

Games Arts at UCA

Create characters. Tell stories. Build worlds on our BA (Hons) Games Arts degree.

Traditional craft meets real-time production

You'll develop drawing, painting, anatomy, and visual composition alongside 3D modelling, texturing, rigging, and engine integration. From sculpting characters in ZBrush to lighting environments in game engines, your work bridges artistic fundamentals and contemporary technical production – giving you the kind of range that pure software training can't match.

Build your world and direct the vision

Specialist modules take you from environment and prop production through to character art pipelines and original IP development. By second year, you'll be creating art bibles, defining visual identities, and art-directing your own game worlds – moving you from skilled artist to creative leader.

Make games, not just games art

You’ll collaborate inside a working production team of games students – making playable games alongside designers and developers. Work on the team in first year, lead the team in second year. Develop publishable titles and the confidence that when you walk into your first studio, nothing about the process surprises you.

Industry on your doorstep

UCA Farnham sits near to the UK's two largest developer hubs: Guildford and London. Guest speakers from studios like Epic, Supermassive Games and Ubisoft bring live industry context into your learning. You'll have the chance to present work at events such as Guildford Games Festival and GDLX. Industry-standard facilities – including motion capture and VR/AR labs– support your productions from day one.

Two minute stories


Discover the stories of our Games students

What you'll study

The content of the course may be subject to change. Curriculum content is provided as a guide.

UCA’s Integrated Foundation Year is designed to give you the skills you’ll need to start your degree in the best possible way – with confidence, solid knowledge of creative practice, study skills and more.

You’ll explore a range of creative techniques and develop your portfolio, with your chosen subject in mind. We’ll work with you throughout the year to ensure you’re on the right track and give you the tools to achieve your highest potential on your degree.

Find out more about the Integrated Foundation Year

Games Arts Fundamentals; 30 credits
This module introduces you to the foundational principles and workflows of professional game art practice. It bridges traditional art theory with contemporary digital production pipelines, guiding you from 2D concept development through to 3D modelling, texturing, basic rigging, animation, and engine presentation. Through the creation of a coherent set of game-ready props, you develop core technical competence, visual literacy, and reflective practice, establishing essential skills for progression within the discipline.

Career Catalyst: Skills & Capability; 30 credits
Career Catalyst: Skills & Capability focuses on building creative, technical and digital capability aligned to professional standards. You develop transferable skills through practical projects, feedback and reflection, strengthening professional literacy and confidence. This module prepares you to apply your skills effectively across disciplines, laying the foundations for collaboration, industry engagement and complex creative challenges.

Games Arts Environment Production; 30 credits
This module focuses on the design and production of immersive real-time game environments using professional environment art pipelines. You will learn to think architecturally, applying modular construction, optimisation strategies, and lighting techniques to create performant and visually coherent environments. Through research, production, and reflection, you will develop an understanding of how mood, narrative, and spatial design operate within technical constraints, preparing them for advanced environment and world- building work.

Collaborative Games Studio 1 (Foundations); 30 credits
Collaborative Game Studio 1 introduces you to cross-disciplinary game production within a simulated studio environment. Working in teams with designers and developers, you will contribute as junior artists to the creation of a playable prototype, learning Agile workflows, professional communication, and collaborative production practices. The module emphasises participation, professional conduct, and ethical awareness, establishing essential teamwork and industry-readiness skills

Character Art for Games; 30 credits
This module explores the complete character art pipeline for real-time games, from 2D ideation and design through to high-fidelity 3D character production and engine presentation. You apply anatomy, form, and character design principles while developing optimised, game-ready assets using industry-standard workflows. The module encourages independent problem-solving, narrative-driven design, and ethical and cultural awareness, supporting portfolio development and specialisation in character art.

Career Catalyst: Communities & Influence; 30 credits
Career Catalyst: Communities & Influence emphasises collaboration, participation and real-world impact. Working with audiences, communities and professional contexts through live briefs, projects and engagement opportunities. This module develops professional agency, teamwork and networks, helping you understand how creative practice creates value, influence and opportunity within industry, civic and global contexts.

Games Arts IP Development; 30 credits
In this module, you will conceptualise and art-direct an original game intellectual property (IP), focusing on cohesive world-building and visual identity. Through the creation of a professional Art Bible and supporting concept work, you will synthesise research, narrative, and visual culture to define a distinctive creative vision. The module prioritises autonomy, iteration, and ethical awareness, preparing you for leadership roles in visual development and art direction.

Collaborative Games Studio 2 (Production and Leadership); 30 credits
Building on the foundation studio experience, this module advances you into mid-level leadership roles within a collaborative game production environment. You will take responsibility for mentoring, quality assurance, and contributing to creative and technical direction while working within Agile frameworks. The module develops leadership, project management, and ethical studio practice, reinforcing professional readiness for industry production.

If you opt to complete a professional practice year, this will take place in year three. You will undertake a placement within the creative industries to further develop your skills and CV.

While on your Professional Practice Year, you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee for that year. This fee will be determined using government funding regulations. Based on current regulations, we expect this to be a maximum of 20% of the tuition fee rate that you are charged for your second year of study. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during this year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this as you approach your Professional Practice Year.

Please note: If you are an international applicant, you will need to enrol onto the course ‘with Professional Practice Year’. It will not be possible to transfer onto the Professional Practice Year after enrolment

Creative Research; 30 credits
Creative Research supports you in preparing for your Major Project through structured creative and contextual inquiry. You will develop project proposals, conduct practical and critical research, and plan pre-production phases aligned with personal career goals. The module strengthens independent research skills, critical thinking, and ethical awareness, enabling you to position your work within wider cultural, theoretical, and professional contexts.

Career Catalyst: Futures & Direction; 30 credits
Career Catalyst: Futures & Direction supports your transition beyond graduation by focusing on professional identity, positioning and future direction. Consolidating learning through portfolio development, research and career planning you will prepare for employment, freelance practice or further study. The module develops autonomy, confidence and resilience, equipping you to navigate and shape your future professional pathways.

Major Project; 60 credits
The Major Project is the culmination of the BA (Hons) Games Arts degree, requiring you to conceive, develop, and realise an ambitious self-directed project. Drawing on skills, research, and professional practices developed throughout the course, you will produce a substantial body of work supported by critical documentation. The module demonstrates creative maturity, technical proficiency, ethical responsibility, and professional readiness, serving as a capstone portfolio for industry or further study.

This course is designed to offer you (if eligible) the opportunity to study part of your degree aboard at a UCA partner university, while still earning credits towards your UCA degree.

For more information please visit the Study Abroad section

Integrated foundation year

  • Independent study: 72%
  • Scheduled teaching: 28%
  • Maximum percentage of scheduled delivered online: 20%

Year one

  • Independent study: 72%
  • Scheduled teaching: 28%
  • Maximum percentage of scheduled delivered online: 20%

Year two

  • Independent study: 74%
  • Scheduled teaching: 26%
  • Maximum percentage of scheduled delivered online: 20%

Year three

  • Independent study: 76%
  • Scheduled teaching: 24%
  • Maximum percentage of scheduled delivered online: 20%

Professional placement or International year (if undertaken)

  • Independent study: 98%
  • Scheduled teaching: 2%
  • Maximum percentage of scheduled delivered online: 100%

Please note: these details are for 2026 entry and could be subject to change for other years of entry.

Course specifications

Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change in line with our Student Terms and Conditions for example, as required by external professional bodies or to improve the quality of the course.

Upcoming webinars

We offer a range of webinars throughout the year that you may be interested in.

You can also view recordings of all previous sessions through the UCA webinar archive.


Fees & financial support

Tuition fees - 2026/27

  • Integrated Foundation Year: £9,790
  • BA course: £9,790

If you opt to study the Professional Practice Year, you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee, for 2026/27 this is £1,955. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during your Professional Practice year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this.

Government guidance indicates that tuition‑fee caps will rise annually with inflation from 2026, subject to legislation, so tuition fees are likely to increase each year of study. 

Tuition fees - 2026/27

  • Integrated Foundation Year: £9,790 (see fee discount information)
  • BA course: £9,790 (see fee discount information)

If you opt to study the Professional Practice Year, you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee, for 2026/27 this is £1,955. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during your Professional Practice year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this.

Government guidance indicates that tuition‑fee caps will rise annually with inflation from 2026, subject to legislation, so tuition fees are likely to increase each year of study. 

Tuition fees - 2026/27

  • Integrated Foundation Year: £18,000
  • BA course: £18,000

If you opt to study the Professional Practice Year, for 2026 you will be required to pay a reduced tuition fee of £3,490. You will also incur additional travel and accommodation costs during your Professional Practice year. The University will provide you with further advice and guidance about this.

The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only, for details of previous years please see the full fee schedules.

UCA scholarships and fee discounts

At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

Financial support

There are lots of ways you can access additional financial support to help you fund your studies - both from UCA and from external sources. Discover what support you might qualify for please see our financial support information.

Additional course costs

In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials.

These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of the Course Information Document for more details of the costs you may incur.

Find out what's included in your tuition fees.

Games Arts career opportunities

Taking advantage of our proximity to the UK’s largest games hubs, our course connects directly with some of the best-known names in the industry, including:

  • Supermassive Games
  • EA
  • Sony
  • Creative Assembly
  • Supergonk
  • Two Point Studios
  • Zappar
  • Hangar 13
  • Atom Republic
  • Rebellion
  • Miniclip

We also regularly welcome input from active industry practitioners, who can offer expert advice and guidance to students about the realities of working in the computer games market.

Many of our graduates have gone on to establish themselves in the games industry, with recent alumni landing roles such as Junior Character Artist at Guerrilla Games, Junior Games Designer at Creative Assembly, Lighting Artist at Splash Damage, Associate Designer at Hangar 13, Concept Artist on AAA BAFTA award-winning PlayStation 4 titles (Until Dawn, Hidden Agenda, The Dark Pictures: Man Of Medan, and Rush of Blood), Environment Artist at Bohemia Interactive, as well as entrepreneurial independent developers of games for iOS, Android and Steam projects from our dedicated Games Incubator Studio.

Skills taught on this course are highly transferable, making our graduates valuable assets in a number of industries, such as:

  • 2D and 3D Concept design
  • Serious (Applied) Games
  • Programming
  • TV and Film Post Production VFX
  • Pre-visualisation
  • Interactive Technologies (VR, AR, MR).
Kevin Tarazona, BA (Hons) Studio Practice (Games), UCA Farnham

What careers can you do with a Games degree?

When you sit down to play a game, you’re witnessing the result of hundreds of people working together behind the scenes.

You may also like to consider further study at postgraduate level.


Lewis Blythe

What our Games Arts students say

“I grew so much as an artist during my three years at UCA... I got to make some very strong connections with a number of people that have also made their way into the games industry and being down south at Farnham was so useful as it allowed me to visit a lot of different games industry events.”

Read Lewis's story Chat to UCA students

Games Arts entry requirements

For both the BA (Hons) course and the Integrated Foundation Year we will need to see your portfolio, please see the portfolio requirements section for more details.

Select your country to find the equivalent requirements

Portfolio requirements

For both the BA (Hons) course and the course with the Integrated Foundation Year we will need to see a portfolio.

  • UK applicants: We will invite you to attend an Applicant Day so you can have your portfolio review in person.
  • International applicants: We will ask you to submit an online portfolio. 

These courses focus on fundamental, traditional art skills and contemporary digital techniques. Your portfolio should show us that you have the underlying skills to fulfil the demands of the course as well as demonstrating your creativity and passion for this subject area. Your portfolio should provide an insight into your work ethic, enthusiasm and skills as an artist.

Please check our games degree portfolio advice and read our advice on creating a strong games portfolio.

UCAS applicants should also check our UCAS personal statement guide for games applicants.

Full portfolio requirements and advice

Apply to BA (Hons) Games Arts

Please use the following fields to help select the right application link for you:

UCAS codes

  • UCA institution code: C93
  • Three year degree: W280
  • Plus professional practice year: W283
  • Plus integrated foundation year: W28F
  • Plus integrated foundation year and professional practice year: W28G

BA (Hons) Games Arts key statistics

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