3D Game Art BA (Hons)

This course is in clearing

Overview

Course options

Select year

Degree

UCAS code: G471112 UCAS points

3D Game Art BA (Hons), home applicant, full time

  • Home Applicant
  • Full time, 3 years
  • Pound 9535 per year

3D Game Art BA (Hons), home applicant, part time

  • Home Applicant
  • Part time, 6 years
  • pro-rata full time fee

3D Game Art BA (Hons), international applicant, full time

  • International Applicant
  • Full time, 3 years
  • Pound 15560 per year

Degree with foundation year

UCAS code: G47064 UCAS points

3D Game Art BA (Hons), home applicant, full time

  • Home Applicant
  • Full time, 4 years
  • Pound 9535 per year

3D Game Art BA (Hons), international applicant, full time

  • International Applicant
  • Full time, 4 years
  • Pound 15560 per year

What makes this course different

Align with industry demands

You'll be taught by a mixture of academics and industry professionals with experience in game design and development. Be inspired by industry speakers who will give talks on various topics in gaming.

Practical output

Create 3D games for simulated real-world briefs, developing them for targeted demographics, marketplaces and player types allowing you a real sense of what designing a game would be like in a studio.

Promoting creativity among students

Explore your creative aspirations. Give a video game a creative direction from paper to screen in an environment that mirrors the multi-disciplinary ecosystem of the game industry.

Ranked 2nd nationally

Our media courses rank 2nd nationally for media and film studies and career prospects in the Guardian University Guide 2025.

Guardian University Guide 2025

Course modules

If you don't meet the entry requirements for a BA, you can study this 3D game art course as an extended, four-year programme. You'll begin by taking a foundation year which prepares you for a successful transition to the BA degree.

In your first term of the first year, you will explore the three core areas of game development. This is to allow you to get an idea of each field and make an informed decision, about an area that interests you. Within the second term, the course branches off and will develop your fundamental programming skills by introducing you to C++ (the primary language used within game programming), you will also learn and develop your understanding of maths and physics and their application within programming for games. Alongside this, you work within a simulated studio environment to help develop your soft skills such as working in a diverse team, introducing you to project management methods and working towards a creative vision.

In your second year, you will explore specialised areas within game programming such as AI programming and graphics programming. Exploring these will give you an informed decision on what area you wish to pursue when progressing further within the 3D game art course. In the second term, you will have another simulated studio environment experience, with an emphasis on completing and publishing a small-to-medium scale game project as a multidisciplinary team but working within a specialised role. You will begin to develop your online presence and identity, learn how to market yourself for potential internship and employment opportunities, and start to develop your portfolio in the area of game programming you wish to enter upon finishing the course.

In your final year, you’ll do a final project that will allow you to further explore and experiment within your chosen field in gaming. You will explore advanced programming practices which include using modern C++ features. Spanning both the first and second term, you will have your simulated studio environment experience, with an emphasis on completing and publishing a polished medium-scale game project as a multidisciplinary team. In a separate module, you will develop items for your portfolio that will showcase your skills and experiences within your chosen specialism, tailored towards the area of game programming you wish to enter when you graduate.

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Your future career

Our BA 3D game art course has been created to provide skilled workers for the UK's creative industry. The UK game market alone was worth more than 7 billion in 2021 (source UKIE). The skills that you gain on the 3D game art course can be applied to other industries including architecture, immersive media, medical visualisation, fashion visualisation, VFX, virtual production and XR visualisation. We focus on developing your artistic skills and creativity as preparation for a career in the games industry, from building your first simple model to dealing with complex datasets in photogrammetry workflows. Our gaming students have gone on to work in both AAA and indie game development inside and outside the UK and continue to play a key role in the shaping of the interactive entertainment and games industry. Let’s explore the possible!

Industry links

We have links with Women in Games, UKIE, Tranzfuser and more.

Graduate employers

Employers our game art graduates have gone on to work for are nDreams, Electric Square, Playground Games, Interior Night, Outplay Entertainment, Spilt Milk Studios, Lively Studio, PlayStation, Sumo Digital and others. 

Job roles

Typical roles which our graduates have gone on to include: 3D generalist, 3D game artist, environment artist, character artist, technical artist, lighting artist, sandbox artist, concept artist, 3D visualisation artist, architectural visualisation artist, storyboard artist and XR visualisation artist. The 3D game art skills you develop in this degree are in demand across the industry.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

Further study

You could enhance your skills further by studying a master's with us, such as MA Filmmaking.

Computer games development laptop with screenshot of game development
We work closely with the game development team to look for opportunities for game development students, including visits, industry speakers and internships."
Career Zone team

Career Zone

How we support your career ambitions

Our 3D games art degree offers dedicated career support, and further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our 3D game art courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. Our mentoring programmes connect you with industry experts, offering valuable insights into your 3D game art career journey. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting-edge technologies and facilities. 

Career Zone

This digital platform provides you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work 
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you've mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

Our Mental Wealth programme

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top:

  • Work-based projects
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations
  • Support in starting a new business
  • London on our doorstep

How you'll learn

You'll be taught by a range of academics, many of whom are practitioners in the area they teach. Some of the assessments focus on practical skills and are presented as 'live or simulated briefs'. This ensures that practice-led teaching is relevant to the industry. Our staff are well placed to take advantage of a range of professional networks and industry contacts. Each module is designed with practical components informed by theoretical underpinnings, with the intention that students develop an informed approach when designing their practical assignments.

Guided independent study

When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, and specialist facilities, such as game labs, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.

Academic support

Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including learning and disability support.

Dedicated personal tutor

When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at UEL and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer.

Whether you're navigating the challenges of your 3D game art modules or planning your future career in the games industry, your tutor will be there to assist.

Workload

Each year you will spend around 276 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module.

The approximate workload hours for this course are:

  • Scheduled teaching - 276 hours 
  • Guided independent study - 924 hours

Your timetable

Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

Class sizes

To give you an indication of class sizes, the 3D game art course normally attracts 30-40 students a year. Lecture sizes are normally 30 plus students. In the classroom, you will be taught in groups of 18-30+ students. However, this can vary by academic year.

How you'll be assessed

Coursework will include practical outcomes, e.g. individual or group-based games, artefacts, presentations, and written assignments.

We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days, although you will receive immediate feedback following many of our face-to-face assessments.

Campus and facilities

Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD

Official student data from Discover Uni

The banner below displays some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).

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Statistics for BA (Hons) 3D Game Art Degree, Full Time

Statistics for BA (Hons) 3D Game Art Degree, Full Time

What our students and staff say

Female student in front of computer 3D Game Art ACI
In the world of 3D game art, every pixel holds the power to shape the extraordinary. Embrace polygons, materials, and light, as with digital canvas, imagination dances with skills that you will learn. If you can dream it, we can build it!"

Dan Welsh

3D Game Art course leader

Code on a computer screen
I don't think I've ever been made to feel more welcome. Being surrounded by people who are friendly, social, and share your interests has to be one of the best things I can say about my university experience."

Ben Nizan

BA (Hons) Computer Games Design