Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Animation with Placement Year

at University of Westminster - Harrow Campus United Kingdom

Our exciting specialist course will enable you to develop your imaginative and creative skills, while giving you a sound knowledge and understanding of animation processes, techniques and critical theory.

Commercial animation is a rapidly growing and vibrant industry, encompassing a broad range of rewarding and fascinating creative job opportunities. Our strong emphasis on creative practice will help you to develop your skills in drawing and design, along with the imaginative development and innovation of ideas expressed sequentially. These skills, together with the professional practice aspects of the course, will ensure that you have the confidence and expertise to succeed in industry, whether as a producer, technician, designer or manager. You’ll also develop the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Throughout the course, there are opportunities for you to take part in national and international competitions and film festivals. Our course is delivered by a large team of experienced animation practitioners, staff and industry visitors, and you’ll work in dedicated specialist animation studios with facilities for blue screen, rostrum animation, CGI, drawing, stop-frame, film, photography, set building, sound and video.

Successful animators need to be flexible and able to adapt to changing cultures and new initiatives, and our course seeks to reflect this fluidity. You’ll rapidly develop your own practice in animation, and will be encouraged to work on shared initiatives. Based at our Harrow Campus – home to the Westminster School of Arts and the Westminster School of Media and Communications – you’ll work alongside students from film, photography, music, fashion and journalism, in a unique creative hothouse. 

Our Photography BA course is a long-established course with an excellent international reputation for its academic and practical teaching. This reputation is reflected in high application rates, a distinguished record of graduate employment in the industries it serves, and in the publication, production and teaching profile of its staff and graduates.

Our course will enable you to develop your creative production skills across a range of photographic and lens-based media, to establish a critically engaged and self-reflective creative practice. It will equip you with the skills to adapt to creative opportunities, participate in contemporary cultural debates, and increase your awareness of the political, ethical and aesthetic implications of your work. You’ll learn to form independent, informed opinions of your own work and that of others.

Our course is renowned for its distinctive philosophy, which aims to provide a holistic photographic education. It combines high levels of technical and visual photographic skills with excellent visual literacy and a critical awareness of visual culture alongside solid professional practice.

You’ll also explore a wide range of relevant contemporary theories and debates designed both to stimulate a critically engaged practice and to better prepare you for a range of related careers.

The course is part of the University's College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries, based at our state-of-the-art Harrow Campus – a cutting-edge creative hub.

Top reasons to study with us

• Fantastic location -  you'll enjoy all the benefits of studying at our Harrow Campus – just a 20-minute tube ride from London, a global hub for the media and cultural industries
• Develop your creative production skills – work across a range of photographic and lens-based media to establish a critically engaged and self-reflective creative practice
• Learn from high-profile experts in photography theory and practice, dedicated to photographic education
• Photographic pioneers – photographic education at the University of Westminster has a unique depth of tradition. Classes in photography were taught at the Polytechnic Institution, the forerunner of our University, from 1852, and the School of Photography was established in 1883

This course will equip you with the strategic decision-making, leadership and problem-solving skills you will need to become an entrepreneurial and visionary fashion business leader of the future. It continues the University’s fashion tradition of a commitment to excellence in developing highly effective, talented and committed professional fashion graduates.

Working closely with fashion industry professionals, role models and mentors, you will receive a relevant, well-grounded, high-quality education and skill base that will enable you to have a wider, clearer understanding of the business you are already involved in. The course offers inside knowledge of industry strategies and cultures on a global basis, combined with key business skills and essential fashion industry management knowledge.

This course equips you for a business management career in the domestic or international fashion industry. Delivered by a teaching team with a wide range of experience both in industry and academia, the course offers an innovative and relevant fashion business curriculum that focuses on preparing your entry into senior roles in business and management within the industry.

Our Digital Media course will show you how to create and share your message professionally across any digital platform so you can truly connect with your audience. The course is flexible, giving you the time and space to explore different aspects of digital media. All students gain skills  in content creation, digital media production, storytelling, and research, alongside a critical appreciation of the role of media in society. Students then build on these practical skills and conceptual insights by choosing a specialism which reflects their interests and aspirations.

At the end of the first year, you will be able to choose from pathways in Media Production, Communication, Public Relations and Advertising, and Journalism.  You will have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals throughout the course and can benefit from our industry links by opting to complete a work placement year.  Alternatively, you might decide to expand your educational experience by studying aboard between Years 2 and 3. You will also have access to our award-winning Careers and Employability Service with its network of over 3,000 employers. 

This up-to-date blend of skills and knowledge will equip you to work successfully in a wide range of sectors and professions in digital media and beyond. Whether you want to work for a leading multinational, a start-up, a media outlet, the public sector or to launch your own company, this course will give you the broad expertise alongside the specialist knowledge you need, both when you enter the job market and into the future.

Our Fashion Design BA has an exceptional reputation for being aligned with the international fashion industry and enabling you to have outstanding opportunities to engage with the industry throughout your course. 

We specialise in enabling you to become a highly original and individual creative designer, capable of working at the highest levels of the international fashion industry. We were the first undergraduate course to show at London Fashion Week, and able to show in February 2020, prior to the national lockdown.

Throughout our course, the emphasis is on the development of your personal design philosophy. Our course offers a comprehensive design education for dedicated and ambitious individuals looking for a specialist career in the international fashion industry. You'll also gain the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Our students gain an enormous amount of specific and transferable knowledge from working within the fashion industry, whether these are in the context of ‘live’ design projects at university or out on extended periods of work placement.

Internships on both the three-year and sandwich course take place in partnership with leading international fashion companies, and have previously included: A Cold Wall, Alexander McQueen, Ashley Williams, Balmain, Burberry, Chalayan, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Charlotte Knowles, Christopher Kane, Cottweiller, Craig Green, Eckhaus Latta, Erdem, Eudon Choi, Gareth Pugh, Givenchy, Haider Ackermann, Halpern, JW Anderson, Kenzo, Kilgour, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela, Marine Serre, Marques Almeida, Molly Goddard, Nazir Nasar, Norse Projects, Peter Pilotto, Phoebe English, Preen, Raf Simons, Richard Quinn, Roksanda, Self Portrait, Simone Rocha, Stefan Cooke, Supriya Lele, Thom Browne, Underage, Viktor & Rolf, and Walter van Bierendonck. 

Embedded into the course structure are several opportunities to engage with the international fashion industry through set live briefs with companies. Previous companies have included FENTY, The Gap, CLOSED denim, Epson, Topshop, H&M, ISKO Denim, Max Mara, Abercrombie and ASOS. 

Course graduates include London Fashion Week designers Katie Ann McGuigan, Roberta Einer, Liam Hodges and Ashley Williams, as well as Jutta Kraus, Creative Director of Bernhard Willhelm; Stuart Vevers, Creative Director of Coach; Christopher Bailey; and Katie Hillier.

Our previous Fashion Design BA graduates have gained employment at companies including Versace, Rick Owens, Celine, Loewe, Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Carven, Tom Ford, Gucci, Versace, Ferragamo, Kenzo, H&M, Preen, MaxMara, Anya Hindmarch, Burberry, J.W. Anderson, Norse Projects, Acne, Jacquemus, Paul Smith and adidas.

The Photography Arts MA offers a dynamic mix of photography practice and research to support your development as an artist. Students learn to navigate the rapidly changing field of contemporary photography, while preparing themselves for diverse career paths. Each student develops two distinct bodies of work to exhibition and/or publication standard, as well as deepening their research and writing. Your progress through the course is supported with one-to-one meetings with a personal tutor, as well as lectures, seminars, tutorials and critique sessions. You will be empowered with visual, critical and practical skills that culminate in the Masters Project, exhibited in a central London degree show.

Students are fully supported by our internationally renowned photography staff and inspired by an exciting range of prominent visiting photographic artists and thinkers. Situated in Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design, you will have access to extensive photographic facilities and a wealth of inter-disciplinary expertise. You will be part of a world-famous centre for photography research.

Media professionals and media firms are united in their need to acquire the commercial, strategic and managerial skills to prosper in an industry undergoing constant fundamental change. This course is designed to address these needs, developing entrepreneurial leaders equipped to deal with the complex and novel challenges presented by new technologies, consumer behaviour, and evolving business models.

The course will enable you to identify and analyse strategic and operational problems and opportunities, understand, quantify and access national and international media markets, and use foresight and planning techniques to understand and respond to change. As well as being able to manage complex media projects, you will also have the skills to engage in strategic direction setting, deploy business-planning skills, and excel in leadership and implementation.

The course is delivered by academic staff with lengthy experience of advising and managing media organisations. Teaching methods are based around practical problems and include in-class exercises and individuals and group projects and assessment. Assignments will enable you to develop and apply your skills in creative project development and business planning.

The Media and Development MA is an interdisciplinary course that teaches main theories, concepts, case studies and practical media skills around the theme of media and development and its implications for less developed countries. The course will provide you with a unique blend of theory and practice teaching, aimed at deepening your knowledge of the history of communications within the development process of emerging economies. It will critically evaluate the impact of international and regional institutions from a critical political economic perspective. Teaching by academic staff, guest lecturers and other carefully selected staff from development organisations will provide you with an overview of the policies, actions and impact of state and non-state institutions within the area of communication media and development.

A distinctive feature is its emphasis on the practical role of communication media in development. You will participate in media production workshops and take part in our internship programme, offered in partnership with media and development organisations in London. As part of the work experience module, students participate in an extensive NGOs and media seminar series featuring experts and panel discussions. The work placement programme is in line with the University of Westminster’s strategy of nurturing of the critical practitioner.

Our exciting specialist course will enable you to develop your imaginative and creative skills, while giving you a sound knowledge and understanding of animation processes, techniques and critical theory.

Commercial animation is a rapidly growing and vibrant industry, encompassing a broad range of rewarding and fascinating creative job opportunities. Our strong emphasis on creative practice will help you to develop your skills in drawing and design, along with the imaginative development and innovation of ideas expressed sequentially. These skills, together with the professional practice aspects of the course, will ensure that you have the confidence and expertise to succeed in industry, whether as a producer, technician, designer or manager. You’ll also develop the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Throughout the course, there are opportunities for you to take part in national and international competitions and film festivals. Our course is delivered by a large team of experienced animation practitioners, staff and industry visitors, and you’ll work in dedicated specialist animation studios with facilities for blue screen, rostrum animation, CGI, drawing, stop-frame, film, photography, set building, sound and video.

Successful animators need to be flexible and able to adapt to changing cultures and new initiatives, and our course seeks to reflect this fluidity. You’ll rapidly develop your own practice in animation, and will be encouraged to work on shared initiatives. Based at our Harrow Campus – home to the Westminster School of Arts and the Westminster School of Media and Communications – you’ll work alongside students from film, photography, music, fashion and journalism, in a unique creative hothouse. 

Our innovative MA in Film and Television builds on its prestigious heritage as the longest running degree programme of its kind in the UK. We aim to equip you with wide-ranging skills, knowledge and critical awareness to meet your career aspirations in sectors in which moving images play a central role. Our curriculum incorporates an exciting variety of learning and teaching activities designed to foster your capacity for researching and rigorously analysing different aspects of film, television and moving images. You will have the opportunity to develop key skills for communicating about and with moving images across a range of contexts and platforms.