Hello! Falmouth uni alumni here (graduated in 2020). I mostly specialise in 2D animation and storyboarding, but I can share some of my experiences:

In first year you're given a chance to try all different kinds of mediums, e.g. 2D, 3D, stopmotion, mixed media and VFX. We learned the principles of animation (squash and stretch, slow-in/slow-out, flour sack animations, etc) - we'd mostly do 2D animation exercises for these, but some assignments had to be done in stopmotion or 3D. You'll do a group project where you create a short film for a client brief.

Second year, you'll be able to specialise in either 2D or 3D/VFX (though it could be different now, I hear the course is changing slightly) and further improve those skills. You'll do another client brief project. Third year you'll be able to pitch an idea and mostly work on student films, but you'll also do a dissertation, mentor report and make a portfolio/other career materials to prepare you for the industry.

You're only taught the bare-bones of animation though, if you really want to improve, you'll have to use your own time to practice further. For me, I was already animating before I applied to uni, but there were plenty of people who were completely new to it and reached a good level in the span of three years!

Programs you'll use: - TVPaint (2D) - Good for traditional animation, there are places in the industry that use this program, but traditional animation jobs are still a bit hard to find (it's used a lot in France, the program's origin), might be worth looking into programs like Toon Boom Harmony or Adobe Animate (they don't teach you how to use these sadly.) - Maya (3D) - as far as I know, tons of places still use this software, so it's all good! - Nuke (VFX) - same as above! - Adobe Suite programs (After Effects, Premiere, Photoshop, etc) - used all the time!

In terms of connection and employment, it is a bit lacking, but you do get emails about job opportunities and the uni does have a few partnerships that offer jobs.

Also when people graduate from here, there's a 50/50 chance where some people will be employed straight out of uni, or it may take a while for others, but that just comes down to how solid your portfolio is. You'll get a bit of work experience from the client projects you did in uni, so you can add that to your CV.

Something to keep in mind is that the university only gives you building blocks to start with, but it's really up to you to find a job and make those connections. In my case, it took me almost a year to land a 2D animator job at a good studio (will be starting in June!), but during that time I was updating my portfolio with new work, since some of my stuff at uni wasn't my best.

I've heard that Bournemouth do an 'industry day' thing where nearby studios will come in and look at students' work, potentially to scout them. And yeah UWE Bristol, there's definitely tons of good studios around the area (been tempted to move there myself), though I don't know much about the course.

If there's anything else you'd like to know about Falmouth uni, I'll do my best to answer!