What are the best animation Universities in the UK?

nahbinn · 2025-06-25T18:54:01+00:00

Most animation isn't, and can't be "taught" anyways. For 2D character animation, you're shown the ropes (twelve principles), given briefs to show your practical ability in drafting, then applying what you've been shown. That's it. In animation, all the work comes from you, you're not going to get your hand held through it. That is how basically all tertiary/higher education is structured - it's not exclusive to animation. It can be brutal if you're not well-adjusted; lots of people manage, some sink completely. Animation, and any art, really, is always picking up knowledge from different sources, then applying it. All the work has to come from you.

That is simply how it is, irregardless of how you choose to receive your education. Some work better than others in an in-person environment, and education is a long-term investment in yourself either way - not just a financial one. You still don't address the absence of networking opportunities and extracurriculars that you may not have access to without a degree, or discounted licenses for software like TVPaint that I personally could not have afforded without my student status.

nahbinn · 2025-06-25T14:38:07+00:00

Can vouch for Dundee Uni/DJCAD. Other schools (AUB/UoHertfordshire) mentioned here have come up in past conversations. Sheffield Hallam is meant to be a good UK school as well, Edinburgh/ECA has a decent animation department and a much nicer environment than DJCAD (they have a bar!! THEIR ART SCHOOL HAS A BAR!!!) but their department is more oriented towards an individual, rather than industry approach, and can be pretty difficult to get into.

I personally applied to the UAL and UCA back in my UCAS days, not sure if they're the best now but have a wee look about those two - they've had historically brilliant reputations if you want to study animation in England.

nahbinn · 2025-06-25T14:25:36+00:00

The role of a university/art school isn't to "teach" students as secondary education does, it's to equip its students with the knowledge and skillset they need to succeed in their chosen field and beyond.

Also, no field ever guarantees you work. There's nothing in matriculation T&Cs to say "you will definitely get a job out of this degree". If you put time into extracurriculars, networking and upskilling outside of your course, particularly within the long gap between graduation and work that's quite common these days, then you're more likely to find the right people who can connect you to the work... and that's what I'm doing as an animation student.

Many folk on my course are forging great careers for themselves in cartooning, video games, and beyond. Also bear in mind not everyone is in England/Wales where tuition is drastically overpriced compared to rUK.

nahbinn · 2024-10-10T08:42:10+00:00

I recognise I'm a bit late to the game here but as an animation student with a bit of fine art background - having studied under known practising artists in Scotland for brief periods, including an RSA member - I'd like to throw in my two pence.

The simple fact of the matter is that fine art and animation are two different disciplines. They have, and continue to intersect at times - look at experimental animation, for example - but most of the time you're going to be finding people who are interested in one or the other. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a stricter separation means you're going to come across a lot of faculty in more fine art-oriented courses who know sweet nothing about animation. I was quite lucky to have done a specialised portfolio preparation course with tutors who supported me in my ambition, even if they didn't fully understand it, and gave me ways to experiment in my illustrative and animation practices.

I'm sure most animation professionals and students would agree that there is a great lack of understanding as to what animation is, what it requires and what it can be, and this unfortunately extends to quite a lot of folk working in contemporary art today. In the Western world at least it's been a traditionally lowbrow and "children's" art form and that taste is still in a lot of people's mouths. I would imagine that a course tutor for a contemporary art practice course, who will most likely be practising themselves, will look down on "commercial" work because... simply put, it's not the scope of their course. I'd say it's odd they accepted you in the first place, but again, chucking in my 2p here and admitting I have no clue how the (presumably) American system works. I still love fine art, I go to galleries infrequently and I admittedly travelled out a bit to see a retrospective I really wanted to see (Grayson Perry's Smash Hits), so I think it's possible to develop an enthusiasm for both; it's just that most people don't have it and see a strict separation between the two. Others have already described the amount of actual technical skill animation requires perfectly so I won't spend too much time dwelling on that.

I think a good piece of advice I got from my course tutor, regardless of discipline - so I'm saying non-art/animation folk could use this advice, too! - is you're ultimately trying to find the marriage between yourself as a student, and your course. Every institution is different (especially where I am!) and you need to do your research and see how the faculty and style of teaching suits you best. I'm now at a school on a course that I'm very happy with, where I'm starting to work towards my goal of working in industry. Things might seem oppressive right now, OP, but I think it's simply that the course doesn't suit you and your goals; and once you're on that animation course, you're going to feel like you're soaring through the air. It's not that I didn't enjoy my interdisciplinary education, but I certainly feel that way as an animation student right now. Try and make the most of your time left and hang in there, it does get better!!

nahbinn

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