Animation BA (Hons)

Level: Undergraduate

Subject: Design

Year of entry: 2026

Key facts

UCAS Code

W615

Award

BA (Hons)

Duration of study

3 years, 4 years

Delivery

Full-time

Study location

Lauriston campus

Start date

September 2026

School

Edinburgh College of Art

College

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Study abroad

Available

Placement

Available

Second year entry

Available

Open days and events

About the degree programme

Edinburgh College of Art’s (ECA) Animation programme is Scotland’s oldest established degree-level programme in the subject area. Studying animation at ECA gives you the opportunity to experience a wide range of animation methods, technologies, and theories.  

Our students’ distinct voices and visual styles are at the centre of our teaching. We work with you to help you figure out who you are as an animator and what your films will look like. There is no template you must fit!  

We are one of the first UK animation programmes to become partners in the Aardman Academy, helping to ensure the industry relevance of our students and our curriculum.

Our partnership with Scotland Loves Anime has allowed us to host the annual Education in Animation Day where our students have met directors, producers, and animators from some of the largest and busiest Japanese and Chinese studios, occasionally enabling their first appearances in the UK. 

If you find beauty in small things, love telling stories, and are fixated upon movement then we think you will enjoy your time here. 

Discover what it's like to study BA Animation from our staff and students.

How long it takes to complete this degree programme

This programme is usually studied over 4 years, however, some students may be eligible to enter in the second year and complete the programme in 3 years.

Programme benefits

  • You will have the opportunity to work both as part of a team of animators and take creative control of solo projects. 
  • You will have access to an exceptional range of equipment, from classical drawn animation (using lightboxes gifted from the studios of The Illusionist), real cameras, lights and puppets through to a Render farm using Pixar’s Renderman software. 
  • You will learn about every part of the Animation production pipeline. 
  • You will benefit from a thriving studio environment that offers continuous use of space and interaction with other year groups. 
  • You will find fantastic opportunities to work with students from other areas of the University, particularly the Reid School of Music and ECA’s Film & TV students.

I chose to study animation as I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of turning illustrations into moving images. What made those four years so special was the support of my peers; we were a very diverse bunch and were able to learn from one another. Some of us were very good storytellers, some of us were very good at stop-motion, some at art direction. Our year group managed to curate two of our own exhibitions, including our degree show, which we were immensely proud of. 

As our year group was small, we received a lot of undivided attention from our tutors in comparison to other universities. 

I have never met a more wonderful, passionate, talented, diverse, supportive group of peers and friends. They were so vital in helping me go through my third and final year, moral support is important, and it made me realise how much I love working with people. 

The structure of my course has helped me become independent and self-sufficient as a creative individual. The tutors supported us when we needed it and told us that if we want something, we have to pursue it and make it happen.

Vera Babida BA Animation, graduated 2016.

Find your entry requirements

Use the dropdowns to find out your entry requirements.

  1. Select the country where you are studying or where you studied your qualification.
  2. Select the qualification you are studying or studied.
United Kingdom,

Tuition fees for BA (Hons) Animation

View the tuition fees for one academic year of BA (Hons) Animation.

Tuition fees for this programme

Additional costs

Field-based projects 

In the case of proposed study trips and individual field-based projects, you will need to pay for:

  • accommodation
  • food, drink and other everyday costs
  • travel costs

These activities are optional and usually restricted to the UK and Europe, which helps to keep costs low. You will not be disadvantaged in your studies if you don't take part. 

Materials and equipment 

You will be expected to provide your own materials for drawing. Your material costs will vary depending on your choice of materials and how you choose to complete the project briefs you are given.

The programme has access to all the equipment necessary for you to deliver your film projects. However, for convenience, independence, and your future career we would advise you to consider buying each of the following:

  • laptop (see our advice below)
  • pegbar (vital for consistent registration of your frames)
  • portable USB 3 HDD (for saving and rendering work) 
  • a good-quality 3-button mouse (most apps work best with these)
  • Wacom tablet 
  • lightbox 
Choosing a laptop 

Although there are desktop computers widely and freely available at ECA, you will need a laptop if you want to continue working when you are not in the studio. You should consider one of the following:

  • a high-end Mac, dual booted to run both a Windows or Mac operating system, enabling you to work with your preferred software
  • a PC with good RAM and CPU speed, as well as hard drive space (to which you can always add)

We have no operating system preference within the programme.

Accommodation and living costs

You need to cover your accommodation and living costs for the duration of your programme.

We estimate that a single student can potentially spend a maximum of £920 to £2,257 on living costs each month, depending on your accommodation.

This estimate covers the costs of:

  • accommodation
  • food
  • utility bills
  • travel within Edinburgh
  • health and wellbeing costs

See a breakdown of living costs

Scholarships and funding

Funding information

You can find detailed information on financial support available, based on where you are living, in our funding section.

Funding

What you will study

We cover the full range of animation methods:

  • drawn
  • 2D digital
  • 3D digital
  • stop-frame

The method you use for each project is up to you and is driven by a conversation with staff to determine which method will best suit your idea and your preferred way of working.

Throughout your degree, you'll have a choice of working on projects in a team or on your own.

Second year entry

We take on many students directly into the second year of our programme, bypassing Year 1 if their levels of previous study allow.

We find that this broadens the range of interest and prior experience in our second year.

If you start in Year 2, you will not be at a disadvantage compared to students who start in Year 1. Our Year 1 courses can either be taken by second year entry students as an assessed option in Semester 1, or they can audit those courses by attending classes and lectures without a requirement for assessment. 

This is the year where you will learn how to make things move.

Semester 1 
  • Animation 1A Introduction (20 credits) 
  • What’s Up Doc? Introducing Animation Studies (20 credits) 
  • 20 Credit Elective (20 credits) 
Semester 2 
  • Animation 1B Principles (20 credits) 
  • Language of Animation (20 credits) 
  • Design & Screen Cultures (20 credits) 

Life drawing is an integral part of our core animation courses in Years 1 and 2. 

Find Year 1 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

This is the year where you will learn how to make things move with meaning.

Semester 1 
  • Animation 2A Character (40 credits) 
  • Option course of your choosing (20 credits) 
Semester 2 
  • Animation 2B Narrative (20 credits) 
  • Animation 2C Documentary (20 credits) 
  • Design & Screen Cultures (20 credits) 

Life drawing is an integral part of our core animation courses in Years 1 and 2.

Find Year 2 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

This is the year where you learn how to make things move for other people, particularly clients.

Semester 1 
  • Animation 3A Animation For Clients (20 credits) 
  • Animating Stories (20 credits) 
  • Design & Screen Cultures (20 credits) 
Semester 2 
  • Animation 3B Experimental Animation (20 credits) 
  • Animation 3C Disseminated Animation (20 credits) 
  • Issues Of Representation (20 credits) 

This year begins with working on live briefs for clients. It helps you to understand what it is like to work on providing a service for others. 

During this year, you start to pay attention to your identity as an animator. The technical skills that you will learn are very much dictated by how you choose to respond to this year's project briefs.

Year 3 also has the potential for a semester’s exchange abroad with one of our partner institutions.

Find Year 3 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

This is the year where you will bring together everything you've learned in your final animation projects.

Semester 1 
  • Animation 4A Research & Pre-Production (40 credits) 
  • Design & Screen Cultures (Dissertation) (20 credits) 
Semester 2 
  • Animation 4C Production (40 credits) 
  • Animation 4D Promotion & Distribution (20 credits) 

This final year is intensive and studio-focused. You will concentrate on a major project consisting of at least one film. 

The three animation courses are designed to support you through the three phases of the production pipeline for animation. These courses will involve:

  • presenting film pitches to a panel of invited industry guests
  • collaborating with sound designers and composers
  • ultimately contributing to a degree exhibition at ECA and a public screening at a cinema in Edinburgh

As part of your studies, you will develop a showreel and a short-to-long-term career plan for when you leave us. We will supplement this with an annually updated database of careers and support contacts in the animation and games sectors of the creative industries.

You will have the option to attend on-site visits to Aardman. Site visits are prioritised for Year 4 students.

Typically, at the end of Year 4 you will have the opportunity to take part in our Graduate Show. This is a chance to exhibit your work. You can see work submitted by previous graduates on our 2024 Graduate Show page.

BA Animation Graduate Show 2024

Find Year 4 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

Study abroad

Opportunities to study abroad help broaden your understanding of the discipline.

There are opportunities in Year 3 to study abroad with partner institutions in Canada, the USA and Australia. These opportunities are competitive and highly sought after, and therefore cannot be guaranteed.

What are my options for going abroad?

Placements

We do not offer placements as part of the degree.

However, throughout your studies, there are opportunities for summer placements in commercial animation studios.

We do everything possible to alert students to these opportunities as they arise, and to support them while on their placements.

Creative industry placements are unfortunately impossible to guarantee, due to the rapid turnaround and short notice of availability.

Field trips

There is an opportunity for a field visit to Aardman Studios.

You will attend site visits for our client projects in Year 3.

Years 1 and 2 will have occasional field drawing trips. 

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

As an animation student, you cannot be educated or trained with the sole use of a lecture and seminar-based educational model. You will learn by doing.

You will need to:

  • develop your visual, conceptual, critical and intellectual abilities
  • acquire the necessary skills to make your ideas and concepts explicit in a variety of different media
  • be articulate in both written and oral forms and confident with the technical competencies in your discipline

Learning on this programme is hands-on and iterative. Your learning will be based on problem-solving, exploring lines of enquiry and an active engagement with ideas.

Your learning is also driven largely by a project-based approach. We will set project briefs, with a clear communication of:

  • learning outcomes (the things we want you to learn)
  • assessment criteria (the things we will be measuring to determine how well you have learned)

There will be weekly timetabled contact points where concepts, principles, context and methods will be introduced. These sessions will be followed up in the studios with one-to-one or small group tutorials. A key part of this process is the presentation of your work to fellow students and staff. 

Beyond contact hours you are expected to be in the studios, applying what you have learned to your projects. 

All of our courses require independent visual and text-based research, while some courses have an essay component. 

ECA occasionally hosts lectures with important guest speakers that will be open across animation years, subject areas at ECA, and the wider University.

How this programme works

This is a full-time programme. To successfully complete your studies, you are expected to be on campus from 9am until 5pm, five days per week.

Contact time generally takes up 20% of that time (this is common at most universities). The remainder is spent putting what you have learned or discussed with tutors into practice in the studio.

During this time you are supported in the studios by technical and academic staff, above and beyond lectures and timetabled contact hours.

We expect you to supplement your learning by working alongside your fellow students across the year groups, benefiting from the diverse range of interests and experiences present in our studios. This is vital to achieve your full potential as an art student in any area, particularly in animation.

Assessment

We usually take a portfolio-based approach to submissions. This means that the processes you go through to arrive at your final artefact (usually a film or films) are an equally important part of your assessment. 

Group critiques, presentations and discussions are essential to your learning and will be a part of the formative (midway) assessment of all of your courses. The group format allows you to present to and learn from your fellow students. Formative grades and feedback are indicative only, designed to give you information on how to improve your submission for summative (final) assessment. 

Summative assessment is usually based on an electronic submission of work. Grades and written feedback are communicated privately to each student.

Example timetable of Week 1 Year 1 BA Animation.

Monday
  • AM: Supported studio time or optional course
  • PM: Supported studio time or optional course
Tuesday
  • AM: Animation 1A
  • PM: Animation 1A
Wednesday
  • AM: Supported studio time or optional course
  • PM: No teaching
Thursday
  • AM: Supported studio time or optional course
  • PM: What's Up Doc? Introducing Animation Studies
Friday
  • AM: Supported studio time or optional course
  • PM: Supported studio time or optional course

Support for your studies

ECA’s Student and Academic Support Service (SASS) supports students throughout their studies in all degree programmes at ECA.

You will have a dedicated Student Adviser, based within SASS, who is specially trained to support you during your studies. Your Student Adviser will be your first point of contact for any support, including questions about your studies or your well-being. Your Student Adviser can support you with:

  • personal or wellbeing issues that you are facing, including how to access specialist support
  • queries related to your programme, such as course enrolments, programme transfers and academic progression
  • applying for extensions and special circumstances
  • advice about how to take a break from your studies
  • registering with the Disability and Learning Support Service

If you’re unsure who to ask, you can contact your Student Adviser as a first point of contact.

Support for your studies

Our academic staff

At ECA, you'll join a community of practising designers, artists, illustrators, writers, critics and curators working across visual, and material culture.

The majority of our faculty members in the subject area teach on the programme. You'll be taught by:

  • Programme Director (Animation) – Jared Taylor MARCA FHEA 
  • Senior Lecturer in Animation – Dr. Nichola Dobson 
  • Lecturer in Animation – Rachel Everitt 
  • Lecturer in Animation – Alan Mason 
  • Animation Technician – Michael Mullin 

You can explore the ECA People Directory to discover more of the staff you will learn from.

ECA People Directory

Where you will study

Study location

All of your learning will take place on the Lauriston Campus in Edinburgh, primarily in the dedicated animation studios and production spaces in the North East Studio Building. 

Larger lectures will generally take place in the ECA Main Building, which is also on the Lauriston Campus.

Academic facilities

The Lauriston campus of ECA is a real focus for activities and technologies related to making.

You will have access to:

  • a foundry
  • film studios
  • jewellery workshops
  • workshops for wood and metal
  • a 3D scanning and printing facility

The animation studios themselves offer a permanent base of operations for our students and are generally sorted by year. You will get a space that is yours. 

These studios have specialist cameras, and computer and display equipment to allow full production capabilities in each studio. This is supplemented with a dedicated space for larger or more ambitious shoots and projects. This space contains:

  • four stop-frame bays
  • multiplane setups
  • rostrum cameras
  • post-production workstations
  • our independent animation server
  • our render farm

In addition to these facilities, we also have the ECA Store on campus where you can purchase materials for your artistic projects, along with our Free-Use Hub where you can access free recycled materials.

You will also have access to BookIt, where you can access and loan a wide range of digital and technical equipment for free as part of being a student.

Bookit - Equipment loans and studio booking

You can find out more on the ECA website.

Facilities and resources at ECA

Investing in our learning environment

Edinburgh College of Art is excited to be undertaking a capital redevelopment of ECA’s Lauriston Campus over the next three years, from April 2024 to April 2027.

The project aims to maximise the use of existing space, improve accessibility, and create a vibrant campus that fosters collaboration and innovation.​

The project involves refurbishing and repurposing various spaces across the Lauriston campus, including technical facilities, student and teaching spaces, and the relocation of the Reid School of Music from Alison House to the Lauriston Campus. New social spaces, seminar rooms, and studios are being created to accommodate our growing community.

You can find more about the project on our website:

Building work starts at ECA’s Lauriston Campus - Edinburgh College of Art

Virtual tour

You can take a closer look at the Edinburgh College of Art and explore our facilities and campus with our virtual tour.

Take a virtual tour of Edinburgh College of Art

Career paths

Our graduates have gone on to work with directors such as Wes Anderson and Tim Burton. They work at animation studios such as: 

  • Aardman  
  • Laika  
  • Cartoon Saloon  
  • Nexus Productions  
  • Red Kite Studios  

Some graduates have set up their own animation studios, including: 

  • Wild Child  
  • Ko-Lik  
  • White Robot 

Other graduates have gone on to work at games companies such as Rockstar North and Media Molecule. 

Currently, there is a shortage within the film and animation sectors of skills in storyboarding, pre-visualisation, production and project management, all of which comprise a part of your studies in Animation at ECA. 

Beyond those sectors, animators are in high demand in the video games industry, and among emergent virtual and augmented reality businesses. 

There are some unexpected areas of opportunity as well. Insurance companies and police forces use animators to forensically reconstruct accident or crime scenes. Architectural and interior design companies extensively use animators to create pre-visualisations of their projects for clients. 

Awards

Our students have gone on to win, among many others, awards at:

  • the BAFTAs
  • Emmys
  • British Animation Awards
  • Edinburgh International Film Festival
  • Adobe Design Achievement Awards
  • Royal Television Society

Careers Service

Our Careers Service can help you to fully develop your potential and achieve your future goals.

The Careers Service supports you not only while you are studying at the University, but also for up to two years after you finish your studies.

With the Careers Service, you can:

  • access digital resources to help you understand your skills and strengths
  • try different types of experiences and reflect on how and what you develop
  • get help finding work, including part-time jobs, vacation work, internships and graduate jobs
  • attend careers events and practice interviews
  • get information and advice to help you make informed decisions

Visit the Careers Service website

Further study

After you complete your programme, you may want to go onto further study at Edinburgh or a different university. You could progress to:

  • a masters degree
  • a postgraduate diploma or certificate
  • a PhD
  • a second undergraduate degree

Find out about options for further study 

Postgraduate degrees you might be interested in could include:

Graduate profiles

Visit our alumni directory to hear from two graduates of BA Animation.

Alumni profile - Vera Babida

Alumni profile - Laura Jayne Hodkin

How to apply

You must submit a full application through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) before the relevant deadline.

Guidance on applying through UCAS

What you need to apply

As part of your application, you will need:

  • your academic qualifications
  • a personal statement
  • evidence of your English language skills (with relevant qualifications)
  • a reference

Portfolio

You need to submit a digital portfolio to show your artistic skill and potential. 

The portfolio guidance for 2026 entry will be released in August 2025.

How we select

If you have met, or are predicted to meet, all our entry requirements by the relevant deadline, then your application will go into our selection process.

As part of this selection process, we will review all the information you submit in your UCAS application when we decide who to select for this degree programme.

How we select applicants

When to apply

  • 2026 entry UCAS deadline: 14 January 2026 (6:00pm GMT)

This is the deadline for all UK, EU and international applicants to non-medicine and veterinary medicine programmes.

To find out if any degree programmes have spaces after 14 January 2026, search the University of Edinburgh on the UCAS website.

Search degrees that are open on the UCAS website

Key application dates and deadlines

After you apply

After you have applied for your degree programme, we suggest you have a look at the following information to help you prepare for university:

Applying as an international student

As an international student, you apply for this degree programme through UCAS.  

Find out more about applying through UCAS  

Visas and immigration 

If you do not have the right to live in the UK, you will need to apply for and secure a Student visa before the start date of your degree programme.  

Our Student Immigration Service can help you with the Student visa application process. 

Applying for a visa  

Agents  

An education agent is someone who can help you with the application process as an international student. 

We work with education agents around the world and have a list of local offices you can contact.  

Find contact details for an education agent

What our students say

What is it really like to study here? Our students share their experiences on our social media.

You can find out what a day in the life is like for an Edinburgh College of Art Student, from late nights in the library to their favourite walks around the city!

Instagram: Edinburgh College of Art

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of University accommodation for all new, single undergraduate students from outside Edinburgh. To be eligible, you need to meet all criteria and apply for accommodation by 16 August in the year of your entry to the University.

University accommodation website

Accommodation guarantee criteria

If you prefer to live elsewhere, we can offer you advice on finding accommodation in Edinburgh.

Accommodation information from the Edinburgh University Students' Association Advice Place

Societies and clubs

Our societies and sports clubs will help you develop your interests, meet like-minded people, find a new hobby or simply socialise.

Societies

Sports clubs

The city of Edinburgh

Our vibrant capital is a blend of culture, history, nature and modern city life. A fantastic place to live, it is also the perfect location to study animation.

Edinburgh’s dynamic cultural scene boasts the largest collection of historic buildings, museums, art galleries and theatres of any city in Scotland.

The University of Edinburgh’s museums and galleries include:

  • the Talbot Rice Gallery
  • Centre for Research Collections
  • St. Cecilia’s Hall: Concert Room and Music Museum

Edinburgh is home to several major annual festivals, each bringing talent from around the world to our streets and stages, making the celebration of diversity an intrinsic part of the city’s culture. These include the:

  • Festival Fringe
  • Film Festival
  • Art Festival
  • Book Festival
  • Jazz & Blues Festival

Some of our students even participate in our annual festivals.

Health and wellbeing support

You will have access to free health and wellbeing services throughout your time at university if you need them.

The support services we offer include:

  • a student counselling service
  • a health centre (doctor's surgery)
  • support if you're living in University accommodation
  • dedicated help and support if you have a disability or need adjustment

Health and wellbeing support services

Contact us

Contact us through our enquiry team if you have any questions about this programme.

Open days, events and visits

Find out when our next open days will be taking place

Open days, events and visits

Chat to our students on Unibuddy

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It is one of many sources of information which will enable you to make an informed decision on what and where to study.

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