First of all, thank you very much Moid for taking the time to write such a detailed and helpful reply!
I'm coming to the end of year 12 right now and I'm studying:
Film Studies - A in coursework, predicted A in exam
Product Study (Design) - A
Geography - Predicted B
ICT - Predicted C
I'm planning on dropping ICT as soon as is humanly possible. It is completely not what I expected and has been useless to me - I guess this shows in my grade.
I must admit, I was at first very disheartened after reading your response, Moid as there was a fair amount of criticism there. However, after thinking more about what you've said I now realise how helpful it actually is. I've never had anyone critically look at my work before. Parents are awful to present work to as they can never say anything harsh enough for me to learn from and my friends are the same. Your response has been a bit of a much needed kick up the arse, to be honest and has helped me to realise that if I want to stand even the slightest chance of achieving my dream then I need to start really pushing myself to be the best that I can be.
Where I really want my career to end up is in the gaming industry, although I do really love animation in general. I've spoken to quite a few people from within the industry at last years Eurogamer Expo and they said that the best way for me to get in through animation would be to not do one of those courses that just advertise themselves and 'gaming' degrees and to go and learn the proper way of animation. So here I am. The main reason I was so interested in Teesside was because of the Animex Expo, but I think that may have blinded me from looking at other universities, and after looking into and comparing Hertfordshire to Teesside I think it's clear that Hert is the much stronger university with far greater career prospects (Which is why we all do these courses anyway!)
After college yesterday I ran out and bought an A4 sketchbook and some pencils, dug out 'The Complete Book of Drawing' by Barrington Barber that's been under my bed for years and started doing some sketches of objects around my room.
I apologise for this massive essay detailing my entire life story, but it's become pretty clear to me that Hertfordshire is the best of the best (I am awful at maths, so BU is not really an option) and since you're one of the interviewers (and if I'm right, lecturer?) there I thought it would be best for me to show you how truly passionate I really am about animation so that you can remember me and my crapiness now and can look back on this when I'm being interviewed next year!
This is not the last you have heard from me!