Where would you study Games Development/IT?

Hi,

Games Development/Design is something I'm really interested in, but I'm also keen on IT in general. Basically if you were me where would you study Games Development or Information Technology? I'm after a university that has a good social-side, nice accommodation and good lectures/teaching resources.

I don't mind where in England it is as I am moving away but I want a degree that is worth more than the paper it is printed on, what organisations are ones to look out for concerning accreditation?

Thanks!

Reply 1

ismailjan3

12

I'm not sure what uni...BUT...imo, it'd be better if you did a degree in Computer Science :smile:

It is kiiinda more respected than a Games Design degree but will easily get you into that field if you wish. Also, Computer Science is a lot more visual and you are taught in a more 'elegant' fashion.
My brother wants to do a degree in Computer Science and plans on joining the game industry.

Kings College is apparently really good for Computer Science.

Reply 2

Origami Bullets

19

What are your predicted grades? What subjects?

Ismailjan3 does have a point with regards to the usefulness of a games design degree. It's a very narrow course, and therefore not very versatile. Unfortunately there are far more games design graduates than there are jobs in games design, so your career options aren't that rosy.

Something broader like computer science will give you more career options but still allow you to go into gaming.

Reply 3

T4KShadow

OP

Thank you both for the responses, and Computer Science is something I'd be willing to study.

But.

The reason I never mentioned it is because the uni's I've looked (University of Birmingham etc.) at all require GCSE Maths at Grade B, where as mine is only a C.

Here's the rest of my qualifications but I don't think any make up for the lack of it which is why I wouldn't even bother applying for it.

- Level 4 HNC Computing & Systems Development (Pass)

- Level 4 NVQ in Professional Competence for IT and Telecoms Professionals (Pass)

- Higher Apprenticeship for IT, Software, Web & Telecoms Professionals

- Level 3 BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners (Software Development) Grade (DMM)

- GCSE Maths Grade (C)
GCSE English Grade (C)
GCSE French Grade (C)
GCSE Science Grade (B)

- OCR Level 2 National First Award in ICT (Distinction)

- Level 2 Functional Skills in English
Level 2 Functional Skills in Maths
Level 2 Functional Skillls in ICT

If it makes a difference I'm 20 and currently employed so there's no chance to resit anything :smile:

Reply 4

Origami Bullets

19

Original post by T4KShadow

Thank you both for the responses, and Computer Science is something I'd be willing to study.

But.

The reason I never mentioned it is because the uni's I've looked (University of Birmingham etc.) at all require GCSE Maths at Grade B, where as mine is only a C.

Here's the rest of my qualifications but I don't think any make up for the lack of it which is why I wouldn't even bother applying for it.

- Level 4 HNC Computing & Systems Development (Pass)

- Level 4 NVQ in Professional Competence for IT and Telecoms Professionals (Pass)

- Higher Apprenticeship for IT, Software, Web & Telecoms Professionals

- Level 3 BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners (Software Development) Grade (DMM)

- GCSE Maths Grade (C)
GCSE English Grade (C)
GCSE French Grade (C)
GCSE Science Grade (B)

- OCR Level 2 National First Award in ICT (Distinction)

- Level 2 Functional Skills in English
Level 2 Functional Skills in Maths
Level 2 Functional Skillls in ICT

If it makes a difference I'm 20 and currently employed so there's no chance to resit anything :smile:

You'd be sending in a non-standard application, so your best option is going to be to send an email to universities that you're interested in, telling them
- what course you'd like to apply for
- what qualifications you've got
- how old you would be when you would wish to start your course (21 is an important cut off age for these things as you are classed as a mature student for entry purposes at 21).
- and asking them, if your qualifications are not enough, what else you would need to do to meet their entry requirements.
Then gauge their reactions to your enquiries to work out whether or not it's worth you sending in an application.

Send your emails into a range of universities - then you'll find the limits of where you can go with your qualifications.

Reply 5

vcolumna

city brighton or Hull Unis?

Reply 6

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Origami Bullets

Ismailjan3 does have a point with regards to the usefulness of a games design degree. It's a very narrow course, and therefore not very versatile. Unfortunately there are far more games design graduates than there are jobs in games design, so your career options aren't that rosy.

Something broader like computer science will give you more career options but still allow you to go into gaming.

I do wonder if games development is the forensic science of our times.

When CSI came along, a lot of universities re-badged general science degrees that were struggling to recruit as forensic science. They became enormously popular until people realised that you had about as much chance of a career in forensics with one of them as with a joint honours degree in law and dance.

One sees on TSR an awful lot of people with shaky academic performances wanting to read for a degree in games design. I suspect the vast majority of them attend schools and colleges without great university entrance/careers support.

I have no idea what the average entry into the profession is in the UK but I suspect it isn't large and it must be harder being hired to run the IT set up in an SME or become part of a large commercial IT team with a games degree. Where do games design graduates actually end up?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 7

Origami Bullets

19

Original post by nulli tertius

I do wonder if games development is the forensic science of our times.

When CSI came along, a lot of universities re-badged general science degrees that were struggling to recruit as forensic science. They became enormously popular until people realised that you had about as much chance of a career in forensics with one of them as with a joint honours degree in law and dance.

One sees on TSR an awful lot of people with shaky academic performances wanting to read for a degree in games design. I suspect the vast majority of them attend schools and colleges without great university entrance/careers support.

I have no idea what the average entry into the profession is in the UK but I suspect it isn't large and it must be harder being hired to run the IT set up in an SME or become part of a large commercial IT team with a games degree. Where do games design graduates actually end up?

Indeed. Games design always strikes me (perhaps unfairly, perhaps not) as a degree that is taken by teenage boys who like playing on their xbox and who feel expected to go to uni but don't know what to do. It keeps people off the unemployment statistics for three years and seems to confer relatively few other benefits.

I can't say I've come across a lot of people with a (or who admit to) forensic science degree. Though one that sticks it in my mind is from when I was temping in the catering trade. I had a chef who was himself particularly thick (as in, IQ of about 70 if I'm generous) and from a background where higher education clearly wasn't the norm. A nephew of his had done a forensic science degree and never got a grad job. Unfortunately, this had convinced the chef (and, no doubt, other family members) that uni in general was a waste of time. So all the forensic science degree had achieved in the broader sense was making it harder to recruit working class students in future. As someone involved offline in widening participation, this strikes me as a great shame.

Media studies was perhaps the even older version - vast numbers of graduates who thought they were going onto glittering careers in the media that simply didn't exist, when employers preferred English / history / politics / MFL graduates anyway.

It is almost a cruel deception on the part of schools, universities and the government itself to give people utterly unrealistic views of career prospects. If people know, they can make their choices in accordance with that knowledge. If you decimate school career advice, then it's unsurprising that you find yourself in a situation where young people don't understand what careers are on offer, as various people have complained about in the papers.

It's all just dreadfully sad in a way :frown:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 8

T4KShadow

OP

Thanks for the replies, you've made it clear to me that Games Development is not the way to go! :ta:

So I've been looking at Computer Science courses and really like the sound of Birmingham University, does anybody have any recommendations on where to study Computer Science then?

(Also emailed them regarding the entry requirements, waiting on a response :smile:

)

Reply 9

Origami Bullets

19

Original post by T4KShadow

Thanks for the replies, you've made it clear to me that Games Development is not the way to go! :ta:

So I've been looking at Computer Science courses and really like the sound of Birmingham University, does anybody have any recommendations on where to study Computer Science then?

(Also emailed them regarding the entry requirements, waiting on a response :smile:

)

Not really my area at all (I'm a politics student). However, I believe Southampton is meant to be good for these things.

You may like to consider doing a foundation year. Not all unis offer them, but they can be a fantastic way to get into a uni that wouldn't otherwise be open to you. Examples include
- http://www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/search2014/courseswithafoundationyear/00660/science-with-an-integrated-foundation-year-4-or-5-years/
- http://www.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/coursefinder/courses/80044.html
- http://www.liv.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/computer-science-bsc-hons-foundation-4-year-route-with-carmel-college/overview/

Reply 10

KindofGood

7

Original post by T4KShadow

Thank you both for the responses, and Computer Science is something I'd be willing to study.

But.

The reason I never mentioned it is because the uni's I've looked (University of Birmingham etc.) at all require GCSE Maths at Grade B, where as mine is only a C.

Here's the rest of my qualifications but I don't think any make up for the lack of it which is why I wouldn't even bother applying for it.

- Level 4 HNC Computing & Systems Development (Pass)

- Level 4 NVQ in Professional Competence for IT and Telecoms Professionals (Pass)

- Higher Apprenticeship for IT, Software, Web & Telecoms Professionals

- Level 3 BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners (Software Development) Grade (DMM)

- GCSE Maths Grade (C)
GCSE English Grade (C)
GCSE French Grade (C)
GCSE Science Grade (B)

- OCR Level 2 National First Award in ICT (Distinction)

- Level 2 Functional Skills in English
Level 2 Functional Skills in Maths
Level 2 Functional Skillls in ICT

If it makes a difference I'm 20 and currently employed so there's no chance to resit anything :smile:

Apply for the same course but at a lower university with lower requirements. You can still do the degree.

Where would you study Games Development/IT?

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