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Is the animation course at Westminster good?

I'll be joining the animation course at Westminster in September and want to know how students find the course, I'm interested in 2D animation and would like to know your experiences. Also your experience with the University in general.

Reply 1

I'm a 3rd year student and I love the course. The tutors all have different things to offer and you learn so much. They teach you lots of things in first and second year, which helps you specialize in a specific area. We are given the opportunity to collaborate and are offered lots of options for work experience. ( I was colour artist for a 3rd year film, and helped animate a scene in a film at the royal collage of art.) In 3rd year you also get the chance to go to Aardam animation studios to learn about the industry.(where they made walce and gromit) At the end of each year you have a major film you make and both my first and second year major films have been screened at festivals all over the world. The university in general is great and I have been offered many opportunities to get involved, including a FAN (Friend of arriving new student) student ambassador, course representative, student ambassador, promotional staff and I helped run the student elections. It's been the best 3 years!!

Reply 2

Original post
by Charlotte_f98
I'm a 3rd year student and I love the course. The tutors all have different things to offer and you learn so much. They teach you lots of things in first and second year, which helps you specialize in a specific area. We are given the opportunity to collaborate and are offered lots of options for work experience. ( I was colour artist for a 3rd year film, and helped animate a scene in a film at the royal collage of art.) In 3rd year you also get the chance to go to Aardam animation studios to learn about the industry.(where they made walce and gromit) At the end of each year you have a major film you make and both my first and second year major films have been screened at festivals all over the world. The university in general is great and I have been offered many opportunities to get involved, including a FAN (Friend of arriving new student) student ambassador, course representative, student ambassador, promotional staff and I helped run the student elections. It's been the best 3 years!!

Thank you so much, I've been wondering how students felt in this particular course because there isn't much recent feedback.
(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 3

Original post
by Charlotte_f98
I'm a 3rd year student and I love the course. The tutors all have different things to offer and you learn so much. They teach you lots of things in first and second year, which helps you specialize in a specific area. We are given the opportunity to collaborate and are offered lots of options for work experience. ( I was colour artist for a 3rd year film, and helped animate a scene in a film at the royal collage of art.) In 3rd year you also get the chance to go to Aardam animation studios to learn about the industry.(where they made walce and gromit) At the end of each year you have a major film you make and both my first and second year major films have been screened at festivals all over the world. The university in general is great and I have been offered many opportunities to get involved, including a FAN (Friend of arriving new student) student ambassador, course representative, student ambassador, promotional staff and I helped run the student elections. It's been the best 3 years!!

Hi i might go to westminster, how is the uni lecture rooms/lab rooms like and the accommodation and night life as well?

Reply 4

Original post
by Cherith Grace
I'll be joining the animation course at Westminster in September and want to know how students find the course, I'm interested in 2D animation and would like to know your experiences. Also your experience with the University in general.


Hi there,

To connect with students who are studying the same course as you or at the University of Westminster in general, you can connect either through the student union here https://www.uwsu.com/ or through Global Community page https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-university/global-westminster/global-community

Best wishes and good luck! :smile:

James
Course Enquiries Team

Reply 5

Currently studying 'Animation' at Westminster Uni - and there has been very little animation taught on it. DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU WANT TO LEARN ANIMATION, I can't say that loud enough!! I regret coming here and unfortunately I have no choice but to see it through - However I do not want other prospective students to make the same mistake and be misled into taking a place here, some students have left or are leaving because the syllabus and module options are all mostly graphic design based. For example, Stop-Motion is now an optional module in the final year in its place are worthless industry modules that have nothing to do with the Film and TV industry and are tailored to the Illustration and Graphic Design courses. 75% of lecturers and lectures are of a poor standard. For the 1st year students already on this course, I would see if you can transfer because it doesn't get better and it has not been worth the tuition fee. I've heard good things about Bristol and AUB, but whatever you choose, avoid this course.

Reply 6

Original post
by Anonymous #1
Currently studying 'Animation' at Westminster Uni - and there has been very little animation taught on it. DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU WANT TO LEARN ANIMATION, I can't say that loud enough!! I regret coming here and unfortunately I have no choice but to see it through - However I do not want other prospective students to make the same mistake and be misled into taking a place here, some students have left or are leaving because the syllabus and module options are all mostly graphic design based. For example, Stop-Motion is now an optional module in the final year in its place are worthless industry modules that have nothing to do with the Film and TV industry and are tailored to the Illustration and Graphic Design courses. 75% of lecturers and lectures are of a poor standard. For the 1st year students already on this course, I would see if you can transfer because it doesn't get better and it has not been worth the tuition fee. I've heard good things about Bristol and AUB, but whatever you choose, avoid this course.
That's really unfortunate to hear... I'm putting Westminster down as my insurance choice. I see you posted this a month ago, any updates on how the course is going?

Reply 7

It's still bad, you will get to learn zero about animation techniques and do very little animating - if ever! All you will be offered is graphic design-based modules, The course leader will make a lot of promises and big up this course but will deliver nothing and then ghost you once they've got your tuition fee. All the stuff I've learned has been mainly self-taught, some other students have had to resort to paying for external animation courses to learn what we are meant to be learning!! It's a disgrace, AVOID THIS COURSE. I hope you get into your 1st choice so you won't have the misfortune of being conned by this Uni.

Reply 8

Original post
by Anonymous #1
It's still bad, you will get to learn zero about animation techniques and do very little animating - if ever! All you will be offered is graphic design-based modules, The course leader will make a lot of promises and big up this course but will deliver nothing and then ghost you once they've got your tuition fee. All the stuff I've learned has been mainly self-taught, some other students have had to resort to paying for external animation courses to learn what we are meant to be learning!! It's a disgrace, AVOID THIS COURSE. I hope you get into your 1st choice so you won't have the misfortune of being conned by this Uni.
Well thanks for the warning 😭 glad to have seen this thread!!

Reply 9

Original post
by JoeP32111
Hi i might go to westminster, how is the uni lecture rooms/lab rooms like and the accommodation and night life as well?
Hi, I'm an alumnus and really enjoyed my time there. Harrow halls are amazing, I lived there all 3 years and the closeness to campus and a tube station made me feel super safe walking home late ( I'm a woman so feeling safe is super important) there is a nightclub that is open every Monday on campus so like was nice and I heard lots of people went clubbing around London so I'm sure the night life is great (I did relly go clubing after my first year, but I knew a lot of people that did). The professors and facilities are great, Harrow Library is open 24/7, and the labs are open till at least 9.

Reply 10

Original post
by Cherith Grace
I'll be joining the animation course at Westminster in September and want to know how students find the course, I'm interested in 2D animation and would like to know your experiences. Also your experience with the University in general.

Hi!

I graduated a few years ago and funnily enough, Westminster was not my first choice - UAL was. I was accepted to UAL, but I decided to go to my Westminster interview just to see what was up. And I'm forever glad I did. That interview blindsided me and lowkey changed my life 🤣 I met some of the best tutors and tried things I would have not even considered.

I was able to learn the principles through traditional animation as a solid base, and then able to experiment with stop motion, cut out, motion graphics etc. And even not being interested is some aspects, they've all become relevant in my career, so I'm always grateful!

I decided about halfway through my undergraduate to look into 3D animation more and was fully supported in my choice, with tutors setting up extra classes for the students interested, despite group being very small, (5ish of us) as most wanted to do handrawn. And I really appreciated no matter what someone decided to do- even if they were they only one- they were provided with the support to do it- even out of hours. :'D

I was introduced to so many events and animation Festivals around the world that the university took me to- and when I would talk to animation students from other courses, I realised that not many other unis were taking their students out of the country for other perspectives on animation, and we were quite lucky. I still frequent Animation Festivals like because of them! And France's Annecy Festival is massive for animation but barely any students outside of westminster had heard of it, which is crazy to me🙃

All in all, I'm incredibly grateful to have gone there and I would definitely recommend you to try it!

Harrow is a bit boring🤣 but it's easy to get to central London, and Westminster has many campuses- there's always something going on- make good use of your all-access!

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