Should I go for Hertfordshire or Escape Studios for game dev

Hey, I studied Game Art (At De Montfort University) and currently work in industry. I know people who went to Herts and Escape and I don't think there's a bad option here- they both are highly recommended. I think either/or the course content will be good quality.
Herts's course was more animation focused when I went to view the course in 2020, but that may no longer be true. Escape is really specialist - which has it's advantages (generally more industry-specific) but also might make it a more insular university experience. They're also a younger course and university, which can sometimes mean they have less examples of student work, or less developed resources as they have had less time to build them up - but this is speculation and may not actually be true. I hadn't heard of Escape when I was applying to university and it didn't appear during my research, but I later on heard of people that either went there for undergraduates or moved from my course to Escape to do a specialist Masters (i.e. in technical art). Generally I've heard really positive things from people who went there, so again, I think there's no bad answer here.
In general the course you are on does definitely play a role but the amount of personal investment you have is larger, at least in my opinion. The people that do best in these kinds of courses are highly self-motivated, willing to put in extra work and industry research outside of what their course might offer, job search early and often, and seek mentorship, advice and feedback from people in early career positions in industry. You need to be independent, organised, and expect particularly your 2nd and 3rd year to be extremely tough. You need to expect your course to teach you skills to make a good portfolio, but not to guarantee that portfolio, nor to necessarily give you the skills to do an industry job.
Please feel free to reach out to me if there's any way I can be helpful. There's some other student room regulars in this subject area who i'm sure will also jump in on this thread and give you some advice that might be more relevant to these two universities specifically.

Thats awesome advice thank you, I do agree that these things require alot of independent effort and was wondering if either is looked at more favourably by the industry to help? I've definitely found Herts seems to focus on animation but I've also heard Escape can be pretty varied in the amount tutors care, though I do appreciate that probably means far less in university than college, cheers again and I definitely appreciate the advice!

Hey! So I learnt game dev in college and want to keep doing 3d design in uni, I'm definitely best at 3d modelling and will likely focus that over animation or anything and these two are being really highly recommended by my tutors. I've been accepted to escape and only have the interview phase left for Herts so would really appreciate anyone with experience or advice giving any opinions on what would benefit me the best for entering the industry after. Cheers in advance

Hi there, I hope you're well, I'm a Graphic Design Student from Norwich Uni Arts.
My top tip would be to request as many prospectuses as possible from the uni websites so that you can compare course content easily...also open days are a great way to get a feel for unis and ask a lot of questions!
Alternatively, there is a website called UniBuddy in which course-specific student ambassadors from unis are available to chat to and will answer whatever questions you may have!
I hope this helps,
Charlotte, Student Ambassador 🙂

Probably Herts? Again, just because it's been around longer, the course is more well-known, so people with hiring power in industry are more likely to have heard of the uni/know someone who went there.
Try and build good relationships with your lecturers, ultimately when they get offers for opportunities they want to recommend good people for them, so them knowing who you are and knowing you are reliable and putting in the effort will go a long way. Even if you disagree with the way they might teach or offer feedback, it's rarely worth burning your bridges over. I'd say "the amount lecturers care" is very person-to-person and might not reflect your experience.
I'd probably choose Herts over Escape personally but primarily because it's "lower risk" - it's a more established course with a more established reputation. People that are less "games-y" are still likely to have heard of Hertsfordshire uni which might put you in a better position if you ultimately switched industries. I think in terms of course content they are probably fairly comparable - looking over their module content it definitely at least looks to be. And both have good accreditations with Unreal partnership, Rookies, TIGA, etc. which isn't the be all and end all but is generally a good marker that they are in contact with industry professionals and take steps to maintain their course content with modern standards. I stand by there's no bad choice here though - you've clearly done your research. 🙂

That's great thank you! I've heard alot about uni buddy so I'll give it a look and I've been to an open day at Herts, though I haven't yet given escape a look in person so I do plan to do that. I appreciate the advice thank you!

I don't know what grades you've got but, if you haven't got high enough grades to get in one of the universities that was a university before 1992, the following are best regarded for game design, from best to least:
For context, University College London (1st in Europe, 4th in the world, for this subject), then Nottingham, then Imperial College London, are at this level.
Nottingham Trent (origin 1843). 4th best in the UK for this subject. 17th in Europe, 58th in the world.
For context, Manchester, then Kings College London, then Glasgow, then Queen Mary University of London, then Oxford, then Ulster, are at this level for this subject.
Essex (has always been a university - since 1965 - and tends to have more achievable grades than most other universities of its generation).
Sussex (has always been a university - since 1959 - and tends to have more achievable grades than some other universities of its generation).
University of the West of England, Bristol (origin 1595, but you wouldn't know it to look at it. Looks like a university of 1990s origin)
For context, Edinburgh is at this level for this subject.
Bournemouth University (origin early 1900s)
For context, Cambridge is at this level for this subject.
Coventry University (origin 1843)
Plymouth University (origin 1862)
Liverpool John Moores (origin 1823)
Brunel University London (has always been a university (since 1966) but might have more achievable entry grades than some other London universities)
Reading University (has always been a university (since 1892)- it was once classed as a constituent college of Oxford University) and tends to have more achievable grades than even some lower ranked universities for a particular subject than it.
University of East Anglia - always a university (since 1963) and may have more achievable grades than some other universities of its generation.
University of the West of Scotland (origin 1897)
Heriot-Watt (in Edinburgh) Origin 1821.
Portsmouth. Origin 1870.
Salford. Origin 1850.
Manchester Metropolitan. Origin 1824.
Bangor - always a university (since 1885) and has more achievable grades than many universities of its generation.
For context, Durham University is at this level for this subject.
Teesside. Origin 1930. Degrees were originally validated by the University of London.
For context, Exeter is at this level for this subject.
Leicester. Always a university (since 1921). It once had its degrees awarded by the University of London. It tends to have more achievable grades than even some lower ranked universities for a particular subject than it.
East London. Origin 1898.
City, University of London. Origin 1852. University since 1966 with more achievable grades than some other universities of its generation.
For context, St Andrews is at this level for this subject.
Hertfordshire. Origin 1948. 54th out of 76 in the UK, 207th in Europe, 469th in the world, for this subject.
For context, Dundee, origin 1897 as a constituent college of St Andrews, university since 1967, is at this level for this subject.
Source: edurank.org
To work out if you are considering the best available places to you for your grades and requirements:
What are your predicted grades?
Which areas of the UK and Ireland would you consider studying in?

I don't know what grades you've got but, if you haven't got high enough grades to get in one of the universities that was a university before 1992, the following are best regarded for game design, from best to least:
For context, University College London (1st in Europe, 4th in the world, for this subject), then Nottingham, then Imperial College London, are at this level.
Nottingham Trent (origin 1843). 4th best in the UK for this subject. 17th in Europe, 58th in the world.
For context, Manchester, then Kings College London, then Glasgow, then Queen Mary University of London, then Oxford, then Ulster, are at this level for this subject.
Essex (has always been a university - since 1965 - and tends to have more achievable grades than most other universities of its generation).
Sussex (has always been a university - since 1959 - and tends to have more achievable grades than some other universities of its generation).
University of the West of England, Bristol (origin 1595, but you wouldn't know it to look at it. Looks like a university of 1990s origin)
For context, Edinburgh is at this level for this subject.
Bournemouth University (origin early 1900s)
For context, Cambridge is at this level for this subject.
Coventry University (origin 1843)
Plymouth University (origin 1862)
Liverpool John Moores (origin 1823)
Brunel University London (has always been a university (since 1966) but might have more achievable entry grades than some other London universities)
Reading University (has always been a university (since 1892)- it was once classed as a constituent college of Oxford University) and tends to have more achievable grades than even some lower ranked universities for a particular subject than it.
University of East Anglia - always a university (since 1963) and may have more achievable grades than some other universities of its generation.
University of the West of Scotland (origin 1897)
Heriot-Watt (in Edinburgh) Origin 1821.
Portsmouth. Origin 1870.
Salford. Origin 1850.
Manchester Metropolitan. Origin 1824.
Bangor - always a university (since 1885) and has more achievable grades than many universities of its generation.
For context, Durham University is at this level for this subject.
Teesside. Origin 1930. Degrees were originally validated by the University of London.
For context, Exeter is at this level for this subject.
Leicester. Always a university (since 1921). It once had its degrees awarded by the University of London. It tends to have more achievable grades than even some lower ranked universities for a particular subject than it.
East London. Origin 1898.
City, University of London. Origin 1852. University since 1966 with more achievable grades than some other universities of its generation.
For context, St Andrews is at this level for this subject.
Hertfordshire. Origin 1948. 54th out of 76 in the UK, 207th in Europe, 469th in the world, for this subject.
For context, Dundee, origin 1897 as a constituent college of St Andrews, university since 1967, is at this level for this subject.
Source: edurank.org
To work out if you are considering the best available places to you for your grades and requirements:
What are your predicted grades?
Which areas of the UK and Ireland would you consider studying in?

Hey! So I learnt game dev in college and want to keep doing 3d design in uni, I'm definitely best at 3d modelling and will likely focus that over animation or anything and these two are being really highly recommended by my tutors. I've been accepted to escape and only have the interview phase left for Herts so would really appreciate anyone with experience or advice giving any opinions on what would benefit me the best for entering the industry after. Cheers in advance

For accuracy : almost every university listed above as “older” than herts was made a university in 1992 at the same time as Herts
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytechnic_(United_Kingdom)
(also fwiw I wouldn't put any credibility on a ranking website with a methodology based on research and google search analytics - particularly one that ranks LSE for fashion design but doesn't rank UAL:CSM )

Thanks PQ! Again to poke holes in that source, the School of Creative Arts at Hertfordshire (which the 3D Games Art and Design degree is part of) actually began in 1890 and was originally called the St Albans School of Art. The Games Art degree here started in 2006 which makes it one of the older ones in the UK. I don't however think that basing the quality of a course on the age of an institution is the best metric; that comes down to the teaching quality and the industry connections to the courses in question.
I think one of the strengths of our games art degree is that it is part of a programme of 4 degrees and the students collaborate with the other degrees all the time (For example the Concept Art for the design side of games - characters, props and environments, the 3D Animation degree for getting animators to help animate game characters, and also the large music department at Herts who have students who are trained in realtime audio production and create the sounds that make our games projects much more immersive)

Hey! So I learnt game dev in college and want to keep doing 3d design in uni, I'm definitely best at 3d modelling and will likely focus that over animation or anything and these two are being really highly recommended by my tutors. I've been accepted to escape and only have the interview phase left for Herts so would really appreciate anyone with experience or advice giving any opinions on what would benefit me the best for entering the industry after. Cheers in advance