UWL uni games/animation undergraduate course

I’d like to ask any current students on this course in the University of west london why this course doesn’t require a portfolio?
I’m interested in applying for the course to start in 2026 but was confused when I asked and they informed me that they don’t currently require a portfolio to enter.

Does an art course not need to assess your prior skill and knowledge/ interest aside from your college grades?
And what is the course like in terms of weekly lessons for current students?
Thanks

Not asking for your portfolio is a huge red flag to me personally. It usually means they are undersubscribed and keen to pad numbers and not particularly concerned about your skill level. I would be very wary. Have you visited them at an open day?
Why are you considering this university over others? Is it proximity? Are you open to some other suggestions?
I work in games and completed a games art degree, let me know if I can be any further help.

I’m also applying for a vfx course for the same uni (uwl) and that course requires a portfolio so i was just confused why other courses in the arts subject needs a portfolio but not games/animation there.

I don’t have many other uni options unfortunately apart from UWL as it’s the closest. Since i’m not going to be getting accommodation since it’s expensive.

Sure. Please consider applying for Escape Studios (about a 1 hour commute distance from UWL) if you're serious about working in the games industry. They are probably my top pick for games education in the London area.
Getting a degree is expensive in tuition fees alone. You want to make sure that you're getting ~29k worth of knowledge and skills. I would not feel hugely confident you're going to get that value for money.
The VFX course seems immediately preferable if you're really dead-set on UWL - they require a portfolio and have a visual showreel of student work. (Which I think frankly is the bare minimum). Some of the examples aren't great but it's better than nothing at all. VFX in Film/TV is a whole separate industry and not one I know a lot about.
All of the focus on the games page seems to be around their facilities ... but their lecturers seem to have a couple indie games between them and not an awful lot of working in an established studio. The course also seems incredibly generalist - a bit of design, a bit of modelling, a bit of animation, a bit of programming - you're going to leave OK at all of them - a "jack of all trades" which probably means your only route will be indie/freelance too. You need a really solid foundation of one discipline to get an entry-level role in an established (AA or AAA) studio - they tend to be much more specialist - they would much rather you were excellent at one of them. I'd ask yourself whether you'd be OK with freelance and indie development as your outcome and do some research into whether the logistics of starting your own company (or working for a start-up) is something that appeals to you.

Thank you for the information, i did consider escape studios at first however the commute distance is just too far for me to be able to travel consistently at for the course and expensive.

So far i’ve just considered, UWL, Royal holloway (video games art and design) and University of Roehampton (animation) as these are my other options in terms of distance in case some choices go wrong