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Model Making & Visual FX

The Northern School of Art

UCAS Code: W614 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

The Northern School of Art

UCAS Code: W614 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

A level

C,C,C-B,B,C

Successfully complete Access to HE Diploma

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMM-DMM

Successfully complete Foundation Diploma

T Level

Pass (C and above)

UCAS Tariff

96-112

UCAS tariff points can be made up of a mixture of Level 3 qualifications.

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

groups

Present a portfolio

image

About this course

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2026

Subject

Technical theatre studies

The BA (Hons) Model Making & Visual FX degree here at The Northern School of Art has been developed directly with our industry partners, who include visual effects artists, miniature effects designers and model makers. Our programme teaches students to combine creativity with high levels of technical ability, developing practical workshop techniques with digital skills to help students secure employment in the screen Industries and beyond. As an industry focused course, we have worked with a range of organisations and professional freelancers including: Aardman Animation, Industrial Light & Magic, Alpha Star Productions, Sea and Sky Pictures and Proto Digital Production Facility and more!

The practical skills you will learn on this course are relevant to a wide range of careers, including film and television prop making, puppet and character development for stop frame animation, animatronics and automata for exhibition, concept models for the games industry, model making and design for theatre, architectural model making, prototyping for industrial designers, interactive exhibition models and photographic props for advertising.

You will learn not only traditional technical skills, such as sculpting, mould making and model making but also digital skills, including digital scanning and 3D printing with industry-standard software and equipment.

Working alongside complementary programmes in the stage and screen faculty you will work on a number of collaborative projects. Enhancing productions through your creativity e.g making a miniature-model establishing shot, digital set extension or augmenting a practical prop with some visual flourishes. By the end of the three-year course, you will have produced a showreel and portfolio of models composited into VFX sequences and settings.

Modules

In your first year (Level 4):
- Visual Communication
- Core Workshop Skills
- Creative Thinking
- Design Process
- Industry Awareness
- Production 1

In your second year (Level 5):
- Action Props
- Transformative Techniques
- Professional Practice
- Creative Discussion
- Production 2

In your third year (Level 6):
- Project Research and Preparation
- Dissertation Report
- Final Major Project
- Final Show and Portfolio

Assessment methods

In course assessment. Each module is assessed upon completion and given a percentage mark.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,535
per year
England
£9,535
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,535
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,535
per year
Scotland
£9,535
per year
Wales
£9,535
per year

The Uni

Course location:

The Northern School of Art

Department:

Higher Education

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

90%
Technical theatre studies

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Drama

Teaching and learning

95%
Staff make the subject interesting
96%
Staff are good at explaining things
94%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
98%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

98%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
99%
Course specific equipment and facilities
79%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

After graduation

The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Technical theatre studies

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£19,500
low
Average annual salary

Top job areas of graduates

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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