Games art and design course at NUA gains official industry backing

The BA Games Art and Design degree course at Norwich University of the Arts has been highlighted by the games industry as one of the best courses in its field, offering exceptional standards of training and awarded the Creative Skillset Tick.

The course has received formal accreditation from Creative Skillset – the industry body that supports skills and training for people in the creative industries – becoming only the fourth accredited BA course in the country and the first offered by a specialist institution.

Devised in consultation with industry and education providers, the accreditation scheme has gained the backing of over 50 companies from the UK games industry. It recognises practice-based courses that provide students with all the technical and production skills, experience and abilities they need to succeed in the workplace.

In order to obtain the accolade NUA's degree course was rigorously assessed by industry professionals, who acknowledged the course's Games Industry Liaison Group; projects set and critiqued by industry; and staff attendance and networking at industry events and master-classes. The accreditation panel was also impressed by the course's outstanding success in last year's Dare to be Digital competition, a national student games design competition which was won by a team led by students of the course. The students went on to win a BAFTA award this year for their iPad game Tick Tock Toys which is now in development for release through the Apple App Store.

Creative Skillset chief executive Dinah Caine said: "We are delighted to award this creative and industry focused course with the Creative Skillset Tick. The BA Games Art and Design has a strong art-based ethos which, along with its practice-based curriculum, encourages individual creativity and innovation. These are key skills and attributes which employers look for in graduates."

Keith Bartlett, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Media at NUA, says: "The BA Games Art and Design course has developed a close relationship with the UK games industry, in particular with companies such as Blitz, Crytec, Jagex and Mindshapes. Industry involvement guides the curriculum, the programme of guest lecturers and resources used by students.

"The course also boasts Apple University Developer Status which enables students to use cutting edge software to create apps and games for iOS platforms. We welcome the Creative Skillset accreditation which confirms what we already know, that this course is providing gold-standard training for graduating games artists who are going on to work on some of the top releases in the UK games industry."