BSc (Hons) Game Programming

Whether it's the fun of Super Mario or the horror of Resident Evil that amaze you, this is your chance to convert your passion for playing games into knowledge about how to create them.

You'll get the most out of our course if you come with an interest in all kinds of games as you will explore, design, and create games for multiple different purposes and areas.

This programme is created with industry focused direction and allows you to work towards specialism within the game programming field. Our course will equip you, like many of our successful graduates, for a role in the expanding game industry. We're justly proud of the originality and quality of our students' work. By the end of your course, you should be playing a game you developed yourself - and hopefully following in the footsteps of the many UEL graduates now making their mark in the games industry.

You can also take this course with a foundation year (FY), which means it will take you four years to complete the course full-time.

In your first term of the first year, you will explore the three core areas of games development. This is to allow you to get an idea of each field and make an informed decision, of an area that interest you. Within the second term, the course branches off and will develop your fundamental programming skills by introducing you to C++ (the primary language used within game programming), you will also learn and develop your understanding within maths and physics and its application within programming for games. Alongside this you work within a simulated studio environment to help develop your soft skills such as working in a diverse team, introducing you to project management methods and working towards a creative vision.

In your second year, you will explore specialised areas within the game programming such as AI programming and graphics programming. Exploring these specialisms will give you an informed decision on what area you wish to pursue when progressing further within the course. In the second term, you will have another simulated studio environment experience, with an emphasis on completing and publishing a small-to-medium scale game project as a multidisciplinary team but working within a specialised role. You will begin to develop your online presence and identity, learn how to market yourself for potential internship and employment opportunities as well starting to develop your portfolio into the area of game programming you wish to enter upon completion of the course.

In your final year, you’ll complete a final project that will allow you to further explore and experiment within your chosen field. You will also explore advanced programming practices which includes using modern C++ features. Spanning both first and second term, you will have your simulated studio environment experience, with an emphasis on completing and publishing a polished medium scale game project as a multidisciplinary team. In a separate module, you will develop items for your personal portfolio that will showcase your skills and experiences within your chosen specialism, tailored towards the area of game programming you wish to enter when you graduate.

• Tawjihi: 60% for Foundation
• 3 x AS Levels: Foundation
• US High School Diploma: GPA 2.0 for Foundation
• US High School Diploma: GPA 3.0 + SAT1 1070 for Direct Entry to Bachelor's
• International Baccalaureate (IB): 25 points with minimum 15 at Higher Level for Direct Entry to Bachelor's
• 3 x A Levels: Direct Entry to Bachelor's

We believe our courses are ideal preparation for a career in the games industry - and we can point to a couple of BAFTAs to back it up.

After graduating with a computer games degree here, Ashraf Mohammad started working with Rocksteady as a games tester. He has gone on to work on the Batman series of games and was a member of the team who won the 'Best Gameplay' and 'Best Game' BAFTAs for Batman: Arkham Asylum.

He is just one in a long list of our graduates who have made a real impact in the industry. For instance, in the last five years, two have featured in Develop Magazine's list of the industry's top 30 most promising young talents.

One of our alumni, Richard Hamer is currently appointed as lead designer at Sago Mini. Ryan Wiltshire is another graduate who has led several game development teams in different companies and has started his own game studio. Another graduate, Ravina Sahota recently graduated and is now working as a junior level designer at Ubisoft Reflections.

Our students have varying post-graduate interests. Some students choose to work as programmers, software developers and testers in a wide range of companies while some others prefer to start their own independent studios.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.