Curious about studying Illustration & Animation - BA (Hons)at Leeds Beckett University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
City CampusC
Full Time
Sep 2027
4 Year
BA (Hons) Illustration & Animation combines powerful visual communication methods into an exciting degree where you’ll explore and develop your distinctive voice and work, in a dynamic creative studio. As part of this course, you’ll also: - Work on inspiring projects to gain a range of conceptual, technical, and research skills - Learn fun and experimental techniques for developing still and moving images into distinctive storytelling - Use the power of image and motion to respond to a range of human and environmental needs - Grow your confidence to initiate your own projects and collaborate with others - Create and facilitate projects for diverse situations, audiences, users, and participants - Build a portfolio of work tailored to your interests and creative identity, positioning you in your preferred professional context
Find out moreSpecialist facilities
Our professional illustration and animation facilities at Leeds School of Arts enable you to explore the tools and processes to refine your project work and expand your knowledge and skills. By engaging with these, you’ll see your portfolio grow and gain a head start in deciding what you want to do after you graduate. Our workshop and process areas will help to prepare you for a variety of work and the demands of today’s creative industries.
Guest lecturesWe run guest lectures, specialist workshops, and live projects throughout the year, both on campus and in conjunction with external organisations. The INSIDE/OUT lecture series brings together some of the most exciting names from the fields of art, architecture, design, fashion, film, music, performing arts, and beyond. You can catch up on previous lectures by visiting the Leeds Arts Research Centre site.
Why study the BA (Hons) Illustration & Animation course at Leeds Beckett University?-
Take a placement year- an opportunity to take a year of paid employment to apply your skills to an area of illustration and animation you're passionate about -
Close links to industry and creative businessesin Leeds, the UK, and beyond - You'll learn from tutors with
extensive professional experience and networks- Study within
one of the largest university arts communitiesin the north -
Develop your specialist skill setwith access to a vast range of ideas, training, and facilities
This module introduces the multidisciplinary practices of image-making across illustration, animation, and visual communication. Through a series of project briefs, you'll explore key concepts, diverse contexts, research methods, and creative processes including ideation, experimentation, testing, and development. You'll build confidence as a proactive learner, developing your ability to generate ideas, respond to feedback, and make effective use of resources and opportunities. Alongside practical work, you'll engage with relevant histories, theories, and case studies that inform contemporary creative practice. As you begin to develop research skills – gathering, analysing, and interpreting information ethically and creatively – you'll begin to formulate your own informed perspectives. You'll also learn to articulate and share your work clearly, building confidence in communicating with peers, collaborators, and potential employers or clients.
This module deepens your understanding of visual language, narrative, and meaning-making across illustration and animation. You'll explore how signs, sequence, and storytelling operate within modern visual communication. Through independent and collaborative projects, you'll experiment with narrative forms and visual systems that respond to diverse audiences and social, cultural, environmental, and political contexts. You'll examine how emerging technologies and contemporary formats expand the possibilities of visual storytelling. A self-initiated project will enable you to develop your own narrative content, testing ideas through research, analysis, and experimentation. You'll begin to position your developing creative voice within wider cultural and socio-political contexts, considering how visual practice can inform, challenge, or transform understanding.
Advance your technical and conceptual skills within more complex areas of illustration and animation practice. During this module, you'll develop portfolio work across varied formats, exploring visual play, systems, identity, and stylistic expression to communicate with impact. You'll refine your research and visual literacy skills, using analysis and experimentation to generate distinctive outcomes. Through studio-based practice, critique, and peer feedback, you'll strengthen your ability to work collaboratively and respond to multiple perspectives. Engagement with Industry connections, live briefs, and professional settings will help you situate your work within contemporary creative practice. You'll critically reflect on your ethical, environmental, and societal positioning while developing greater ownership of your projects and career direction.
This module focuses on agency, context, and specialism. You'll select and negotiate projects that align with your developing interests, applying illustration and animation practices across varied cultural and professional settings. You'll critically reflect on how audience, context, and theoretical frameworks shape meaning and form. Through collaboration, self-initiated opportunities, competitions, and external engagement, you'll test how your work operates beyond the studio. By identifying your strengths and areas of specialism, you'll refine the direction of your portfolio and adapt your practice to different audiences, collaborators, and clients.
This module supports the consolidation of your creative identity and professional direction Through a combination of self-directed, course-led, and external briefs, you'll refine your specialist practice and develop a focused graduate portfolio. You'll negotiate themes and contexts for both critical study and practical work, responding to feedback from tutors and peers. Your work should demonstrate clear research foundations, thoughtful dissemination strategies, and responsible use of resources. By engaging with real-world contexts and professional practices, you'll prepare for employment, freelance work, or postgraduate study, articulating your values and creative positioning with clarity and confidence.
This final module culminates your practical, critical, and professional development. You'll negotiate and realise a significant body of work that demonstrates sustained research, conceptual clarity, and technical resolution. You'll articulate the aims, context, and impact of your projects considering ethical, environmental, and social implications. Your research documentation and final outcomes should communicate a coherent narrative and a confident specialist identity. By integrating self-directed, course-led, and external opportunities, you'll demonstrate your readiness to operate beyond university – presenting a cohesive, research-informed portfolio that engages relevant audiences, collaborators, employers, or clients.
Placement Year Modules
104-112 Grades/points required
Not currently available, please Contact University for up to date information.
4.4Leeds Beckett University is built for ambition, providing a space where academic minds come together to make great thing...
