Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Illustration and Animation

at Anglia Ruskin University - Cambridge Campus United Kingdom

At ARU, we’re helping to develop the next generation of business practitioners and thinkers.

We know that your future career is important and you want to build your CV. Taking real-world challenges as your starting point, you’ll get the chance to put your practical skills to the test and stand out to employers. We’ll encourage you to grab every opportunity for real-world experience – there’s even the chance to spend a year on placement.

In the Faculty of Business and Law, you’ll immerse yourself in a multicultural environment where technology blends with teaching to create a dynamic and innovative learning environment.

With a career in events management, a world of possibilities awaits you. You could go on to be a top events and marketing manager or event organiser, a skilled PR executive or maybe even a wedding planner – the choice is yours.

Create a diverse portfolio of work that will prepare you for the modern collaborative creative industries, whether you want to make soundtracks for films and games, manage sound for podcasts and live broadcasts, or perform as a DJ.

Our BA (Hons) Music and Sound Production degree will allow you access to industry-standard equipment for recording, mixing, editing and production, giving you valuable practice in working as a professional producer or sound engineer.

As well as advancing your understanding of digital audio theory, MIDI, and sound synthesis, you’ll move beyond move beyond the native mixers, processors and plugins in commercial DAWs towards higher-quality external processors, such as digital signal processing-based plugins and analogue outboard.

As a student at ARU in Cambridge, many of your modules will be shared with our other music courses, giving you the chance to collaborate with different students and develop all-important skills for your professional life, such as teamworking and time management. You’ll also have opportunities to work with students on our film and computer game degrees, creating soundtracks for their projects.

Our optional modules allow you to shape the course for your chosen career. For example, Music Business will develop and broaden your entrepreneurial skills for the modern music industry, with teaching by professionals who have extensive industry experience, and visiting speakers contributing specialist knowledge. Electronics for Music will introduce you to the analysis and design of electronic circuits, small-signal and power amplifiers, and the problems of noise, interference and distortion, helping you evaluate, select, design and test audio electronic equipment for use in your creative projects.

You’ll learn to tell stories which engage audiences, whether you want to write poetry, drama, short fiction, or make films and documentaries. You’ll explore and develop professional writing techniques related to film including screenwriting and film journalism.

You’ll get invaluable feedback on all of your creative writing work from professional writers, including our teaching staff and Royal Literary Fund fellows, as well as your fellow students. This will offer you the unique opportunity to consider a range of responses to your work, as well as sharpening your own critical skills.

Investigating filmmaking practices from all over the world, and learning the language of film from the perspective of a filmmaker, you’ll make your own short films in video, animation or 16mm format, with full training in camera operation, sound recording and editing from professional filmmakers. If you specialise in filmmaking, you’ll put your well-practised skills to the test in a project that, once complete, will be screened at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse. The best may also be selected for showing at the Cambridge Film Festival. You’ll learn to write knowledgeably and critically about film, giving you even more opportunities to get involved in Cambridge’s exciting arts scene.

Our optional modules allow you to further explore your interests or specialise for a particular career. In Years 2 and 3, you can also learn a language on our Anglia Language Programme and what’s more, you can choose to study abroad as part of your course and expand your cultural horizons and apply for funding to cover the cost.

Our links with local and national organisations will help you make contacts and find work placements in the industry. Our recent students have found internships and placements with companies such as the BBC, Cambridge Festival of Ideas, Film & Video Umbrella, Cannes Film Festival, Cambridge Film Festival, Take One magazine, Watersprite Film Festival, CBBC, ITN Productions, London Studios, MTV, New York Film Academy, Pinewood Studios, StudioCanal UK (formerly Optimum Releasing) and Sight & Sound magazine. You can also take an optional placement year.

Accredited by TIGA, our Computer Games Art degree will allow you to develop art skills relevant to the fast-moving computer games industry. You’ll gain 3D computer games skills including modelling, texturing and animation, enabling you to create characters, environments and more.

During your studies, you’ll discover how you can use your visual research, creative experimentation and technical development to forge a career as a computer games artist. You’ll learn how to plan your designs by creating concept art before bringing them to life using interactive software such as Unity 3D.

ARU is the place to be for studying Computer Games Art. The East of England has 135 active games companies, with Cambridge home to developers including Jagex, Frontier Developments and Ninja Theory, who are currently building a new base on Newmarket Road complete with a gaming pub.

Our Computer Games Art course scored 92% for ‘The Teaching on my Course’ in the National Student Survey 2019.

By studying Computer Games Art at ARU, you’ll get the chance to improve your prospects with live briefs and guest speakers from tech giants like Sony, Jagex and Frontier.

Our flexible modules allow you to explore different aspects of digital art, helping you specialise and future-proof your career. And with TIGA accreditation, this course gives you a badge of excellence to show future employers too.

We're also partners with the Global Science & Technology Forum, giving you access to cutting-edge research materials.

During your time at ARU, you’ll receive ongoing support to find placements and work experience relevant to your Computer Games Art and you can take an optional placement year. In recent times, ARM, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Frontier and Just Flight have all offered internships and work opportunities to ARU students.

Our Zoology BSc (Hons) course will see you joining the likes of Charles Darwin, Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall and David Attenborough in exploring and explaining the diversity of animals from all over the globe.

You’ll build an understanding and skill-set in anatomy and physiology, behaviour, genetics, ecology and evolution, and the importance of wildlife conservation.

As part of your studies, you’ll get the opportunity to learn hands-on zoology skills – with plenty of time in our labs in Cambridge, as well as on field trips around the UK and beyond. Develop the scientific training and practical skills you need for a career in wildlife conservation, environmental consultancy or in zoos.

Recognised by the Royal Society of Biology, our BSc (Hons) Zoology degree is a practical subject with plenty of opportunity to learn and practise new skills, both in the lab and out in the field.

Take part in cutting-edge research in our specialist labs, closely linked to Cambridge University, and study zoology in marine and terrestrial systems, in both laboratory and field settings.

There’s an opportunity to join paid field trips too. You could experience rutting red deer on the island of Rum, investigate world-class zoos in the Netherlands, study practical marine biology in Scotland, dive in the Red Sea or even spend time learning about ecology and conservation in Africa. We also offer an optional placement year as part of your Zoology degree.

Fast becoming a world centre for wildlife conservation, Cambridge is home to Fauna and Flora International, Birdlife International and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. During your time with us, you’ll have opportunities to attend lectures and visit specialist museums and libraries in the University of Cambridge.

As a student here, you’ll learn from staff who are involved in field and captive studies internationally and in the UK, and have research links with a range of organisations including some of Britain's most respected zoos.

Explore professional writing techniques and learn to write compelling narratives whether you want to write poetry, drama, short fiction, news, features, or something else. You’ll improve your writing skills with invaluable feedback from professional writers, and workshops with your fellow students.

You’ll also find out how English literature is shaped by its historical and cultural context, and how, in turn, it influences individual readers and the whole of society. You’ll also learn about many other subjects, including history, politics, religion, psychology and history of art, which will enrich your writing. Your deeper understanding of literary texts will improve your abilities as a writer.

You can tailor your Writing and English Literature degree to your ideal career with our wide range of optional modules, including work-based modules in Years 2 and 3. We’ll support you to find work placements relevant to your chosen career. You can also take an optional placement year.

You’ll also have the option to learn a language with our Anglia Language Programme in Years 2 and 3, and/or study abroad for a semester and apply for funding to help cover the cost.

You’ll develop many skills besides writing, including literacy, communication, research, creative thinking, self-reliance and teamwork, all of which can help you start a career in many different areas.

As a BA (Hons) Criminology and Policing student at ARU, we’ll help you work towards your career goals from day one.

Through our relationship with regional police forces and practitioners, you’ll have opportunities to engage with professionals from the criminal justice sector through guest lectures (including those organised by our Policing Institute for the Eastern Region, workshop events, study trips and research projects.

You may also have opportunities to work closely with local police forces. A recent student project, sponsored by Cambridge Constabulary, carried out research on police officer demographics and recruitment.

You’ll learn from staff with real-world experience: a significant part of your teaching in some modules will be delivered by policing and criminal justice practitioners such as former and active Crime Scene Investigators. Our criminology lecturers are active researchers with experience of working on real-life crimes with the police. You can also choose to an optional placement year.

We’ll support you to get involved in justice causes and campaigns, charities and voluntary work that contributes to civic duty so you can gain relevant experience in the criminal justice system. You’ll also boost your CV as you become proficient in critical analysis, research and communication.

You’ve always liked the idea of helping people. Of supporting them to make positive changes in their lives. Our British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited Psychology with Clinical Psychology degree course can help you do just that.

Together, we’ll explore the main principles of psychology, with a strong focus on clinical and developmental psychology, mental health, and therapies and interventions. You’ll also develop the scientific, analytical and research skills you need to become a psychologist.

By studying psychology at ARU, you’ll immerse yourself in the science of mind and behaviour – and take the first step towards a career as a chartered psychologist.

Our BSc (Hons) Psychology with Clinical Psychology degree will help you understand people: their behaviour, emotions and thoughts.

It will also broaden your understanding of illness and healthcare, as you consider the links between psychological disorders and people’s overall health and wellbeing. We’ll look at how you can assess the whole person through observation, interviews, tests and research. We’ll also learn about treatments in areas such as clinical psychology and cognitive neuropsychology.

You’ll learn from expert tutors who are actively engaged in research work. And you can take advantage of our specialist facilities too, including laboratories for measuring electrical activity in the brain, eye movement, psychoneuroimmunology, emotions and communication, psychometrics, and much more.

Outside of the lab, there’s the chance to join weekly seminars from guest speakers and take an optional placement year.

After graduation, you’ll be ready to continue your professional training and prepare for a career in clinical psychology.

Psychology degrees at ARU:

This is just one of the undergraduate psychology degrees that we offer in Cambridge. You can also choose to study BSc (Hons) Psychology, or explore both psychology and criminology.

On our BA (Hons) Acting degree at ARU you will get involved in extensive live work on stage in both the studio and theatre. You’ll develop techniques for acting on screen and also for live environments. You will also gain experience with new technologies and alternative platforms for acting, enabling you to be a dynamic and responsive actor prepared for a career in the ever-evolving creative industries. This may include the use of green screens, immersive live and virtual environments, live streams to remote audiences and acting for online applications.

You’ll focus on the progression in your own skills and abilities, growing into a confident and versatile performer. In the first year we’ll focus on performances for an in-house audience, initial training in voice and movement skills and an introduction to acting for screen. In the second year you’ll work on large-scale ensemble public productions and experimentation with new technologies for performance. In the final year, Immersive Performance and a final Showcase will allow you to demonstrate your high-level skills in acting.

Your degree will see you choosing from a range of career-focused optional modules, completing a 100% practical Major Project, and graduating with a professionally produced showreel and portfolio.

As a BA (Hons) Acting student at ARU, you’ll develop your technical and production skills in our specialist facilities. Our technical staff will be on hand to offer help and support.

Study Philosophy and English literature together and learn to make your point of view stand out with substance, as well as style.

You’ll consider big questions such as ‘Who are we?’, ‘What can we know?’, and ‘What should we do to lead worthwhile lives?’ and discover how great minds have tried to answer them.

Alongside this, you’ll explore how English literature is shaped by its historical and cultural context, and how, in turn, it influences readers and society. In doing this, you’ll also explore other subjects such as history, politics, religion, psychology and history of art.

Your studies will be supported by our expert lecturers, who offer one-to-one tutoring and personalised feedback. This support helped our philosophy courses rank first in the UK in the National Student Survey 2020, and top in the UK for “Satisfied with Feedback' (The Guardian University Guide 2021).

You can also choose to focus on areas of particular interest to you, such as Victorian literature, poetry, contemporary fiction, and the work of philosophers including Kant, Descartes and Heidegger.

You’ll gain valuable research skills by using bibliographies, databases and information technology to answer important questions about literature and you’ll also develop your problem solving, critical thinking and judgement skills by analysing major philosophical ideas.

These are important skills, with the World Economic Forum ranking complex problem solving and critical thinking among the top ten skills needed to succeed in today’s job market.

You can also engage in philosophical discussions and debates through our student-led Philosophy Society, attend events such as our Royal Institute of Philosophy lecture series or boost your employability by learning a language with our Anglia Language Programme.