UCAS 9 min
A Level Results Day 2026: What to Do, Hour by Hour
The exact results day playbook for creative applicants: what happens at 8am, when Clearing opens, what to say on the phone, and the portfolio rule nobody mentions.
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Getting into games design.
Game art, design and development courses.
Games courses split into three strands: game art (visual), games design (systems and play) and games programming (code). Each selects differently, and applicants regularly apply to the wrong strand for their skills. Art strands want a portfolio; programming strands want maths and logic; design strands want evidence of designed play.
The four things to know.
The route
Standard UCAS application. Art strands request portfolios; design strands increasingly ask for playable prototypes, paper games or design documents; programming strands select mostly on grades in maths and computing subjects.
The deadline
The main January UCAS deadline.
How they choose
For design: documented decisions. A paper prototype with notes on what you changed after playtesting demonstrates more design thinking than a polished but unexamined level. For art: observational drawing still matters alongside digital work.
What it costs
A capable computer is the main cost, though universities provide labs. Free engines (Godot, Unity personal, Unreal) mean the software barrier is effectively zero.
Guides for games applicants.
Student Life 7 min
Results Day Went Wrong. It Is Not the End of the World
What actually happens to creative students who miss their grades: the four real routes forward, the 48-hour rule, and why admissions people do not see you as a failure.
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Inside Track 7 min
Inside Track #2: How to Read a Prospectus (From Someone Who Helps Make Them)
The Insider decodes university marketing: what the photography hides, the phrases doing heavy lifting, the numbers that never appear, and the two-minute red flag check.
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Inside Track 6 min
Inside Track #1: What Actually Happens After You Hit Submit
An anonymous insider with years inside UK creative admissions on what admissions teams really do with your application in the first fortnight, and what never gets read.
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Student Life 8 min
What to Do the Summer Before Art School (Besides Panic)
How to arrive at art school in September actually prepared: the sketchbook habit, the software basics, the admin that bites late, and what to deliberately not do.
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Parents 8 min
A Parent's Guide to the First Term Blues
The week-six phone call, decoded: what is normal homesickness versus what needs action, what to say and avoid, and why creative courses hit differently in term one.
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Games Design questions, answered.
What applicants to this discipline ask most.
Do I need to know how to code for a games design course?
For design and art strands, no, though scripting basics help. For programming strands, yes, alongside strong maths. Read the course title carefully; "games design" and "games development" are different degrees.
What goes in a games design portfolio?
Playable things, however small: a paper prototype, a mod, a level, a game jam entry, each with notes on the decisions you made and what playtesting changed. Finished tiny games beat ambitious unfinished ones.
Is there one best UK games school?
A handful of universities are especially established and internationally recognised for games specifically, but several other institutions place graduates into major studios every year. Check each course's graduate destinations and studio partnerships.
Every games deadline, before it bites.
Offered lands weekly through the cycle with deadlines and prep specific to your discipline. Tell us your subject when you join.