University of the West of Scotland (UWS) Games Course Achieves TIGA Accreditation
TIGA, the games industry trade association, is pleased to announce the accreditation of the following games course at UWS:
- BSc (Hons) Computer Games DevelopmentAccreditation – awarded
The BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development course provides a four-year programme of study in which students are introduced to a range of different pathways into the games industry. The curriculum encompasses a broad range of generalist skills which equip graduates well for industry roles as indie game developers or provide a foundation for further study in specialist industry roles.
The recorded destinations of students graduating from the course show significant proportions gaining employment and a high level of graduates using their game technology skills in future employment. TIGA use official “Graduate Outcomes” data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to report overall employment rates.
- Percentage employed after 15 months: 89% (Graduate Outcomes survey data from 2017-18)
- Percentage employed in games: 57% (University data for 2019-2020 ignoring unknown students)
- Percentage employed using their game technology skills: 71% (University data for 2019-2020 ignoring unknown students)
The TIGA Accreditation Team noted the following examples of best practice:
- The course has several key industry partners who demonstrate high levels of engagement with the course. This includes a strong relationship with Blazing Griffin, who have provided a range of industry talks, panels and competition judging to students on the degree programme. It also includes Pineapple Studios who are employing a significant number of the course’s graduates in game development roles and represents a critical industry partner for the course in terms of graduate employability.
- The four-year programme provides the opportunity to signpost industry career routes from an early stage and the course includes specific modules which introduce students to different roles within the industry. This approach provides students with the best opportunity to understand their own preferred pathway and get the most out of the module choices for the remainder of the programme.
- The broad nature of the programme provides a strong environment for interdisciplinary team working and the curriculum includes a range of opportunities to develop appropriate group skills essential to industry practice.
- The curriculum incorporates modules that teach C++ programming and PlayStation console development, which equip students well for further study in specialist programming roles.
Overall, the TIGA Accreditation Team was impressed by the commitment of the team to the student experience and their willingness to adapt teaching to fit the local employment market.
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