Page last updated 24 September 2024
Skills Bootcamps are flexible courses giving successful applicants the opportunity to build up tech skills and fast-track them to an interview with an employer. They are being developed by the Government as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, in partnership with employers, providers and local authorities, to help people develop the skills that are in demand in their local area and get a better job.
This bootcamp introduces games development and how to create immersive, entertainment experiences in context of what makes game products engaging and commercially successful. The first half of the course is designed to build professional skills and software competency. The second half specialises in the development of a "vertical slice" game demo for prospective employers from commercial studios as a portfolio piece, or to form the basis of a portfolio ahead of self-employment. There is also the opportunity to learn about the application of games technology for commercial purposes other than those solely for entertainment.
This 16-week programme will provide you with an overview of how games are developed, towards a goal of polished, engaging entertainment products across a range of sectors. Central to your experience will be training in Unity; a game engine and real-time development platform with many applications both inside and outside the entertainment industry.
With sessions led by industry developers and academics with experience of working on published "AAA" and "indie" games, this bootcamp will help you define and refine a trajectory towards jobs with existing games companies, but also how to set up a business if you plan to start out on your own or work as a freelancer. The first half of the bootcamp covers general professional and computational skills development. While the second is all about your game projects and tailoring them so you are better placed to enter the industry.
An important element of the bootcamp will be practice-based learning. We will embed personal and professional learning and development into our core delivery to ensure that you develop the personal and interpersonal skills required to operate successfully as a professional within your chosen industry.
The Skills Bootcamps are open to all applicants provided they are aged 19 or over, are recently unemployed, self-employed, looking to move into a new job role, or coming out of furlough and seeking a pathway to a digital career.
Learners will engage with 16 weeks of flexible delivery, blending real-time interaction (via online technology) with interactive online resources. Some real-time content delivery will be recorded and made available for later review and flexible support will be available outside of formally timetabled sessions.
Learners must:
Be either
*Employers will be able to send existing employees who meet the Skills Bootcamp eligibility requirements on this training at an impressive 70% discount of the standard fee. Interested employers should contact us directly via Enquire Now form below.
This Skills Bootcamp is structured as follows:
Weeks 1-2: Induction / Basic Tools and Professional Skills
Weeks 3-6: Computational Thinking & Practice
Over the course of the first six weeks, a series of game development support events such as meet-ups, socials, tech talks, game jams and even field trips will be made available (where possible). These events are intended to provide a safe space to learn more about game development, to ask questions and get to know the local game development community before the dedicated phase of game development that follows.
Weeks 7-12: Commercial Games Technology
Weeks 13-16: Preparation for Employment
On completing the Skills Bootcamp, you will have acquired new digital and technical skills relevant to your chosen sector. Alongside these useful skills, the bootcamp offers you an opportunity to develop the key entrepreneurial, practical and interpersonal skills required to succeed in self-employment. While your personal and interpersonal skills will assist you to quickly establish yourself as a valuable, work-ready talent with employers.
How are employers involved in the delivery of this Skills Bootcamp?
UWE Bristol is an award winning, TIGA (Trade industry for Games Association) accredited provider of undergraduate and postgraduate Games Technology education. Through UWE's internal PlayWest serious-games studio and the network of its alumni and their own "spin-out" companies, industry professionals will be recruited to co-lead bootcamp sessions alongside academic staff.
Beyond games, a relationship with the Foundry at UWE Bristol also offers the prospect of stakeholder engagement in the bootcamp from broader fields of aerospace, engineering, creative technologies, software engineering, data science, digital media and the arts.
Employers will be involved throughout the bootcamp, developing and reviewing content, providing industry insight, advice on employability and preparation for interviews during the final four-week block.
What are the routes to employment following successful completion?
The UK has the largest video games industry in Europe, and is important both economically and culturally; contributing over £1.8 billion towards GDP in the year to November 2018. UWE has strong links with creative industries and technology employers across the region, and in particular with Bristol-based SMEs, tech start-ups and technology incubators with particular relevance to games technology: It was a founding partner of the Bristol Games Hub, The Bristol VR lab, and also the Pervasive Media Studio, while the game jam events hosted by the Foundry are some of the largest in the UK with over two hundred attendees.
Creative industries for the Bristol region are 50% more productive than the UK average, while Bristol has been classified as a creativity and innovation hotspot (NESTA) and one of only three hubs outside of London with the potential to "go global" due to its strengths in animation, broadcast, digital media and games that is home to Aardman Digital and the BBC, with which UWE also has established relationships.
Games technology also has crossover with a growing number of associated industries and even formerly unrelated sectors as the world "pivots to digital". There is increasing relevance for game development experience in other STEAM destinations (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). Participants will also be supported to attend interviews and provided with follow up signposting to further training and employment opportunities through local UWE and IoC national resources.
UWE Bristol has invested significantly in online resources to support your blended learning study. We use the 'Blackboard Collaborate' online platform to deliver an integrated learning experience to you and you also have access to a vast number of professional and academic journals and databases online through the UWE Bristol library.
Find out more about the facilities and resources UWE has to offer.
This Skills Bootcamp currently has no funded cohorts available, please complete our expression of interest form to be kept informed of future opportunities.
| Cohort | Start Date | Location |
Please note that you will be required to make a commitment to the following for the duration of 16 weeks: 12 hours per week of timetabled activity 18 hours per week of supported activity 18 hours per week of self-study | TBC A full timetable will be issued prior to the start of the course. | Online |
Places are fully funded by the Institute of Coding (I.o.C.) for applicants who meet the entry requirements.
In order to confirm that you meet the necessary requirements for a place on this course, please note that once your application has been approved you will be required to provide the following supporting information to formally accept you, as required by the university:
Once accepted on the course, you will be registered as a UWE Bristol student and issued a UWE Bristol email and password, to enable access to the required online resources.
This Skills Bootcamp currently has no funded cohorts available, please complete our expression of interest form below to be kept informed of future opportunities.
| Cohort | |
| TBC | Expression of Interest |
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