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Love games and want to make them for a living? At the National Film and Television School (NFTS), students learn how to turn creative passion into practical, industry-ready skills across games design, animation, VFX, virtual production and more.
With increasing crossover between the world of games, film and television, game engines and real-time technologies are transforming how stories are designed, produced and experienced. The NFTS places students at the centre of that shift, combining specialist training with hands-on collaboration across disciplines including cinematography, sound, production design, model making and marketing.
The training courses available at the NFTS allow you to specialise in your chosen craft, giving students invaluable experience working on real-world briefs and projects that reflect the changing industry and the roles within them.
Studying games in the creative environment of a film school means that students not only learn game design, code, art and interface design, but also how to work with composers and sound designers and how to collaborate with other areas like marketing and distribution – because understanding how to promote and distribute a game is increasingly important to making one successfully. The result is a complete theoretical and practical grounding in games.
While the NFTS’s name references its legacy of industry-esteemed film courses, it provides the same blend of academic rigour and practical skills on its games programmes, with alumni going on to work at AAA and indie studios with graduate credits including the BAFTA-winning Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Still Wakes the Deep, Monument Valley III, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Helldivers II. NFTS students have also won recognition at the BAFTA Student Games Awards, Game Development World Championships (GDWC), MCV Women in Games Rising Star Development Awards and have been named in the MCV/DEVELOP ‘30 under 30’ list.
The school’s unique two-year Masters in Games Design and Development has been running for over a decade and in 2025, the course was upgraded to an MFA (Master of Fine Arts), the highest level of practice-based qualification available. For students who want to study remotely or on a part-time basis, there is also a six-month NFTS Certificate in Indie Games Development which covers the process of developing a game, from design to promotion and distribution.
In response to industry demand and new developments, the NFTS has recently launched a one-year Animation for Film and Games MA, where students learn to create 3D animations for film and games. Using content-creation software, real-time game engines and emergent technologies including generative AI, students build the skills that fuel some of the world’s most exciting film and games studios today.
The NFTS also offers courses in Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition MA and The Business of the Creative Industries MA and a six-month part-time Business of Film, TV and Games Certificate – each covering the media industry across film, television and gaming, ensuring that its students can learn the vital skills needed to bring great content to audiences.
You don’t need prior experience to apply to the NFTS, just a passion for the subject and a willingness to learn. They teach you everything you need to launch your career in your chosen pathway.
With production costs included in tuition fees, close to £2 million in scholarship and bursary funding available for UK students each year, and courses designed for both new and developing creatives, NFTS offers a practical route into one of the screen industries’ fastest-evolving areas.
Applications are now open for courses starting in January 2027. Visit the National Film and Television School website to explore the specialist training courses available.
