Saturday Club - Animation - Years 9, 10 and 11

This is a 4 week animation Saturday Club for students in Years 9, 10 and 11, running from 1 November - 22 November, 10:00-14:00.

Event details

  • 1 November 2025 - 22 November 2025

    10:00-14:00 (GMT)

    UCA Farnham

    Apply Here
A wooden table with a drawing tablet on top, surrounded by different character sketches on paper.

Character Design to Motion
Over four weeks, students will experience the full journey of animation turning an idea into a character and a character into motion. Starting with sketching and exploring personality, participants will then take their designs into digital form, learning the essentials of clean-up and colour. From there, they’ll discover how to rig their characters for movement and finally produce a short-animated sequence to showcase their work. Alongside practical skills, students will gain insight into the kinds of roles found in the animation industry, from concept artist to animator, and leave with the confidence to keep developing their own projects beyond the workshop.

Workshop – Week 1 – 1 November:
From idea to character – explore creative thinking and sketching techniques to design original characters with personality and style.

Workshop – Week 2 – 8 November:
Digital clean-up and colouring – learn how to refine and polish character artwork on a drawing tablet using Adobe Animate, preparing designs for animation.

Workshop – Week 3 – 15 November:
Rigging and movement tests – discover how rigs work in 2D animation and try out simple motions to see how your character comes alive on screen.

Workshop – Week 4 – 22 November:
Bringing it all together – animate a short looping sequence or walk cycle and share your finished work in a supportive showcase with the group.

Lunches are provided for participants each week. 

Applications close 23:55 on Monday 20 October. If you have any questions, please email outreach@uca.ac.uk.

Useful information

This activity is suitable for students who are studying or have an interest in creative subjects and would like to develop their skills and portfolio. 

The aim of the course is to provide an opportunity for young people to access free art and design tuition from a higher education institution to support them in the development of their portfolio of work. It's also designed for students who may not otherwise have the chance to access such an opportunity. This work is funded through the UCA's Access and Participation Plan's commitment as approved by the Office for Students (OfS). The programme is aimed at supporting students who are under-represented in Higher education. For further information and a list of the under-represented groups, please refer to the OfS approach to access and participation.

We welcome applications from all, however priority will be given to applicants who meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • are the first generation in their family to study at higher education level (e.g. Degree, HND, HNC)
  • are currently eligible for Free School Meals
  • come from a neighbourhood with low overall progression rates to higher education (determined by postcode using POLAR 4 data)
  • are from a black or minority ethnic (BAME) background
  • are in, or have lived under local authority care
  • have caring responsibilities for a family member
  • have a disability
  • are studying without the support of family 
  • are an unaccompanied asylum seeker/refugee
  • are from a military family
  • are from a Gypsy, Roma or Traversal community
  • attend a KaMCOP, KMPF or HEON partnered school (a list of eligible schools is included below)
  • live in HEON or KaMCOP target postcode area

This information will be gathered via the application form and will be assessed by the University’s Outreach Manager and Outreach Officer.

Once the application deadline has passed, we will consider all applications against the priority criteria listed above to determine who will be offered a place. A decision will be sent in writing to confirm whether a place on the programme has been secured, and successful applicants will be asked to confirm their place in writing. Where the programmes are oversubscribed, unplaced applicants who meet the criteria outlined above will be kept on a waiting list and allocated spaces should they become available.

If an applicant decides not to accept their offer, they must inform UCA staff via email as soon as possible so spaces can be reallocated where possible: outreach@uca.ac.uk. 

UCA processes data in accordance with the General Data Protection Rules (GDPR). The university's data protection policies and privacy notices can be viewed here.

Refer to the Outreach & Widening Participation Privacy Notice

You have the right to review information held about you. If you would like to do so or to notify us of a change of your details, please email outreach@uca.ac.uk. If, you believe there is no legitimate reason for us to continue processing your data and wish us to delete it, please contact the Data Protection Officer dpo@uca.ac.uk

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