Creative Computing: BSc, Diploma and Work Experience Entry Route
Academic leadership from Goldsmiths - Britain's leading creative university
Is this programme for me?
This new distance learning programme is unique as it gives
undergraduate students skills in designing computer applications as well as using them. It will
enable you to express your own creativity and give you the knowledge, confidence and ability
to act as creative professionals in the computing, media and arts industries.
Programme aims
The range of skills you will develop include:
- visual and audio design by programming
- storyboarding, from ideas to implementation
- creative processing for digital media: generating films, music, animations and games
- Java programming.
Students' work
Diploma in Creative Computing
The Diploma in Creative Computing is a qualification in its own right and successful completion gains credit for Level 1 of the BSc degree. You can only study it in attendance at an institution which has been given 'Permission to teach' by Goldsmiths. At present there are Diploma teaching institutions in Greece and Malta.
Our students produce a range of work as part of their BSc Creative Computing. One such example is by Jeremy Debattista, a BSc Creative Computing student who lives in Malta. See his video below [video, 3.22 mins].
Note: this and other videos are also available from our YouTube Channel [external link]
Programme summaries
BSc: The degree in which 12 courses are taken in three stages. You have between 3-8 years to complete the BSc. You may be eligible for exemptions if you have previously studied suitable material. If you are successfully studying the BSc you may apply to transfer to Goldsmiths to complete your degree, entering at Level 2 or Level 3.
Diploma: Consists of 5 courses and is an award in its own right. Upon successful completion you may transfer directly to Level 2 of the BSc. The Diploma must be studied at an institution that has been given 'Permission to teach' by the University. You have between 2-5 years to complete the Diploma.
Work Experience Entry Route: Consists of 2 courses and provides an entry onto the BSc if you do not have traditional A levels or their equivalent. You have between 1-3 years to complete the Work Experience Entry Route.
Prestige and career progression
Goldsmiths is the UK's leading creative university. No fewer than 5 of its graduates have gone
on to win the prestigious Turner prize. This creative programme has been developed by academics
within Goldsmiths' Department of Computing. The Department is a leading centre in the UK for the
study of Arts and Music Computing, Cognitive Computing and Artifical Intelligence, and Computer
Science. Academic staff are leaders and partners on a variety of research projects, including working
with the BBC, Yahoo, MIT, Cambridge University and
Brown University. Visit http://aikon-gold.com to find out about
Goldsmiths' AIKON project which uses computational and robotic technologies to explore the drawing
the human face.
This degree will equip you with the knowledge, confidence and skills needed to act as a creative autonomous professional in the computing and cultural industries. It prepares you for a variety of careers, including: design (particularly games design), computing in the film, music or tv industry, web development, animation, IT consultancy or systems management or analysis.
Time commitment and cost
Independent study demands that you are motivated, well-organised and focused. We advise that to complete in the minimum study period you will need devote at least 250 hours of study to each full course unit.
For the BSc, the total fee payable to the University is £4,282. For the Diploma, the total fee is £2,232 (you will also need to pay fees to the Diploma-teaching institution). Please note that these figures do not reflect any annual fee increase and assume completion in the minimum study period permitted.
Study materials
The study materials that we send you include:
- Studying for a Degree in the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Student handbook
- Subject guides (offering advice on how to use textbooks)
- CD-ROMs
- Past exam papers and Examiners' reports
- Regulations
You need to provide your own textbooks - they provide the main focus of your studies - so before you register for the programme we do advise you to consider the facilities available to you locally, and how accessible books are likely to be.
Study support and online resources
You can either study independently at a pace that suits you, or enrol for additional classes at a local institution (either full time or part time) and benefit from the more formalized support this provides. Teaching is offered worldwide including SPACE in Hong Kong and St Martin's in Malta.
- Online resources most of the study materials are available online. To facilitate your study, copies of the first three or four chapters of many of the CIS subject guides are also online
- Online Library provides links to websites, ejournals, information security and information systems resources, and databases including: Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier and Science Direct.
Summary of key dates
| Application deadline | 17 September (non-EU) 17 October (EU) in the year before you intend to sit your first examinations |
| Registration deadline | 30 November |
| Despatch of study materials | Shortly after your registration form is received |
| Start studying | As soon as you receive your study materials |
| Examinations take place | May/June |