Section three: UK Insights

What are the UKs strengths in this skill?  

The standards vary immensely across the country with a handful of colleges who are leading the way in terms of innovation and infrastructure. 

Educators with industry experience is a huge benefit for students and by taking part in WorldSkills UK competitions, they can keep themselves updated on any new techniques and developments within the sector. 

Based on observations made in our UK National competitions, key areas of strength amongst students are:    

• concept art  
• 3D Modelling  
• unwrapping  
• texturing.  

What are the UKs areas for development? 

• industry relevant workflow to game assets   
• effective unwrapping  
• animation  
• game engines.  

What are the key skills that UK Educators need to develop in their students in readiness for national competitons, industry / employment?  

National Competitions 

Employment / Industry 

• 3D Modelling  
• unwrapping (UVW), understanding seams and shells  
• texture creation  
• use of PBR materials.  

• teamwork  
• communication skills  
• meeting deadlines   
• time management.  

Final thoughts: 

The recommendation for educators is to focus on teaching the tools rather than specific assets. This approach empowers learners to develop an effective workflow for their projects. By employing a scaffolded methodology, educators can first introduce the tools and then progressively build on.

This knowledge in subsequent sessions. This ensures that learners develop a comprehensive ‘toolbox’ they can utilise to model any asset to game-ready standards.  

Educators should utilise past briefs from national competitions, which are shared with all registered participants, to inform their curriculum design. Many courses attempt to cover a broad range of topics at a basic level, rather than focusing on the key strengths highlighted in national competitions. Adopting a scaffolded approach is crucial; educators should initially concentrate on teaching the tools and allowing learners to become proficient with them for basic props and smaller assets before tackling larger, more complex projects.     

Another recommendation would be to focus on hard surface modelling in the first term, if not the first year. Students should produce a range of props and assets on a weekly basis to build their skills incrementally. This approach helps avoid the pitfalls associated with beginners managing large scenes and workloads.    

Additionally, organising a conference or symposium featuring experienced educators involved in National Competitions and industry speakers would be highly beneficial. Such an event could facilitate the sharing of experiences, provide masterclasses on new industry techniques, and foster a community of practice.  

Practical advice for educators includes encouraging students to practice on smaller items, such as treasure chests, stylised swords, and basic furniture. This allows Students to build confidence with the tools and workflows before progressing to organic modelling and more detailed props and environments. 
 
The current qualifications in the UK largely follow a general creative process and do not specify nor assess effective use of professional level tools. Post-covid there has been a move towards more inclusive and accessible technology, but this at the cost of the experience of the tools and processes required to produce the high-level work that is created in studios.  An educator delivering a course that covered Games Design, Games Art etc should look to provide experience of the professional tools even if this is at the expense of final output or is more challenging. 

Check out our National Competitions web page for some more useful resources and information: 3D Digital Game Art Competition – WorldSkills UK