Pearson Education Ltd · RQF Level 3
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Digital Games Design and Development
You don’t just earn this. You learn to use it, one-to-one, on your own real work.
- LevelRQF Level 3
- Guided learning720 hours
- Units in this qualification12
Awarded by Pearson Education Ltd · on the Ofqual register
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See how this course maps onto your role
Ten quick questions, one per Future Fluency, asked against this qualification rather than a generic one.
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What you’ll learn
What each unit actually teaches you to do
BTEC Nationals are level 3 vocational qualifications that provide specialist, work-related learning in a range of sectors.
These are the units Pearson Education Ltd registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated, and every one you earn is yours to keep.
2D AnimationReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of 2D animation
- Identify different 2D animation techniques
- Create 2D animations using appropriate software
- Apply principles of timing and movement to 2D animation
- Evaluate the effectiveness of 2D animation in conveying a message
3D Digital AnimationReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of 3D digital animation
- Use 3D animation software and tools effectively
- Create 3D models and characters
- Animate 3D models and characters using appropriate techniques
- Render and present 3D digital animations effectively
3D EnvironmentsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of creating 3D environments
- Explore different software and hardware used in 3D environment creation
- Design and plan a 3D environment project
- Create and manipulate 3D models and textures
- Implement lighting and rendering techniques in a 3D environment
- Evaluate the effectiveness of a created 3D environment
3D ModellingReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of 3D modelling
- Explore different 3D modelling software and techniques
- Create and manipulate 3D models using appropriate tools
- Apply textures and materials to 3D models
- Evaluate the quality and suitability of 3D models for different applications
App ProductionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Plan the development of an app, considering target audience and functionality
- Design the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of an app
- Develop the app using appropriate programming languages and tools
- Test the app for functionality, usability, and performance
- Debug and refine the app based on testing results
- Document the app development process
Concept Art for Computer GamesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the fundamental principles of concept art for computer games
- Investigate different styles and techniques used in concept art for computer games
- Develop concept art designs for computer game environments
- Develop concept art designs for computer game characters
- Present concept art designs effectively, using appropriate media and techniques
Digital Games ProductionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of digital games production
- Plan the development of a digital game
- Create assets for a digital game
- Test and refine a digital game
Digital Media SkillsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the fundamental skills required for digital media production
- Develop skills in using digital media software and hardware
- Apply digital media skills to create a range of media products
- Evaluate the effectiveness of digital media products in meeting specific objectives
- Understand legal and ethical considerations in digital media
Game Engine ScriptingReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of game engine scripting
- Learn the syntax and structure of a game engine scripting language
- Apply scripting techniques to control game elements and interactions
- Debug and troubleshoot game engine scripts
- Evaluate the effectiveness of scripting in achieving desired game mechanics
Games TestingReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of games testing
- Identify different types of games testing methodologies
- Plan and prepare for games testing activities
- Conduct games testing using appropriate techniques
- Analyse and document games testing results
- Evaluate the effectiveness of games testing processes
Media EnterpriseReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of media enterprise
- Explore different business models within the media industry
- Develop a business plan for a media enterprise
- Understand the legal and ethical considerations of running a media enterprise
- Market and promote a media product or service
- Manage the finances of a media enterprise
- Evaluate the success of a media enterprise venture
Responding to a CommissionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the requirements of a commission
- Research and interpret a commission brief
- Develop ideas in response to a commission
- Present proposals for a commission
- Negotiate and agree terms for a commission
The honest bit
You’ve started things before
Most courses were built for a room full of people who aren’t you. A cohort moves on whether or not your week allowed it, and by the third week the thing you’re behind on becomes the reason you stop opening it.
There’s no cohort here, and no timetable to fall behind. Before anything starts, Zavmo asks when you’re sharpest and how long you can realistically sit down for, then builds the sessions around those answers. A bad fortnight changes your pace. It doesn’t put you behind.
And you only pay once you start learning. Searching and planning are free, and you can cancel any time — so the cost of finding out is an afternoon, not a year.
Your passport
Every credit is a stamp you keep
Level 3 credits are regulated. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you’ve earned and what’s next.
Each stamp is a real unit registered against this qualification.
Who’d teach you this
The Evidence Evaluator
Assessor
Helps you show what you can actually do, gathering the evidence that proves it as you learn.
Meet all twelve tutorsWhere this connects
Where these credits take you
A qualification is never a dead end here. See the jobs its credits open, the national occupational standards its units map to, and the future skills they quietly build.
- Carry out functional testing of games and interactive media project outputs
- Conduct user testing of games and interactive media projects outputs
- Create 2D Animation
- Devise and evaluate user testing of games and interactive media project outputs
- Use scripting languages to develop functionality of content for games and interactive media projects
Where this can lead
Junior 3D Modeller for AR/VR
Your journey starts here as a Junior, learning the fundamentals and getting your hands dirty. But with dedication and a keen eye for both art and tech, you can carve out an incredibly rewarding career shaping the future of immersive experiences. We're excited to see where you take it.
See the whole journey →Showing 6 roles, drawn from 9 job records mapped to this qualification.
Skills it covers
What the job actually needs. These are the standards the units are built against, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
How you’ll actually learn this
One-to-one, on your own real work
A qualification is usually something done to you: sit the class, sit the exam, hope it sticks. Here it’s the opposite. You learn it one-to-one with a companion, on your own real work, and you keep going until you can use it, not just recall it.
Applied to your work in any of these jobs
This unit covers the fundamental principles of 2D animation, including various animation techniques and the production pipeline. Learners will develop skills to create 2D animations using appropriate software, applying timing and movement principles, and evaluate their effectiveness in communication.
- Remember
- Understand
- Apply
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Create
Built for Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Digital Games Design and Development
12 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by Pearson Education Ltd.
- 2D Animation
- 3D Digital Animation
- 3D Environments
- 3D Modelling
- App Production
- Concept Art for Computer Games
and 6 more in the full unit list below.
One to one, not one to many
No two people run this the same way
A course is written once and handed to everyone. This is assembled around you, and keeps changing as it learns you. Five things it reads, and what each one changes.
- Your actual work Every unit is taught against a live piece of your own work, not a worked example from a textbook.
- What you already know The first conversation finds your starting point, so you skip what you can already do and spend the time on what you cannot.
- The conditions you learn under Not a learning-styles quiz. The evidence does not support those. The dimensions the research does back, read once and used to shape the plan.
- How far you got last time It picks up mid-thought. The tutor knows what you said, what you struggled with, and what it asked you to try.
- Which tutor suits the moment Twelve of them, each for a different kind of thinking. The one who walks you through a first idea is not the one who stress-tests it.
See how you learn, free. Eight questions, no sign-up. A directional taster; the diagnostic inside Zavmo goes deeper and keeps adapting.
Why it sticks
Most courses stop at remembering
There’s a well-known ladder of how deeply you learn something, called Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most courses get you up the first two rungs: you remember some facts, you pass a test, you forget it. Real skill lives at the top. Judging, deciding, creating. And this isn’t a generic ladder: every rung has a named Zavmo tutor who walks you up it.
- 6CreateThe Creative Catalyst
- 5EvaluateThe Evidence Evaluator
- 4AnalyseThe Analyst
- 3ApplyThe Coach
- 2UnderstandThe Connector
- 1RememberThe Builder
Where most courses leave you Where Zavmo takes you
The value
Why the companion is worth £70 a month
You’re not paying for the units. They’re regulated, and the same wherever you earn them. You’re paying for the one thing that decides whether you actually get there: a companion that makes them stick, on your real work.
That is one-to-one on this qualification, every day, on the work you already do, for £70 a month. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it. Billed monthly, cancel any time and billing stops.
Earned on your own work, taught to the top.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it.
Build my plan, freeNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.