UK
How you’d get it

How you’d get this certificate

  1. Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
  2. You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer NCFE has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
  3. The centre assesses, and NCFE awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from NCFE.

More on studying for a qualification

01What it is

This qualification has been allocated UCAS points. Please refer to the UCAS website for further details of the points allocation and the most up-to-date information.

These are the units NCFE 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. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work.

Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with NCFE. It does the teaching and the mapping. NCFE sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.

02The units

What each unit actually teaches you to do

3D modelling in games Real unit · NCFE
You'll develop knowledge of 3D modelling fundamentals, including topology, edgeflow, and various modelling techniques. The unit covers materials, texturing, and industry practices for exporting 3D assets for use in games.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand 3D modelling fundamentals Learning outcome 2 The learner will:
  • Understand materials and texturing techniques required in 3D modelling Learning outcome 3 The learner will:
  • Understand processes and industry practices in exporting 3D assets
Animation in games Real unit · NCFE
You'll study the principles of animation and the planning and creation of 3D animations for games. The unit includes exploration of rendering techniques and animation methods such as keyframing and motion capture.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand the principles of animation Learning outcome 2 The learner will:
  • Understand the planning and creation of 3D animations Learning outcome 3 The learner will:
  • Understand rendering techniques used in 3D animation
Game scripting Real unit · NCFE
It teaches you to understand different scripting approaches used in game development. You'll script game interactions and mechanics within a game engine and apply functionality testing and quality assurance techniques.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand the different types of scripting approaches used in game design and development Learning outcome 2 The learner will:
  • Script interactions and mechanics in a game engine Learning outcome 3 The learner will:
  • Understand functionality testing and quality assurance used in game development
Games industry Real unit · NCFE
This unit provides an overview of the games industry, including organisational structures and job roles across creative, technical, and support areas. You'll also explore personal development and legal and ethical considerations within the industry.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand organisational structures in the games industry Learning outcome 2 The learner will:
  • Understand personal and professional development in the games industry Learning outcome 3 The learner will:
  • Understand legal and ethical considerations affecting the games industry
Level design in games Real unit · NCFE
This unit covers the principles of level design in games, including goals, pacing, obstacles, and narrative structure. You'll plan, design, and review a game level, considering lighting and visual effects to enhance player experience.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand the principles of level design Learning outcome 2 The learner will:
  • Design and review a level in response to a brief Learning outcome 3 The learner will:
  • Understand the role of lighting and effects in level design
Research and pre-production in the games industry Real unit · NCFE
You'll understand the research and pre-production processes involved in game design and development. They will conduct relevant research, including competitive analysis, and develop comprehensive games design documentation.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand research and pre-production in the design and development of games Learning outcome 2 The learner will:
  • Develop games design documentation Learning outcome 3 The learner will:
  • Develop supporting materials as part of a games design document
By email

Free, by email

Is this the right qualification for you?

One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

Your employer, or 'self-employed'

Study the units online with a personal AI tutor, for £70 a month. Your first Future Fluency module is free.

03The standards

The national standards these units are built against

What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.

  • Model 3D assets for games and interactive media projects

    Standard
04Where it leads

The jobs these credits are mapped to

A qualification is never a dead end here. Each of these is a job record this qualification is a mapped route into.

Where this can lead

3D Modeller for AR/VR

This work can lead to a lead modelling role overseeing an asset pipeline, or a principal artist role solving technical problems across a project.

See the whole journey
Still deciding?

One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

05The credits

The credits, and who awards them

Level 3 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by NCFE rather than by Zavmo. 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 have covered and what is next.

What you would be collecting

3D modelling in gamesAnimation in gamesGame scriptingGames industryLevel design in gamesResearch and pre-production in the games industry

Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.

How you’d practise it

You don’t watch this. You do it.

You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.

The Analyst The Analyst · your map-it-properly tutor Illustration
The Analyst In “Research and pre-production in the games industry” you have moved the target from 48 hours to 24. Where does that time come from?
You The team prioritises better, I suppose.
The Analyst Or it comes out of the follow-ups, and reopened cases climb in about six weeks. Let us map it and find out which, before it is a surprise.
The same lesson on the real thing: the conversation in the middle, the thinking ladder on the left, and the criteria each answer is evidencing on the right.
  • Map a live decision Analyse

    “Research and pre-production in the games industry” runs on a decision you are facing now. Zavmo maps it with you and shows what the second-order effect looks like before you find out the slow way.

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from 3D modelling in games, one of this qualification's own units.

3D modelling in games Level 3

Applied to your work in any of these jobs

Which job do you mean?
3D Modeller for AR/VRLead 3D Modeller for AR/VRAssociate General Counsel, Gaming StudiosLead Counsel, Product & Publishing

Learners will develop knowledge of 3D modelling fundamentals, including topology, edgeflow, and various modelling techniques. The unit covers materials, texturing, and industry practices for exporting 3D assets for use in games.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.

Your Plan Illustration

Built for NCFE Level 3 Certificate in Games Design and Development

6 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by NCFE.

  1. 3D modelling in games
  2. Animation in games
  3. Game scripting
  4. Games industry
  5. Level design in games
  6. Research and pre-production in the games industry
These are the real units of this credential, in its own order. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

Free tools

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The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.