Bachelor of Science in Games and Real-Time Media
The games and real time media industry is larger than film and music combined, its technology now drives simulation, training, visualisation and the immersive web, and Africa is almost entirely absent from its production side. Games and real time media is a demanding technical discipline of ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Games developer and engineer
- real time graphics programmer
- gameplay and systems designer
- simulation and visualisation engineer
- technical artist
- immersive and extended reality developer
- engine and tools developer
- creative technology founder
Employer types
- Games studios and their global partners
- simulation
- training and visualisation firms
- immersive and extended reality companies
- technology and platform firms
- advertising and interactive agencies
- education and serious games developers
- the graduate's own studio or venture
- film and virtual production teams
- and the graduate's own venture
- incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate compensation in a globally remote accessible technical field and supports studio ventures. Progression routes include the School's masters programmes and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Games and Real-Time Media. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BGRM 110 | Programming and Computational Thinking Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 111 | Mathematics for Games and Graphics Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BGRM 112 | Introduction to Games and Real Time Media Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGRM 113 | Digital Media and Asset Foundations Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BGRM 130 | Game Engines and Architecture Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 131 | Graphics Programming I Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGRM 132 | Gameplay Programming and Systems Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BGRM 133 | Interactive Design and Player Experience Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BGRM 210 | Data Structures and Algorithms for Games Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 211 | Physics and Simulation Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BGRM 212 | Graphics Programming II and Rendering Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 213 | Networked and Multiplayer Systems Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BGRM 230 | Technical Art and Pipelines Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BGRM 231 | Immersive and Extended Reality Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BGRM 310 | Real Time Tools and Engine Development Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BGRM 311 | Audio and Feedback for Interactive Media Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 312 | Performance Engineering for Real Time Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 313 | Games Production and Project Management Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BGRM 330 | Simulation and Serious Games Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 331 | Creative Enterprise and the Games Business Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BGRM 410 | Live Operations and Player Data Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BGRM 411 | Intelligent Agents and Procedural Systems Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BGRM 412 | Advanced Real Time Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BGRM 413 | Games Specialisation Elective I Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BGRM 430 | Games Capstone: A Shipped Interactive Product Performance | 9 | 0-2-16 |
| BGRM 431 | Emerging Platforms and Interactive Futures Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BGRM 432 | Games Specialisation Elective II Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| BGRM 433 | Professional Practice and Creative Technology Leadership Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
Total credit units: 176
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Games and Real-Time Media
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
176
22 CU of 176 CU completed by the end of this step (13%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems Fluency CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
Critical capabilities for this programme: Intelligent Systems Fluency · Technical Production and Craft · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Program real time interactive systems to professional standard.
- PLO 2Build real time graphics and rendering.
- PLO 3Design and build gameplay and interactive systems.
- PLO 4Build simulation and physics for interactive media.
- PLO 5Engineer performance for real time constraints and real hardware.
- PLO 6Build immersive and extended reality experiences.
- PLO 7Apply intelligent systems to games and interactive media.
- PLO 8Ship and operate an C8, C9 interactive product to players or users.
- PLO 9Cost, pitch and defend a C8 game or interactive venture to a decision maker.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate C10 a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
The games and real time media industry is larger than film and music combined, its technology now drives simulation, training, visualisation and the immersive web, and Africa is almost entirely absent from its production side. Games and real time media is a demanding technical discipline of programming, graphics, simulation and design, and it is essentially untaught as a rigorous degree in the region. This programme builds the engineer and designer who can build real time interactive systems and games to professional standard, with the engine, the code and shipped projects from Year 1, opening one of the most globally remote accessible technical careers.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes including Mathematics; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics and English. Applicants complete a structured problem framing task or submit a portfolio scored against Capabilities C6 and C7. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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