2020 Best Creative Media and Entertainment Art Schools in the World
rankings

2020 Best Creative Media and Entertainment Art Schools in the World

Discover the world's top art schools. Explore the Rookies World School Rankings® 2020.

The Best Creative Media and Entertainment Art Schools for 2020 is something we take very seriously and no external influences or payments are entered into at any point. Our rankings focus on the quality of students portfolios that are submitted to our judging panel which best reflect the recruitment interview process.

We feel that traditional school rankings that include peer and employer reviews, faculty to student ratio, citations and other data are not adequate when ranking the best creative schools. For a complete breakdown of how we rank the best schools for 2018 please read how we rank the best schools and how we analyse the data in the sections located at the bottom of this page.

2017 School of the Year Trophies

Best Architectural Visualisation Schools and Colleges 2020

Rank School Location Score View
1 3D College Denmark 89.19 Learn More
2 SCHOOL-ING Spain 82.52 Learn More
3 University of Kent Multiple Locations 67.36 Learn More
4 Yrgo | School of Architectural Visualization Sweden 60.02 Learn More
5 CICE, The Professional School in New Technologies Spain 59.58 Learn More

Best Animation School  and Colleges 2020

Rank School Location Score View
1 Ringling College of Art and Design United States 93.54 Learn More
2 Gnomon United States 81.79 Learn More
3 School of Visual Arts United States 70.14 Learn More
4 Think Tank Training Centre Canada 65.85 Learn More
5 Lost Boys | School of Visual Effects Canada 65.47 Learn More
6 Bellecour Ecole France 59.79 Learn More
7 ArtFX France 59.70 Learn More
8 Vancouver Film School Canada 57.41 Learn More
9 Bournemouth University United Kingdom 56.50 Learn More
10 3dsense Media School Singapore 55.32 Learn More
11 Academy of Art University United States 55.04 Learn More
12 ESMA France 54.69 Learn More
13 Howest University of Applied Sciences - Digital Arts and Entertainment Belgium 53.59 Learn More
14 Animum Creativity Advanced School Spain 50.32 Learn More
15 University of Hertfordshire United Kingdom 48.43 Learn More
16 Savannah College of Art and Design United States 47.92 Learn More
17 PIXL VISN | Media Arts Academy Germany 47.59 Learn More
18 The One Academy of Communication Design Malaysia 46.57 Learn More
19 University of South Wales United Kingdom 43.26 Learn More
20 SAE Creative Media Institute Multiple Locations 39.28 Learn More

Best Visual Effects School  and Colleges 2020

Rank School Location Score View
1 Gnomon United States 92.46 Learn More
2 Think Tank Training Centre Canada 82.125 Learn More
3 Lost Boys | School of Visual Effects Canada 72.39 Learn More
4 FX Animation Spain 67.425 Learn More
5 University of Hertfordshire United Kingdom 65.85 Learn More
6 ArtFX France 64.84 Learn More
7 SF Filmschool Republic of Korea 61.77 Learn More
8 Bournemouth University United Kingdom 61.475 Learn More
9 Savannah College of Art and Design United States 60.87 Learn More
10 3dsense Media School Singapore 60.17 Learn More
11 ESMA France 60.13 Learn More
12 Kristiania University College Norway 59.41 Learn More
13 The Animation Workshop Denmark 58.8 Learn More
14 New3dge France 58.115 Learn More
15 Flinders University / CDW Studios Australia 55.87 Learn More
16 PIXL VISN | Media Arts Academy Germany 55.32 Learn More
17 The One Academy of Communication Design Malaysia 54.48 Learn More
18 Howest University of Applied Sciences - Digital Arts and Entertainment Belgium 51.115 Learn More
19 Animum Creativity Advanced School Spain 50.4 Learn More
20 Academy of Art University United States 46.585 Learn More

Best Concept Art & Illustration School  and Colleges 2020

Rank School Location Score
1 Syn Studio Canada 76.64 Learn More
2 The One Academy of Communication Design Malaysia 73.67 Learn More
3 FZD School of Design Singapore 62.06 Learn More
4 Flinders University / CDW Studios Australia 61.59 Learn More
5 Academy of Art University United States 60.76 Learn More
6 3dsense Media School Singapore 59.565 Learn More
7 Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design Canada 56.9 Learn More
8 School of Visual Arts United States 56.22 Learn More
9 ESMA France 54.01 Learn More
10 Breda University - IGAD - (BUAS) Netherlands 51.59 Learn More
11 New3dge France 51.55 Learn More
12 Howest University of Applied Sciences - Digital Arts and Entertainment Belgium 50.585 Learn More
13 Nanyang Polytechnic - School of Interactive & Digital Media Singapore 48.3 Learn More
14 Savannah College of Art and Design United States 47.39 Learn More
15 CG Spectrum Online 46.59 Learn More
16 Norwich University of the Arts United Kingdom 46.5 Learn More

Best Game Design & Development School  and Colleges 2020

Rank School Location Score
1 Think Tank Training Centre Vancouver, Canada 94.325
2 FutureGames Stockholm, Sweden 85.625
3 Ringling College of Art and Design Florida, United States 76.97
4 Breda University of Applied Sciences Breda, Netherlands 71.41
5 Howest - Digital Arts and Entertainment Kortrijk, Belgium 69.58
6 3dsense Media School Singapore 67.49
7 The Game Assembly Malmo, Sweden 65.12
8 University of Hertfordshire Hertfordshire, United Kingdom 61.115
9 Gnomon Los Angeles, United States 61.07
10 The One Academy Malaysia, Malaysia 60.1

Best 3D Motion Graphics School  and Colleges 2020

Rank School Location Score
1 Savannah College of Art and Design United States 78.885 Learn More
2 Ringling College of Art and Design United States 73.92 Learn More
3 3dsense Media School Singapore 58.92 Learn More
4 Nanyang Polytechnic - School of Interactive & Digital Media Singapore 55.21 Learn More
5 The One Academy of Communication Design Malaysia 50.33 Learn More

Best Game Design & Development Schools - Console & PC - Production Excellence 2020

Rank School Location Score
1 University of Hertfordshire United Kingdom 104.61 Learn More
2 ISART Digital France, Canada 91.05 Learn More
3 New3dge France 86.41 Learn More
4 Savannah College of Art and Design United States 82.79 Learn More
5 The Animation Workshop/ VIA University College Denmark 72.70 Learn More
6 The Game Assembly Sweden 72.17 Learn More
7 ArtFX School France 71.27 Learn More
8 Howest University of Applied Sciences - Digital Arts and Entertainment Belgium 71.06 Learn More
9 Breda University - IGAD - (BUAS) Netherlands 63.92 Learn More
10 Escape Studios United Kingdom 63.62 Learn More

Best Visual Effects and Animation Schools - Production Excellence - 2D Animation

Rank School Location Score
1 GOBELINS, l'école de l'image France 105.22 Learn More
2 School of Visual Arts United States 86.14 Learn More
3 The Animation Workshop/ VIA University College Denmark 78.56 Learn More
4 3dsense Media School Singapore 65.50 Learn More
5 Cleveland Institute of Art United States 64.89 Learn More
6 Atelier de Sèvres France 64.27 Learn More
7 Ringling College of Art and Design United States 62.59 Learn More
8 University of Hertfordshire United Kingdom 61.14 Learn More
9 Savannah College of Art and Design United States 60.52 Learn More
10 DigiPen Institute of Technology Multiple Locations 58.57 Learn More

Best Visual Effects and Animation Schools - Production Excellence - 3D Animation

Rank School Location Score
1 ESMA France 117.70 Learn More
2 Supinfocom Rubika Multiple Locations 92.69 Learn More
3 Ringling College of Art and Design United States 89.15 Learn More
4 ArtFX School France 85.87 Learn More
5 New3dge France 80.01 Learn More
6 School of Visual Arts United States 77.03 Learn More
7 GOBELINS, l'école de l'image France 73.92 Learn More
8 The Animation Workshop/ VIA University College Denmark 72.46 Learn More
9 UTS Animal Logic Academy Australia 69.19 Learn More
10 3dsense Media School Singapore 67.00 Learn More

Best Visual Effects and Animation Schools - Production Excellence - Visual Effects

Rank School Location Score
1 ArtFX School France 90.67 Learn More
2 University of Hertfordshire United Kingdom, Online 86.67 Learn More
3 School of Visual Arts United States 81.32 Learn More
4 ISART DIGITAL France, Canada 76.26 Learn More
5 Escape Studios United Kingdom 71.51 Learn More
6 Animationsinstitut of Filmakademie, Baden-Württemberg Germany 68.89 Learn More
7 New3dge France 65.55 Learn More

How we rank the best Art Schools and Colleges

Our rankings focus on the quality of students portfolios that are submitted to our judging panel which best reflect the recruitment interview process.

The reason we take this approach is because we believe the goal of each creative school is tasked with helping students learn the right creative and technical skills that mirror the requirements of industry. It is their job to train artists to a level that allows them to transition from to a professional environment with ease.

The end result for students is less about grades, it’s about creating a digital portfolio that best showcases their skills and displays an understanding of production pipelines. This is why our judges review portfolios and review student work in the same manner as a professional job application.

The rankings are based on the scores as awarded by the official judging panel. Opinions by the general public are by no means considered.

Students are judged on their creative skills, technical skills, presentation, variety of skills, complexity, raw talent, and employment potential.

How we analyse the data

Each school is awarded a final score based on the performance of each student representing their academic facility.

When analysing the average scores of each student per school there are three possible data formulas available to use: mean, median and mode.

The Rookies uses median. The median is the middle point of a number set, in which half the numbers are above the median and half are below. A median is intrinsically understandable. It is the middle number when the values are put in order.

The most important factor here is that a median is not affected by outliers. This means that schools are not penalised for incomplete entries and schools are not favoured for a single high score that is not the norm. Student scores often have outlier values and using the median is the more robust solution to determine an average.

Important details about how a school score is calculated:

  • Schools with < 5 student entries are excluded from ranking.
  • Incomplete student entries are removed from calculations. No penalties.
  • Each student receives a performance score. Max 100 points. (Student Score)
  • Median students score calculated per school. Max 100 points. (Median Student Score)
  • Each category finalist receives 10 bonus points toward School Score.
  • Each category runner up receives 15 bonus points toward School Score.
  • Each category winner receives 20 bonus points toward School Score.