Apprenticeship Β· earn while you train Β· live UK standard from the careers engine
Apprenticeship

Junior animator

Level
4
Higher
Length
1.5 yr
typical
Sector
Creative and design
Pay
Paid
you earn while training

In a nutshell

Create animated assets and content, by producing the motions, gestures, expressions and performance of two or three dimensional characters and inanimate objects.

What you'd do

Animate character performances following approved storyboards or briefs
Block out and refine key poses before adding in-betweens
Work within a production pipeline meeting scene handover deadlines
Review your own work against reference footage and director notes
Collaborate with modellers, riggers, and compositors on shared assets
Attend dailies or review sessions to present work in progress
Archive and organise files correctly within the studio system

What you'd learn

Principles of animation including timing, weight, and squash-and-stretch
2D and 3D animation software used across the UK industry
Character rigging and how rigs control movement
Shot composition and how animation serves storytelling
Pipeline workflows and how animation fits into wider production
File management and version control in a production environment
How to receive and apply creative feedback professionally
Ready to look for a place?
See live Junior animator apprenticeship vacancies on the official government service.
Find vacancies
A Careermash concept Β· apprenticeship standard from our careers engine Β· vacancies via gov.uk.

Career data: role, pay and progression profiles built for Careermash's careers engine; AI-impact estimates from Anthropic's observed AI-usage telemetry and OpenAI's AI Jobs Transition Framework. Course data: HESA / Discover Uni, including Graduate Outcomes, LEO and the National Student Survey. Apprenticeships: IfATE-published standards, approved only.

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