Program Overview

Program Overview

The BA (Hons) Media and Communications with Foundation is a four-year program designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the media and communications industry. The program is divided into three main components: the Foundation year, Year 1, and Years 2-3.

Foundation Year

The Foundation year is designed to provide students with a solid grounding in academic skills and principles, as well as an introduction to the subject area. The year is divided into two terms, with the following modules:

• Liberal Arts and Media Part I: This module introduces students to the interdisciplinary Liberal Arts ethos, exploring the greatest thinking from the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
• Writing for Success at University: This module develops students' writing skills and knowledge, preparing them for success at university.
• Critical Thinking: This module improves students' critical thinking and reflecting skills, enabling them to evaluate information, investigate what is true, and determine strong arguments from weak.
• Cultural Understanding: This module studies a range of cultural industries, tracing how ideas develop from inception to materialization and explaining the values that underpin cultural output.
• Politics, Society, and Citizenship: This module introduces students to the basic principles of politics, society, and citizenship, exploring how society is shaped by politics and how individuals can engage with political issues.
• Liberal Arts and Media Part II: This module continues to build on the interdisciplinary Liberal Arts ethos, subject skills, and knowledge gained in Part I, with a focus on acting, film, and media production.
• Communications: This module enables students to improve their own communication and evaluate the way communication works to convey ideas.
• Cultural Industries: This module studies a range of cultural industries, whether contemporary or historical, local or global, and explains the values that underpin cultural output.
• Creativity and Entrepreneurship: This module critically evaluates how creativity contributes to successful entrepreneurship practice, covering topics such as innovative organizations, entrepreneurial creativity, and decision-making.
• Making Use of Data: This module provides a conceptual appreciation of the nature of data and its many forms, as well as practical knowledge in data analysis using Microsoft Excel.

Year 1

In Year 1, students take the following modules:

• Core Concepts in Media, Communications, and Culture: This module develops a comprehensive overview of the interdisciplinary field of media and communications, from its historical origins to key approaches in the study of media texts and industries.
• Digital Media and Society: This module explores the latest generation of new media communication technologies and applies key conceptual debates to enable students to understand social media.
• Media Histories and Futures: This module begins a journey that starts with the telegraph and takes students through to the metaverse and beyond, focusing on the biggest challenges in the development of media industries.
• Introduction to Media Production: This module introduces students to the skills needed to produce competent and coherent broadcast news reports, interviews, and short feature stories.
• Exploring Industry and Entrepreneurship: This module provides an introduction to the changes being experienced in the world of work and the scope of real-world professional activities in relation to the course.
• Learning Perspectives: This module encourages students to become collaborative, critical, and reflective learners, examining core questions about how and why we learn the way we do.

Year 2

In Year 2, students take the following modules:

• Media Production and Content Consumption: This module analyzes who is consuming media content and offers theoretical and practical tools to understand media audiences.
• Interpreting Media: This module engages students in media analysis, gaining a toolkit to examine and interpret a variety of media texts.
• Global Media Industries: This module investigates media industries, providing practical experience in digital skills and theoretical perspectives on the public sphere of global media and political economy of communication.
• Entrepreneurial Challenge: This module develops entrepreneurial thinking about how to grow students' own or others' entrepreneurial ideas.
• Placement: This module gives students the opportunity to experience industry and entrepreneurship in an external organization.
• Industry Challenge: This module provides an immersive experience, giving students insight into the culture, practices, and commercial contexts of an industry, field, or sector.

Year 3

In Year 3, students take the following modules:

• Media Ethics and Policy: This module evaluates and critically analyzes the ethical, legal, political, and environmental challenges in media and communications.
• Current Issues in Media: Showcase Portfolio: This module engages with debates around the latest trends, developing a more informed and sophisticated practice.
• Major Project I and II: The Major Project is the culmination of students' studies, drawing on their discipline-specific and interdisciplinary learning, as well as their learning about industry and entrepreneurship.

Special Electives

Students can choose from a range of Special Electives, including:

• Creativity and Imagination
• Being Human
• Creating a Brand Identity
• Why We Post: Social Media and Us
• Financial Innovation and Technology
• Photography Workshop
• How to Think in a Post-Truth World
• Understanding Human Rights
• Literary London
• Behind the Lens: Introduction to Media Production
• Psychology of Emotions
• London as Fashion Capital
• Emerging Technologies: from Web3 to the Metaverse
• Digital Design with Adobe Creative Suite
• The Power of Language in Your Life
• Business Ethics
• Experiencing Theatre
• Understanding the Global Art Market
• Inspiring Your Audience
• Future Cities Now

Languages

Students can choose from a range of languages, including:

• Arabic
• Chinese
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Business English

Admission Criteria

The admission criteria for the program include:

• 5 GCSEs at grade A-C or equivalent
• US High School (Year 11) with a minimum GPA of 2.3/4.0
• 24 points in the International Baccalaureate (Year 1)
• Equivalent qualifications as deemed acceptable by the University

English Language Requirements

The English language requirements for the program include:

• Minimum English proficiency requirement through one of the following qualifications: GCSE, IB SL or HL, IELTS
• A minimum score of 5.5 overall and 5.5 in each component for IELTS

Tuition Fees

The tuition fees for the program are:

• £23,000 per year for the 2025/2026 academic year
• £24,500 per year for the 2026/2027 academic year

Careers

The program prepares students for a range of careers in the media and communications industry, including:

• Journalism
• Communications
• Public relations
• Digital/social marketing
• Advertising
• Brand management
• Government

Graduate Visa

The program also provides students with the opportunity to apply for a Graduate visa, enabling them to work or look for work in the UK for up to two years after completing their studies.