Media and Communications BA(Hons)

Select the year

2027-28

Start Dates

20 September 2027

Duration

3 years full-time 4 years inc. placement year

UCAS Tariff

112-104 points

Recent Awards For Excellence

Find out more about these awards

About this course

Overview

Media and communication shape our culture, society, and democracy. From TV and social media to cinema and streaming, the stories we consume inform, entertain, and inspire. Film remains one of the most powerful mediums, capable of challenging ideas, sparking debate, and influencing society.

Our Media and Communications course equips you with a blend of analytical, creative, and technical skills, helping you understand and use media effectively in a global, digital landscape. You’ll explore film, digital media, and emerging technologies, developing the tools to create, analyse, and critique content across platforms.

The course sits within a wider humanities subject area and offers an exciting experience of collaborative media work with peers in Journalism, English and History. You’ll be taught by experienced academics and industry practitioners, working with a range of great facilities designed to give you hands-on experience in real-world media environments.

By the end of the degree, you’ll graduate with practical skills, industry knowledge, and a strong creative portfolio, preparing you for careers in media, film, television, digital content, marketing, or further study.

Career opportunities after the course *

Content Creator

Media Producer

Radio Producer

Social Media Manager

*Lightcast

Who can apply?

Entry Requirements

BBC-BCC at A Level.
112-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications.
Merit at T Level.
DMM-MMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Merit in UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Merit in RSL Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
112-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum of IELTS 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see Undergraduate entry requirements.

We offer a range of fair access opportunities and support to help students progress to higher education. You may also be able to earn extra UCAS points. For more details, please see our Contextual Admissions Guidance.

What will you learn?

Course Details

This module will help you master the craft of academic writing and professional communication, enabling you to gain a competitive career advantage. You will learn to write clearly and persuasively across diverse platforms, focusing on real-world impact. The module balances the demands of academic writing—perfecting the skills of building logical, evidence-based arguments and evaluating the provenance of source material—with practical opportunities to develop a specialised portfolio in creative writing (fiction, poetry, screenwriting, creative non-fiction, historical narrative, exhibition content) or journalism (investigative reporting, opinion/editorial, historical journalism, for online/print/ broadcast). Graduate with the power to influence and command attention in any industry.

Critical thinking enables us to go beyond the surface of information, using analytical skills to dissect, question, and evaluate ideas with a detective's curiosity and a scientist's precision. This skill set is common to all disciplines in the Humanities, where the challenge lies in unravelling complexities, probing assumptions, and exploring the neglected features of human culture, language and history, considering the importance of intersectionality along the way. The module will hone your intellectual skills in reasoning and close analysis, improve your ability to present arguments effectively, reflect on your work, and equip you to plan and conduct an independent research project.

This module provides the knowledge for you to gain an understanding of the role of technology in shaping and being shaped by mediated communication, with a particular focus on digital media technologies. The module combines the critical analysis of media technologies with practical skills to use those technologies in the journalism, media and creative industries.

The module introduces you to a range of audio formats and technologies: mobile, online, radio and podcast. You will be provided with the essential recording, editing and studio skills necessary to produce an audio output. You will be introduced to legal and regulatory frameworks surrounding the production of audio content and the opportunity to understand the language and concepts required to critically evaluate audio content.

This module introduces you to essential ideas about the media’s roles in societies, along with the rights and responsibilities of those who create media content. Learners will get to grips with the key media ethics, law and policy knowledge needed for a career in this vast and dynamic industry. It will help you understand the structures in which media workers and organisations operate, and the ways in which specific ethical, legal and regulatory frameworks impact the content created. You will learn about these so you can begin to effectively apply them in the context of creating media content.

The module introduces you to a range of video formats and technologies: mobile, online, television and video. You will be provided with the essential recording and editing skills necessary to produce a video output, and to understand the language and concepts required to critically evaluate video content. You will be also be introduced to legal and regulatory frameworks surrounding the production of video content.

This module develops the research skills you acquired at Foundation level, giving you the skills and confidence required to complete a major piece of independent research in your final year of your degree. You will learn from expert researchers and archive/heritage professionals. We will discover together how research uses different methods and approaches to answer specific research questions, engaging in scholarly debate to further knowledge. We’ll learn about the ways in which we build on existing research to generate new insight, and how research findings make a difference in the real world. The module gives you the freedom to research a wide range of relevant topics in your discipline with the structure and support of subject specialists.

You will be expected either to complete a graduate or professional level work placement – or, as an alternative an enterprise or citizenship project with a tangible end product (e.g. feasibility study for turning hobby/idea into a personal business or setting up campaign group/developing volunteering/charity initiative) plus associated documentation – plus a self-reflective evaluation of the process. In preparation for this you will undertake career planning and placement research, supported by workshops and tutorial meetings.

This module will develop your skills in investigating archival records and help you to understand and critically analyse how they are used in a range of different sites and formats that include academic scholarship, museums, literature, literary heritage, reportage, digital media and online. The module will be based around materials held in Heritage Quay, the University Archive, and you will have a hands-on introduction to how archives are collected, catalogued and utilised in public-facing environments. It will also develop your independent research, communication and employability skills.

This module focuses on developing your understanding of different kinds of promotional culture and visual brands – magazine, influencers and public relations (PR) - and your critical, analytical and evaluative skills. You will analyse the diversity and complexity of the magazine market alongside online brands and promotion. You will learn how to critically analyse different kinds of promotional culture and evaluate its role in society, developing skills you will need to help you develop successful, effective and ethical promotional campaigns and content. You will examine the economics, techniques and organisation of magazine design and production and investigate the nature of the publishing industry. The module also looks at the market for new magazines and you will examine how editors and publishers identify new opportunities, allowing you to develop your own entrepreneurial ideas. You will work with design software packages used in the magazine industry. As the module continues, you will apply what you have learnt to the practice of Magazines and PR, and further develop the creative, analytical and technical skills you need to succeed as a public relations practitioner.

In this module you will examine contemporary cinema as a global media industry, with a particular emphasis on the processes of globalisation and circulation that allow film texts to become meaningful far outside the contexts in which they were made. While the global dominance of Hollywood is central to this, cultural influences, values and meanings flow in multiple directions. You will develop knowledge of key theories in film and global media studies, including theories of globalisation, cultural hybridity and exchange, national identities, and imagined communities. By focusing not only on the films themselves, but on their production, distribution, promotion and reception, the module provides you with a detailed understanding of how and why cinema spreads around the globe, and the tensions this cultural flow creates at a political, social, economic and cultural level.

This module gives you an understanding of the technical, legal and professional standards involved in planning, producing and publishing digital audio content, with a focus on podcasting. You will develop advanced skills in creative audio storytelling and editing. You will take part in creating a podcast and will develop abilities in promoting your work on social media platforms.

The placement year is your chance to gain hands-on experience and build on the skills you’ve developed in your first two years of study. You’ll spend up to 48 weeks (minimum 36 weeks) in a graduate-level role, sharpening your professional skills, exploring career options, and boosting your future job prospects. During your placement, you'll reflect on your performance, develop real-world skills, and learn to approach your role with a critical eye. Your placement will be monitored, and you’ll be assessed on your achievements, setting you up for success in your final year and beyond.

The Portfolio Sandwich Year module provides a flexible and tailored approach to professional development. It allows you to create a customised portfolio of graduate-level opportunities if your career aspirations don’t align with a traditional sandwich year placement. This module will help you develop a diverse and adaptable skillset, build professional networks, and enhance your career readiness through a mix of structured and self-directed activities.

This module aims to: - provide the skills, facilities and support to enable students to set up and run their own business or freelance service during their sandwich year. - enable students to apply and test their knowledge and skills (including both creative and personal skills) as developed through their studies to date. - give students experience of working in a self-employed capacity in their chosen industry as appropriate to their pathway. - provide opportunities for personal development in a self-employment or freelance situation, especially in the area of creative innovation and entrepreneurship. Students will research, plan and prove the concept of a business idea through setting up their own company for a period of up to 48 weeks (Aug-May not including fixed holidays). They will be self-employed and will aim to provide products and/or services in their chosen area of their industry sector. They will work for at least 21 hours per week on their venture. They will have responsibility for managing and negotiating client and stakeholder relationships and will provide on-going evidence of their work through a series of regular meetings with the Enterprise Hub Manager and Enterprise Advisor, and their mentors and by providing monthly reports. On completion of EPY each business/individual will be required to pitch their business to a panel, comprising a representative from their school; an external business expert and an internal Enterprise Team representative. This module provides an opportunity to undertake and demonstrate competence in their chosen area of expertise in a professional environment, as well as developing their ability to conceive, manage and develop an SME in their chosen industry sector.

For more information on when and how we update our modules please see the ‘Legal Information’ section below.

This module is the culmination of your degree, allowing you to apply your skills and knowledge to researching and writing an extended piece of work on a subject of your choice, including, if applicable a public engagement output with an external organisation, such as a museum, archive, community heritage group or similar.

This module challenges you to design and develop a project aimed at showcasing the value of the humanities to the general public. You will collaborate with your fellow students to deliver a project that communicates the importance of your disciplines in a non-scholarly, non-academic way. More broadly, you are encouraged to think about the real-world applications of a humanities degree, and about the role of the humanities in challenging and changing society. Taking this module will develop skills enabling you to articulate the value and importance of your studies to a non-specialist audience.

This module gives you the knowledge and practical skills to develop an advanced understanding of the emerging and diverse use of short film in a variety of forms. You will examine how video can be used across digital and broadcast platforms in innovative and complex ways. You will work in small groups to develop video narratives using a range of styles and platforms, with a clear understanding of audience and production.

Exploring the key genres of fantasy and horror, this module allows you to consider how cult status has been incited, sustained and marketed. You will analyse cult film through a blend of film-makers’ and audiences’ agency versus structural (film industry/technological) forces. The module explores whether there are textual attributes through which ‘cult movies’ can be defined, and introduces you to how fantasy and horror film have been theorised in the academy (via cultural-historical, formal, and psychoanalytic approaches, along with others). You will consider a range of horror subgenres, as well as creatively assessing the possibilities for subgeneric innovation; you will also analyse the cultifying processes which have surrounded specific fantasy/horror films.

You will also choose 1 optional module in this year. The current optional modules are:

This module concentrates on helping you develop an advanced professional and distinctive style in journalistic writing for different media platforms, with a particular focus on transmedia feature writing. You will closely analyse the writing styles adopted for a variety of journalism platforms in the context of media convergence. You will produce work that reflects your understanding of the style and format in each context as well as how to develop narratives across media.

On this module we will study the Holocaust through the words of those who survived and/or bore witness to it. Bringing together both literary and historical perspectives, we will approach this bleak yet defining episode of human history in a unique interdisciplinary fashion, focusing on non-fictional texts such as memoirs, diaries, and verbatim theatre. By studying how those who witnessed the events of the Holocaust chose to put the experience into words, we will attempt to understand these events neither in terms of traditional history textbooks nor in terms of their representation in our culture, but in terms of some of the individual stories behind it. This will allow us better to grasp issues such as trauma, memorialisation, the relationship between testimony and truth, and the difficulties involved in putting the events of the Holocaust into words.

This module is intended to explore the boundaries of genre: the hazy area between fiction and non-fiction. Through study of exemplary texts, you will become acquainted with a variety of experimental narrative and poetic possibilities which they can apply to their own writing practice. You will produce a portfolio of work—narrative fiction, poetry or hybrid/experimental forms to demonstrate different approaches to innovative writing. A self-reflective commentary on intentions and the creative process will accompany the portfolio.

This module aims to support you in the production of a portfolio of original work in a category to be negotiated with the tutor. The production of a self-reflective commentary on the creative process is integral to the project. You'll be asked to provide a project proposal outlining the content of your project. Regular tutorials will be available to help you manage your time and offer constructive feedback to help with rewriting and drafting of creative work. It is recognised that a single piece of creative work may not be appropriate for all students, so a portfolio may contain a mixture of poetry and prose or other kinds of creative writing.

This module will introduce advanced concepts, theory and practical skills in the use of a broad range of equipment used for recording and mixing sound for Film and Television. The focus will be on Sound Design, Foley, Sound Effects, Dialogues recording and editing, track lay, and mixing in stereo and surround. Practical experience of location sound recording will be gained and will form an integral part of the module and its assessment. You will develop your ability to track lay, synchronise and edit audio along with video in a DAW and develop advanced post-production editing and mixing techniques. Discussions of the theoretical, philosophical and creativity aspects of the area will underpin the module content in lectures.

For more information on when and how we update our modules please see the ‘Legal Information’ section below.

Teaching and Assessment

Discover what to expect from your tutor contact time, assessment methods, and feedback process.

Global Professional Award

At Huddersfield, you’ll study the award-winning Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* — so you’re ready for the career you want, whatever subject you choose.

Interested in a placement?

Placements

Students are supported to undertake a full professional training year in Year 3. We help our students in finding suitable placement opportunities in the Media or Film Industry and beyond. During the placement years you are supported by an academic tutor and will build professional experience invaluable for your final year of study and graduate career alike.

Previous placement providers have included the BBC and independent TV companies, a variety of radio stations and newspapers and magazines, along with leading public relations companies and social media agencies

Find out more

A placement is a great opportunity to explore your chosen industry, to understand the sector, network and make valuable contacts, whilst developing your skills, knowledge and experience. A placement is a chance to get involved, to put theory into practice and to work alongside professionals.

- Stephanie Bower
Placements Officer

How much will it cost?

Fees and Finance

£10,050 per year

This information is for Home students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2027/28.

Modules credits can range from 15 to 60, dependent on the content of the module. Read more about total credits required for a range of degrees, to allow you to calculate the potential total cost.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy.

From January 2027 the UK government is launching a new student funding system for people starting university education. Read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).

For detailed information please visit our fees page.

£17,600 per year

This is the tuition fee for 2026/27 entry. Tuition fees for 2027/28 will be published once the information becomes available.

This information is for international students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy.

For detailed information please visit our international fees and funding page.

Home

This is the tuition fee for 2026/27 entry. Tuition fees for 2027/28 will be published once the information becomes available.

The tuition fee for a placement year is £1000. If you go on work experience or work placement, you will need to fund your own travel and/or accommodation costs to and from the placement. Please be aware that if your placement is outside of the UK, you will still be responsible for your travel and living expenses and may need to consider issues like health care and insurance costs.

International

This is the tuition fee for 2026/27 entry. Tuition fees for 2027/28 will be published once the information becomes available.

The tuition fee for a placement year is £3,300. If you go on work experience or work placement, you will need to fund your own travel and/or accommodation costs to and from the placement. Please be aware that if your placement is outside of the UK, you will still be responsible for your travel and living expenses and may need to consider issues like health care and insurance costs.

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International

Tuition Fee Loans

Find out more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement tuition fees loans available to eligible undergraduate students.

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What’s included in your fee?

We want you to understand exactly what your fees will cover and what additional costs you may need to budget for when you decide to become a student with us.

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If you have any questions about Fees and Finance, please email the Student Finance Team.

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TV studio control room

Radio studio

TV studio

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Media and Communications BA(Hons)

Overview

Why choose Huddersfield for this course?

Accreditation and Professional Links

Entry Requirements