Digital Media BA (Hons)

Study level: Undergraduate
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Explore digital storytelling through video, sound and web, and learn how content is designed to move, connect and engage audiences in a digital landscape.

Year of entry

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time
Sandwich

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years sandwich

Course code

P479

Start date

September 2026

How to apply
Book an Open Day
Download a prospectus
Register for updates

The information on this page is for 2025-26 entry and should be used as guidance for 2026-27 entry. Please keep checking back on this course page to see our latest updates.

Course overview

Explore the creative potential of digital media and learn how to design interactive content and compelling stories in a digital environment. This course supports the development of your creative skills for producing engaging digital experiences.

  • Experiment with diverse digital tools and formats, including 3D modelling, game design, immersive tech, audio and video production.
  • Use coding as a creative medium to develop unique digital narratives and interactive experiences.
  • Work with emerging technologies and contemporary digital media practices to prepare for a cutting-edge career.
A star in the centre of a rosette.

Rated Gold Overall

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023
Five stars in a speech bubble.

5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings
City buildings next to a tree.

Top 5 Student City in England (Coventry)

QS Best Student Cities Index 2026

Why you should study this course

  • Get hands-on experience using modern digital media tools to create exciting and original content.
  • Learn how to run creative projects and work with others in fast-moving, collaborative environments.
  • Stay informed about media trends and learn how to respond to real-world challenges through creative practice.
  • Build a portfolio that reflects your personality and skills across different digital platforms.
  • Gain the skills and experience needed to pursue a creative career in digital media.

About the School of Arts and Creative Industries

  • Our hands-on, practitioner-led approach is rooted in project-based learning. This creates opportunities for cross-disciplinary working and engagement with external collaborators. Where appropriate, you may work with peers from other courses, bringing specialist skills to interdisciplinary projects in ways that reflect the collaborative nature of creative studios and agencies in the creative industries.
  • Our learning and teaching mirror the needs of the creative industries, so our graduates have the opportunity to develop the skills and attributes needed to become industry specialists, leaders and innovators.
  • Our studio culture seeks to ensure you are socially responsible in our creative community and develop critical thinking in research and making processes.
  • Our global initiatives aim to give you skills to become a collaborative communicator and make you culturally competent.
  • Our industry links typically enable us to host an exciting programme of guest speakers covering topics such as developing a game, storyboarding for video production or how to get a job in the industry.2 
  • Past students have worked on projects such as VR experiences, creative coding or marketing campaigns.
No.5

for Media and Film Studies

The Guardian University Guide 2024

Why study Digital Media BA (Hons) at Coventry University?

What you'll study

The common first year enables you to work alongside students doing similar courses to you, to widen your knowledge and exposure to other subject areas and professions. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with other students, so you can share your insights and experience which will help you to develop and learn.

If you discover an interest in a specific subject you have studied, upon successful completion of your first year, you could swap degrees with another course in your common first year (subject to meeting progression requirements).

Common first year courses

Animation BA (Hons)
Digital Media BA (Hons)
Games Art BA (Hons)
Games Design and Development BA (Hons)
Visual Effects (VFX) BA (Hons)

In your first year, the curriculum is shared across related courses allowing you to gain a broad grounding in the discipline before going on, in the second and final years, to specialist modules in your chosen field.

Modules

In your second year, you will continue to develop the skills and knowledge you’ve learnt. We do this by embedding the following four principles into the curriculum and developing your:

  • technical skills - digital fluency, backed with the right academic knowledge
  • study skills - to be an adaptive, independent and proactive learner
  • professional skills - to have the behaviour and abilities to succeed in your career
  • global awareness - the beliefs and abilities to be a resilient, confident and motivated global citizen.

You will develop more advanced knowledge and skills to do with: how digital media impacts society, digital media formats and content creation, amongst others.

Modules

There’s no better way to find out what you love doing than trying it out for yourself, which is why a work placement2 can often be beneficial. Work placements usually occur between your second and final year of study. They’re a great way to help you explore your potential career path and gain valuable work experience, whilst developing transferable skills for the future.

Modules

Your final year aims to bring you to the level to enter the world of work by consolidating your knowledge and skills from your first and second years.

Modules

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

Teaching and learning methods may include:

  • lectures 
  • seminars 
  • tutorials 
  • presentations 
  • group projects 
  • workshops 
  • practical workshop sessions.

Teaching contact hours

As a full-time undergraduate student, you will study modules totalling 120 credits each academic year. You will normally study one 30-credit module at a time. A typical 30-credit module requires a total of 300 hours of study made up of teaching contact hours, guided and independent study.

Teaching hours

Teaching hours may vary depending on your year of study and selected modules. During your first year, you can expect 12-15 teaching hours each week. You will also have the option to attend additional sessions, including time with a progress coach or to meet with staff for advice and feedback. As you progress through your studies, teaching hours may reduce.

Guided and independent study

Throughout your studies, you will be expected to spend time in guided and independent study to make up the required study hours per module. You’ll be digging deeper into topics, review what you’ve learned and complete assignments. This can be completed around your personal commitments. As you progress through your studies, you’ll spend more time in independent study.

Online learning

As an innovative university, we use different teaching methods including online tools and emerging technologies. So, some of your teaching hours and assessments may be delivered online.

Teaching and learning methods may include: 

  • lectures 
  • seminars 
  • tutorials 
  • presentations 
  • group projects 
  • workshops 
  • practical workshop sessions.

Assessment

This course is assessed using methods that vary by module. These approaches are intended to prepare you for the complex and evolving contexts of professional practice.

Assessment methods may include:

  • artefacts
  • practical coursework
  • digital coursework
  • individual work
  • group work
  • live/video/poster presentations
  • video/academic essays
  • projects
  • individual assignments.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

International experience opportunities

We aim to encourage students to broaden their horizons by taking advantage of either study abroad or placement opportunities2. Our students may also have the opportunity to go on field trips or international trips2. Past trips have included Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, and Barcelona. These are often combined with industry or community projects on location in the international destination. A group of our previous final year students had the opportunity to work on the AR Prison Break project and present this immersive experience using augmented reality at the Spark Festival in Hong Kong.

Please note that all international experience opportunities may be subject to additional costs, competitive application, availability, and meeting applicable visa and travel requirements, and are therefore not guaranteed2

Entry requirements

Typical entry requirements:

Requirement What we're looking for
UCAS points 112
A level BBC
GCSE GCSE maths and English at grade 4 / C or Functional Skills Level 2, or other equivalent Level 2 awards
BTEC DMM
IB Diploma 29 points
Access to HE The Access to HE Diploma. Plus GCSE English at grade 4 / C or above

If you do not have the typical entry requirements, you may want to consider studying this course with a foundation year.

Portfolio

You may be required to attend a portfolio showcase, activity session or audition or submit a portfolio via email (as is appropriate to your course), either virtually or face to face, as is practical to arrange. Invites for these sessions will be sent directly to your contact email.

Each application will be considered on its merits.

Other qualifications and experience

Our students come from a variety of backgrounds, each with a unique story. We recognise a breadth of qualifications. If your qualifications differ from the above, contact our Admissions Team who will be happy to discuss your qualifications and routes into your chosen course.

Contextual offers and Fair Access Scheme

If you meet the criteria for our Fair Access Scheme, you could automatically receive a contextual offer that may be up to 24 UCAS points lower than our standard entry requirements. View the criteria for our Fair Access Scheme.

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

Africa

Americas

Central Asia

East Asia

Europe

Middle East

South Asia

South East Asia


You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

Portfolio

You will be required to submit a portfolio via email or alternatively attend a showcase activity session or audition (as is appropriate for your course) which can be virtual or face to face, as is practical to arrange. Invites to send in your portfolio or attend these sessions will be sent directly to your contact email.

Each application will be considered on its merits.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.0 overall, with no component lower than 5.5

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

Fees and funding

Student Full-time Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man 2026/27 fees TBC
2025/26 fees: £9,535 per year		 Not available
EU 2026/27 fees TBC
2025/26 fees: £9,535 per year with EU Support Bursary**
2026/27 fees TBC
2025/26 fees: £19,850 per year without EU Support Bursary**		 Not available
International 2026/27 fees TBC
2025/26 fees: £19,850 per year		 Not available

If you choose to study this course with a professional placement2 or study abroad year, you will need to pay a tuition fee3 to cover your academic support throughout your placement year. Students commencing their professional placement in the academic year 2027/28 will pay £1,500 if they are paying UK fees, or £1,800 if they are paying international fees.

For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.

The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permits an increase in tuition fees, the university may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

If you choose to study this course with a professional placement, the University will charge the tuition fees stated above for those on a placement during Academic Year 2027/28. The University will review professional placement tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study, but such that it will be no more than 5% above inflation.

For international students, we may increase fees each year, but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

  • Any optional overseas field trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
  • Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.

Facilities

Coventry University has invested in superb arts facilities with Ellen Terry, Delia Derbyshire and the Tank forming your primary learning locations. All within a minute's walk of each other in the city centre you will have access to purpose built studios and a well-stocked Media Loan Shop so you can borrow an extensive range of specialist, professional equipment, including 4K and HD video cameras, DSLR cameras, tripods, audio equipment and lighting4.

  • Hyperstudio
    The Hyperstudio is designed to be an experimental space where staff, students, community, and industry can collaborate to solve real world problems. It is a cube with high-speed connectivity and power, that is both a making and showing space into which, an array of physical and digital technologies can be brought to support project needs.
  • Immersive media studio
    The immersive media studio is a studio space designed to allow design, collaboration and testing of immersive experiences that combine audiovisual elements in diverse ways. It is centred on performance capture and high-end XR capabilities, and includes capability for immersive audio integration.
  • Hacklabs: Electronic and Digital
    The two hacklab spaces are experimental spaces on the bleeding edge of emerging technologies and processes where students and staff can be guided in their exploration of new and emerging practices in an array of fields. A library of resources such as sensors and other physical computing solutions, and software for experimentation will be available.
Two male students presenting in a TV studio to a camera in the foreground.

Television Studio

You’ll have access to our on-site television studio The Tank, offering specialist equipment such as large cameras, mixing facilities and fibre-optic wiring throughout.
 

Male student setting up a photography light in a studio.

Photography Suite

This specialist facility is available to media students to take and process photos in a professional environment. There is also support for printing, high-end scanning and film processing.

Exterior front of the Ellen Terry building.

Media Loan Shop

Our media loan shop provides you with access to the equipment and support you need to excel in your studies – from basic audio recorders to professional cameras and expert advice from our technicians.

Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.

Careers and opportunities

Where our graduates work

Graduate roles could include:

  • Digital artists and designers
  • Web developers
  • Games and VR developers
  • Content creators
  • Digital marketing and business professionals
  • VFX artists
  • UX/UI designers
  • Digital project managers
  • Creative technologists
  • Digital researchers
  • Learning technologists
  • as well as more traditional areas within the creative media industries, such as animators, social media managers, graphic designers etc.

The graduate destinations listed above illustrate potential career paths. You may need to gain additional qualifications or practical experience, pass professional examinations, complete training, cover associated costs and meet specific visa or immigration requirements to secure employment in these fields.

Further study

You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees if you decide to extend your time with us by progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate study.

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