Media and Communications BA (Hons)

 

Course Code

UCAS Code: P910
International Code: AHU079

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

 

Study mode

Full-time
Sandwich

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years sandwich
4 years full-time (study abroad or work placement)

Start date

September 2022
January 2023

How to apply
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Course overview

Study level: Undergraduate

Our Media and Communications course is designed to help you negotiate and operate in contemporary media landscapes, exploring a wide range of communication, culture and media theory.

  • Narrative content creation is the driving force of any emergent, new, and/or established media form. This course focuses on writing for media and furthers academic practice with a digital humanities toolkit to theoretically engage content, markets, and creative practice.
  • Get stuck into projects in areas such as: audiovisual media and moving image; podcasts; blogs, and other forms of digital publications, marketing, and publicity design.
  • You will be encouraged to discover and share your cultural experiences in a number of international projects and assignments embedded in the course, including field trips or digital equivalent, as well as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects*.
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Global Ready

An international outlook, with global opportunities
human silhouette teaching in front of a blackdoard

Teaching excellence

Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field
Resume icon displaying a paper and a pen

Employability

Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeed

Why you should study this course

  • Dedicated and flexible creative learning environments, media spaces and industry-focused studios, including The Tank, our purpose built, industry-standard TV studio.
  • Opportunity to study abroad at one of our many international partners (subject to availability, application, meeting visa requirements and additional costs).
  • Access to high-standard professional media equipment via our Media Loan Shop, including prosumer media equipment (i.e. 4K and HD video cameras, DSLR cameras, tripods, audio equipment, lighting – Canon, JVC, Sony).
  • All of our students are issued a laptop to be used in line with the 24/7 mobile learning scheme, and pre-loaded with the latest suite of industry-standard software Adobe Creative Cloud, Office 365 along with 1TB of cloud storage (terms and conditions apply).
  • Significant links with a wide variety of employers and media practitioners, such as Phoenix Cinema, Electric Arts and EA Games, many of whom offer professional experience opportunities in the forms of placements (subject to availability, successful application and additional costs may apply).
1st

for overseas student experiences

Based on student trips abroad from HESA 2018/19 UK data

More than just a degree

I knew I wanted to do a Media and Communications course because it covers so many aspects of the industry I love. Once I met my tutors during Open Day and could see the passion they had for the subject, I knew Coventry was for me. Every year, we get to do a portfolio module which is a great way to build our skills and showcase our work to employers.

Jennifer Cassidy, Media and Communications BA (Hons) student, 2021
student in the television studio against a green screen

Tom's placement year with video game giants Electronic Arts

Third-year Media and Communications student Tom talks about his placement year with EA Games Guildford, and how Coventry helped him along the way.

Read his story
Tom at EA Games

What you'll study

The course encourages you to think and work critically, creatively, imaginatively and professionally within a wide range of contemporary media and cultural practices.

Over the course of the three years, you will cover the key areas of: screen, new and digital media, global and international contexts of media and culture, creative industries, media history and theory, media and cultural research, and media and cultural production.

As the course progresses, you will deepen your awareness of the forms and aesthetics of communication, media and culture texts and how these create different effects and meanings. We will explore the pragmatic, cultural and social significance of the emergence of new technological forms of media and communication practice, their heritage, and how these shape the lived experience of everyday domestic and professional life by gaining a combination of analytical, critical and practice-based skills.

Our Media and Communications course is extremely well placed to exploit the rapid shift to forms of employment within the cultural and media industries based around complex, convergent and new digital media developments.

You will be immersed in the driving forces of media exchange (theory) and media content like storytelling (practice). The course focuses on contemporary developments in media and communication studies and the best-suited, most flexible creative practices to enter the creative industries.

Modules

  • This module introduces you to the themes, issues and theoretical debates central to the study of media, the mediation of communication, and its relationship with socio-economic systems.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework, presentation

  • This module introduces you to the history of audio-visual media, from the birth of newspapers to the age of the internet, highlighting some of the key developments and debates concerning the creative and media industries.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • Media Narratives introduces you to the mechanics of writing and story building for various media and communication genres.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module trains students to identify, observe, understand, and analyse issues pertaining to media representation, that is the ability of popular (and other) media content to portray particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module is the first in a three-part series of modules on Digital Media and Digital Humanities which builds an awareness of those that engage with media through reception (fans, audiences, viewers, consumers etc.).The focus of this module is Media Viewers and Communities. Later modules consider systems and networks, before moving into transnational identities shaped by media engagement in its various forms.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • The workshops enable you to explore the techniques for disciplined writing, self- and peer evaluation, and creative writing tool kits. You will explore the appropriate uses of form, format, and language through genres and medium driven variations of storytelling (fiction, literary nonfiction, transmedia world building, conceptual writing, reimagining, etc.) with emphasis on your own unique style and preferred subject matter.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • The aim of this module is to provide students with the opportunity to acquire knowledge of the basic methods used to undertake research work within the broad domain of communication, media and cultural studies.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • You will also be able to take an Add+vantage module which can allow you to develop your CV by taking credits in an area of study that doesn’t have to be related to your degree. The assessment type will depend on the type of Add+vantage module you wish to take.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework, exam

In the second year, your acquired skills and competences are extended into a more structured academic research and a first-person engagement with the professional world. You’ll engage in a series of different activities inspired by both research-informed teaching and employability-oriented projects. Live and simulated projects and assignments are also embedded in the curriculum to introduce you to the demands of operating within the professional sphere of the media and cultural industries.

Modules

  • This module builds on and extends the themes, issues and theoretical debates central to the study of media, the mediation of communication, and its relationship with socio-economic systems, as introduced in the first year of study.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • The module aims to enable you to critically and practically advance knowledge and skills, the use of business tools and major themes in Media Management. You will develop leadership, project management and a set of business and vocational skills.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module trains students to identify, observe, understand, and analyse issues pertaining to media representation, that is the ability of popular (and other) media content to portray particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module builds on and extends the themes, issues and theoretical debates central to the study of media, the mediation of communication, and its relationship with socio-economic systems, as introduced in the first year of study.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • The module is a combination of student curated event(s) and practice driven workshops leading up to student curated event(s), which explores the opportunity to engage media and creative industries professionals in direct conversation. This provides students the opportunity to develop skills like customer relations, event organisation, branding, advertising, and production, and to foster adaptable approaches towards employment.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module is designed as an overview of film and screen studies which provides students with the theoretical background to understand film and visual cultures at large. The classes will focus on the close reading of specific films and screen content – from the dawn of cinema, to the global present – addressing aesthetics, production, and the relationship of to audiences and users at varying levels.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • The module’s aim is to introduce you to theories and historical studies of the impact of media technologies on society and culture to enable you to weigh in on contemporary discussions on digital revolutions.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module analyses how social media are used to engage in politics, activism, and other public-debate dimensions. It provides you with the opportunity to acquire, develop, and consolidate a personal portfolio of communication skills ranging from the devising of coherent communication strategies to the implementation of those strategies.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • You will also be able to take an Add+vantage module which can allow you to develop your CV by taking credits in an area of study that doesn’t have to be related to your degree. The assessment type will depend on the type of Add+vantage module you wish to take.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework, exam

After your second year, you have an opportunity to take a study abroad or professional placement year. Past students have worked for PR and events agencies (Alan Taman, Arty Folk), social media (Social Network Solutions) radio, TV and creative content providers (Vanny Radio, BeatFreeks TV).

Placement years are subject to availability, competitive application, meeting visa requirements and additional costs.

Modules

  • Optional

  • Optional

In the final year, your critical competences and professional skills are developed and extended further through projects in the Critical Concepts modules, where you will pick a total of two of the options available - Concepts and Digital Media - to prepare for your final coursework. You will be given the opportunity to further your analytical and research skills, and finally craft your own, future-oriented dissertation or project.

Modules

  • This module enables you to undertake complex investigations into issues and theoretical debates within contemporary media, communication, and digital cultures.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module series allows you to more deeply engage with a single or pre-defined set of concepts and media content related to Media and Communications. The module serves as a foundation on which you should build your final project/dissertation.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module guides you in an evidence-based approach to research using primary and secondary sources to create a credible human-centred design insights.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • The module examines how the weight of historical and material cultures affects us in our relationship with both the material world and digital spaces and shapes an understanding and definitions of borders, limitations, boundaries etc. Media users, audiences, producers and consumers redefine their understanding of self and their relationship with nation/culture/place and space through the engagement with larger networks and systems.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • You will also be able to take an Add+vantage module which can allow you to develop your CV by taking credits in an area of study that doesn’t have to be related to your degree. The assessment type will depend on the type of Add+vantage module you wish to take.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework, exam

  • The aim of this module is to give you the opportunity to undertake a major piece of research in your elected field of study within the area of media and communications. You will apply theories and concepts acquired during your course towards a substantial project on a topic chosen in consultation with an individual tutor.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

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

At all levels, contact hours are combined with self-guided study. Whilst the former includes lectures, seminars, workshops, and personal and group tutorials, the latter is focused on your personal organisation, giving you the opportunity to develop time management skills and to fully utilise the course resource pack.

Assessment

Given the complexity of the field of media and communications, you will be encouraged and supported to produce various forms of research and creative outcomes, including pieces of academic writing, media artefacts, portfolios, presentations, reflection and creative works. You will acquire regular feedback on your development from tutors, peers, and instructors.

Job ready

On successful completion of the course you will be able to:

  • Demonstrate critical thinking around the history and development of media and communication forms in local, national, and global contexts.
  • Analyse the convergence of theory and practice across diverse modes of media and communication landscapes.
  • Engage in creative production practices utilising the most appropriate media and communications tools to further modes of media storytelling.
  • Understand the role of changing technology, including emergent digital technologies in media and communications, content manipulation, distribution, access and participation and how to adapt core skills in line with industry requirements.
  • Demonstrate how media and communication genres inform, disrupt and impact on central areas of content creation, public cultures and socially diverse communities.
  • Be adaptable and creative when producing content in event organisation and participation for a variety of audiences and in a variety of media and communication contexts.

International experience opportunities

Students successfully completing the first two years of the course can opt to spend a year out between the second and third years on placement or study abroad. Past students have spent a year studying in places as diverse as Turku University (Finland), Universidad de Madrid (Spain), Hochschule der Medien (Germany), Stenden University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), and California State University (USA). Placement and study abroad opportunities are subject to availability, application, meeting visa requirements and additional costs.

You will be encouraged to discover and share your cultural experiences in a number of international projects and assignments embedded in the course, including field trips or digital equivalent, as well as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects*.

Entry requirements

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Additional requirements may apply

Haven't met the entry requirements or don’t have the right qualifications? You may still be able to progress onto a degree you’d love by studying a foundation or access course.

View our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page. You can also explore our International foundation year courses.

Explore our foundation courses

Fees and funding

2022/23 Tuition fees

Student Full time Part time
UK £9,250 per year Not available
International £18,050 per year Not available

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.

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.

Facilities

Coventry University is home to superb facilities and our new Arts and Humanities building is set to open in 2022. We also have 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 lighting.

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.

The 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 all the equipment and support you need to excel in your studies – from basic audio recorders to professional cameras and expert advice from our technicians.

Careers and opportunities

The creative media industries account for some of the most exciting and diverse careers available – you could go on to become a producer, technician, presenter, reporter, PR specialist, writer, editor or critic.

We take great pride in our outstanding track record of graduate success – with 97% of graduates in work or continuing their studies after six months, DHLE 2016/17, (published 2018). Our course places your future career at its core, aiming to prepare you professionally and providing opportunities to gain substantial practical experience so you’re ready to launch a successful career in the media and cultural industries. It is designed to enable you to work for a range of media organisations, which may include the BBC, independent companies, global media organisations, or as a freelance/independent media manager, producer or researcher.

Where our graduates work

Recent graduates of the course have gone on to work within the film industry, advertising, television, radio, communication management and PR, publishing, the arts and creative media and media education for companies including, Apple, Nielsen, Spark 44, WPP, Virgin, EA Sports, Jaguar Land Rover, Linney Group, IKEA Group, KPMG, Selfridges, Reprezent Radio, Citroen and the BBC. Many also go on to pursue Master’s level study.

Further study

You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University with the Communication, Culture and Media MA. 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.

Alumni share their career highlights

Lesley Smart and Laura Mason-Byers both graduated from Coventry University in 2005 with a BA in Communication, Culture and Media. We caught up with them to find out what they have been up to since they graduated.

Career options after graduation
Coventry University alumni Lesley Smart

How to apply

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Your next steps

Student life
Accommodation
Fees and funding

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  • Student Contract

    By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2021/22 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.

    Tuition fees

    The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we 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. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.

    For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.

    Accreditations

    The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery. 

    Facilities

    Facilities mentioned on this page may not be relevant for every course. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.

    Placements and study abroad opportunities

    Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.

    Additional costs

    This course may incur additional costs associated with any field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity (whether required or optional), which could include (but is not limited to), equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas).