Journalism
De Montfort University
UCAS Code: P500 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
Pass Access in the QAA accredited Access to HE course. English and Maths GCSE required as a separate qualification as equivalency is not accepted within the Access qualification. We will normally require students to have had a break from full-time education before undertaking the Access course.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
BTEC National Diploma / Extended Diploma Plus five GCSEs at grade 4 or above, including English or equivalent.
T Level
UCAS Tariff
from at least two A-levels Plus five GCSEs at grade 4 or above, including English or equivalent
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
About this course
Journalists play a vital role in a democracy, and this course offers the opportunity to pursue a career that is not only exciting, but also crucial for informing debate and discussion on a wide range of questions affecting our lives.
The course is designed to enable flexibility to allow you to focus on specialist areas of your choice, which include music journalism, lifestyle and sports while also preparing you to challenge the status quo. Throughout the degree, you will be encouraged to focus on core issues of social equality, social justice, protest and marginalised communities in the UK.
You will learn the traditional core skills of researching, interviewing, writing and web-publishing, and gain multimedia skills within video and audio production. The journalism sector requires graduates who possess a broad digital multi-platform skillset, knowledge of media law and political structures, and have the ability to question structures in society.
**Key features**
- Develop your practical skills in the Leicester Centre for Journalism and our multi-million-pound Creative Technology Studios, which feature broadcast-standard radio production studios, and film studios equipped with multi-cameras and green screen facilities.
- You will learn to write from respected and award-winning former journalists and academic experts who are active in newspaper, radio, magazine and digital journalism. Our students were recently inspired by a guest lecture from successful freelance writer and former DMU Journalism alumna, Rachel Toal.
- Select a route through this degree in Creative Writing, Drama, English Language, English Literature, Film Studies, History or Media. These carefully chosen routes will complement and enrich your understanding of your main subject, alongside broadening your skillset to give you a wider range of career paths upon graduation.
- Gain valuable hands-on experience by joining a range of student societies such as the award-winning Demon Media group, and put what you’ve learned into practice by contributing to its magazine, radio, Youtube channel and website.
- You will have opportunities to strengthen your career prospects with placements in industry. Places students have previously worked at include The Times, Sky Sports, the NME, Leicester City Football Club, ITN, the BBC, CNN, Leicestershire Live and the Observer.
- Graduates have progressed to careers and internships with some of the UK’s biggest media companies, including Sky News, The Sun, the BBC, CNN, ITV, plus Mixmag and Clash magazines as well as PR companies and the wider communications and digital media industries.
- Benefit from Education 2030, where a simplified ‘block learning’ timetable means you will study one subject at a time and have more time to engage with your learning, receive faster feedback and enjoy a better study-life balance.
Modules
Year 1
Block 1: News Reporting and Media
Block 2: Video and Audio
Block 3: Understanding Journalism OR you can select to study one route from the list below:
Film Studies: Disney, Warner Bros and the Film Studio
Media and Communication: Media, Culture and Society
English Language: Evolving Language
Creative Writing: Writers Salon
English Literature: Introduction to Drama: Shakespeare
History: Global Cities
Drama: Shifting Stages
Block 4: Digital News Production
Year 2
Block 1: Feature Writing and Lifestyle Journalism
Block 2: Video and Radio Journalism
Block 3: Beyond News OR continue with the route selected in the first year:
Film Studies: Screen Archives
Media and Communication: Public Relations
English Language: Sociolinguistics
Creative Writing: Story Craft
English Literature: Digital Humanities
History: Humans and the Natural World
Drama: Theatre Revolutions
Block 4: Professional Practice
Year 3
Block 1: Journalism Projects
Block 2: Students choose two of the following modules:
Freelance Journalism
Enhanced Digital Reporting
Podcasting
Photo Journalism
Block 3: Sports Journalism OR Music, Film and Entertainment Journalism OR continue with the study route selected in the first and second year:
Film Studies: British Cinema
Media and Communication: Gender & TV Fictions
English Language: Language, Gender and Sexuality
Creative Writing: Creative Misbehaviour
English Literature: World Englishes
History: The World on Display
Drama: Performance, Identity and Society
Block 4: Journalism Dissertation
Routes: You can select to study a route in Block 3 during your first year. When selecting a module for Block 3 in your second year you can opt to remain on your chosen route or return to Journalism. If you choose to remain with the route, it must be continued in your third year.
Assessment methods
Teaching
This is a full-time course. Each module is worth 30 credits. Outside of your normal timetabled hours you will be expected to conduct independent study each week to complete preparation tasks, assessments and research.
Course delivery is in block mode, which means each 30 credit module consists of a seven week teaching block.
Learning takes place in a variety of formats including workshops, lectures, seminars, tutorials, and independent study.
Assessment
The assessment strategies are designed to measure the extent students are able to demonstrate their ability to achieve the learning outcomes for each module and ultimately to ensure academic and professional journalism skills have been met by the end of the three years.
The type of assessment varies according to the module. They range from traditional essays, presentations, reflective essays to portfolios of practical journalism work. Summative assessments are designed to provide evidence students have gained knowledge and understanding of supporting theory and research; and that they have developed professional competencies in the work produced.
Anonymous Marking: Portfolios and long form projects are undertaken under the guidance of tutors are therefore not appropriate for anonymous marking. However, essays within most of the modules are marked anonymously.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Leicester Campus
Computing, Engineering and Media
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
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Journalism
Teaching and learning
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Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
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Journalism
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Journalism
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£17k
£20k
£25k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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