Journalism (including foundation year)
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
English Language and Mathematics GCSE at grade C/grade 4 or above (or equivalent, eg Functional Skills at Level 2). Applicants who meet the UCAS points criteria but who obtained a grade D/grade 3 in English and/or Maths at GCSE may be offered a University test in these areas
UCAS Tariff
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**Why study this course?**
Our Journalism (including foundation year) BA (Hons) degree is the ideal choice if you’d like to pursue a career in journalism or digital media but don’t hold traditional qualifications or can’t meet the necessary requirements to enter the standard three-year undergraduate degree. You’ll graduate with the same award and title as students on the standard journalism course.
This four-year course has a built-in foundation year that is designed to help you prepare for undergraduate study and evaluate your abilities in terms of reading, writing, critical analysis and research.
Throughout the degree you’ll pick up knowledge and skills that will allow you to engage audiences in compelling stories, develop journalistic writing techniques and thrive in this fast-paced industry.
**More about this course**
On our Journalism (including foundation year) BA (Hons) course you’ll be introduced to contemporary practices in journalism, as well as to the ideas and theories that govern journalistic research and writing.
Throughout your degree you’ll be able to rely on support from your tutors, as well as other specialist services at the University. There will be opportunities to improve skills that relate to the real-world through special workshops, including those that allow you to practise interview skills and write job applications.
Your foundation year - which you’ll share with students on other foundation year courses - will be diagnostic in nature, allowing you to explore a range of different subjects within digital media and creative fields alongside students with different academic perspectives on the subjects you study.
During the foundation year you’ll learn the technical aspects of creative practices through the development of ideas with a focus on the quality of making, recognition of structural qualities of different media and essential elements in communications.
After you complete the foundation year you’ll join students starting our standard three-year course, where you’ll study the same content and have the same choice of modules. To learn more about the subsequent three years of your degree, visit our Journalism BA (Hons) course page.
If, at the end of your foundation year, you’d like to change your specialism there will be some flexibility to allow you to do this.
Modules
For up-to-date module details please see the course page on the university website. Example module options include:
Foundation year:
Introduction to Media and Communications;
Introduction to Film, TV and Broadcast Media;
Introduction to Digital Media;
Introduction to Journalism and Writing for Media;
Year one:
Journalism: History and Ideas (core);
Practical Journalism (core);
Reporting and Photography Skills (core);
Writing Skills;
Year two:
Advanced Reporting (core);
Journalism Work Placement (core);
Media Law and Ethics; Public Administration (core);
Newsroom Production (core);
Styling and Journalism (optional);
Documentary Photography (optional);
Year three:
Broadcast Journalism (core);
Creating Packages (core);
Journalism Project (core);
Arts Journalism (optional);
Campaigning Journalism (optional);
Fashion Writing and Reporting (optional);
Sports Journalism (optional);
Assessment methods
Methods of assessment on this course will include coursework, in-class tests and individual and group assignments. You’ll also be required to complete a final assessment that is of a publishable standard this may be a video, audio, written or multimedia project.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Holloway
School of Computing and Digital 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?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Journalism
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
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.
£19k
£19k
£27k
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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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
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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