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University of Chester

UCAS Code: PW63 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

72 UCAS points overall including a D at A level.

Access to HE Diploma - Pass overall

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

24

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H4,H4,H4,H4,H4

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMP

Scottish Higher

C,C,D,D

T Level

P

T Level with a Pass grade and D or E on the core

UCAS Tariff

72

About this course

Course option

4years

Full-time | 2025

Subject

Journalism

Foundation Year courses have been designed for students who do not have the necessary academic qualifications needed to enter directly into the first year of a degree but who have the ability and commitment to do so. Once the Foundation Year has been completed successfully, you can then go on to complete your degree.

Our Music Journalism degree offers an immersive and deep dive into a world where music and writing collide! This dynamic course will provide you with an unparalleled opportunity to capture the essence and electricity of live music, from concerts to club nights. It is your backstage pass to the best gigs, biggest festivals and the most spectacular nightclubs on the planet. While you study with us, you will discover how to effectively capture the energy of music in words.

Studying music journalism provides a platform to combine your passion for music and writing to express yourself creatively, articulating your thoughts, observations and opinions on musical culture. It offers a lens through which to explore and comment on societal trends and the latest movements. As a music journalist, you have the power to shape public opinion, highlight emerging artists, and contribute to the discourse around sounds and society.

Early on in your studies, you will begin engaging with seasoned professionals across various genres, acquiring insights and hands-on experience, as well as writing and publishing music reviews. You will gain a great deal of practical experience, with music industry experts playing a key role in your learning throughout the curriculum. You'll be immersed in the industry from day one and will benefit from real-world opportunities, including placements at renowned publications. Recently, some of our students enjoyed placements at Mojo and Mixmag, and our Journalism graduates found staff positions on the payroll at NME and Kerrang!

BA Music Journalism shares a common first year with students on our BA Journalism, BA Sports Journalism and BA Creative and Professional Writing courses. This means that you’ll learn alongside students studying a similar discipline, helping to broaden your knowledge and exposure to other concepts, perspectives and professions in the first year of your degree. As you learn and collaborate with students from other courses, you'll not only widen your social and professional network but also learn new skills that will set you up for success in your industry. In your second and third years, you will progress to studying more specialist modules within music journalism, developing your skills to become a world-ready graduate.

Modules

The Music Journalism pathway contains a combination of core and specialist modules at each level of study.

In Year 1 (Level 4), you will be introduced to industry-embedded practice, including basic storytelling techniques, digital production skills and critical reflection.

Year 2 (Level 5) builds on these skills further with more developed applications integrating advanced critical thinking around relevant issues.

In Year 3 (Level 6), you will integrate expertise in practice, theory and real-world experiences, ensuring you achieve industry-standard competencies and are curious and prepared for employment.

The pathway contains several optional modules which include areas such as:

publishing
digital media skills
social media
design
sustainability
opportunities to explore the broader socio-political and cultural contexts that Music Journalism operates within.
This pathway is delivered in three terms of 10 weeks each. By the end of each year, you will have completed 120 credits of learning. You will gradually gain greater independence in your learning throughout the three years, with a view to achieving positive graduate outcomes.

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the course that will take the form of either core or option modules and should be used as a guide. We review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects. If during a review process, course content is significantly changed, we will contact you to notify you of these changes if you receive an offer from us.

Assessment methods

This pathway is delivered predominantly in person. You can expect to take part in lectures, workshops, seminars and a range of experiential activities both on and off campus – in the UK and abroad to locations such as Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid and Prague. Activities on these trips include visits to a range of music media, cultural and political institutions.

Music Journalism is located in Gateway House in Chester city centre and features a range of facilities, including lecture and seminar rooms, two newsrooms, radio studio, a multimedia broadcast suite, two podcast studios and a student common room.

You should expect to undertake about 40 hours per week of study in total, which comprises scheduled sessions, independent study including engaging with learning material on the University’s VLE, tutorials with staff, researching and producing stories, using the University’s library and other resources, working with peers and preparing work for assessment.

Teaching is delivered by experienced academics and practitioners in the subject. This will be supplemented by occasional guest lecturers and speakers.

There will be a broad range of assessment methods so that you are exposed to the different types of tasks you might encounter in the workplace. These will include coursework in the form of portfolios, essays, presentations, digital productions and online tasks. We continuously review the assessment methods used so that they adequately prepare you for graduate-level employment.

The University’s terms and regulations are updated regularly; you will be notified of any changes annually upon enrolment. Additionally, at enrolment, you will be directed to the latest version of the Course Specification, which details any improvements or changes that have been made to the delivery of the course.

There will be an opportunity to take part in study trips, including one trip outside the UK, which may have additional costs associated with it. We do endeavour to support students who may not be able to afford to take part. The field trip is optional and students are not required to participate in order to successfully complete the course.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,535
per year
England
£9,535
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,535
per year
Scotland
£9,535
per year
Wales
£9,535
per year

The Uni

Course location:

Chester

Department:

English

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What students say

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

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

93%
UK students
7%
International students
59%
Male students
41%
Female students
71%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

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.

£16,900
low
Average annual salary
91%
low
Employed or in further education
55%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

18%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
16%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
14%
Media professionals

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.

£14k

£14k

£21k

£21k

£22k

£22k

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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Course location and department:

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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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