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Media and Network Systems

Entry requirements


UCAS Tariff

72

About this course


Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Computer science

Rapid growth in the delivery and consumption of on-demand and streaming services, such as BBC iPlayer, ITV X, Netflix and Amazon Prime, is driving broadcast and media industries to integrate more technology and IT systems. These developments are also creating new career opportunities for skilled professionals with a fluency in network, internet, broadcast and IP technologies.

Drawing on our expertise in this field, and our position at MediaCityUK, we’ve created our exciting new HND Media and Network Systems course to equip you with relevant skills, ready to fulfil in-demand technical roles within the media and broadcast industries. Co-developed by our Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology and our School of Science, Engineering and Environment, the course will provide you with the theoretical understanding and practical experience of media creation and distribution, computer networking, IP technologies, and modern digital media streaming.

Available with full and part-time study pathways, you will explore modules in media broadcast systems and networking, computer operating systems and programming, Internet Protocol, media streaming, cyber security threats and system design. Delivered as part of our exciting new Institute of technology, you will develop practical skills in our media and computing suites configuring and managing a range of media streamed and computer network environments.

In your first year, you will explore the fundamental principles that underpin media broadcast systems and networking. You will gain practical experience of configuring a network, creating television content, and streaming media, and learn the fundamentals of computer operating systems and software development. You will also develop associated practical programming skills along with transferable skills in teamworking and technical reporting.

As you progress to year two, you will learn about the detailed operation and management of media capture, storage, and distribution systems. You will learn how to configure and analyse how data traffic is routed through a network, build knowledge about technical aspects that impact the viewer experience and associated industry standards, and understand cyber security issues with an online media distribution system. In preparation for your future career, you will also experience a group project to design of a complete media distribution system based on specific user requirements.

The Uni


Course location:

University of Salford

Department:

School of Science, Engineering and Environment

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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.

64%
Computer science

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.

Computer science

Teaching and learning

63%
Staff make the subject interesting
75%
Staff are good at explaining things
76%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
81%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

69%
Library resources
76%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
51%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

88%
UK students
12%
International students
89%
Male students
11%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
19%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
D

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.

Computer science

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.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
90%
med
Employed or in further education
70%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

51%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
11%
Information technology technicians
6%
Science, engineering and production technicians

This is a newly-classified subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. The subject is linked to important and growing computing industries, and over time we can expect more students to study them — there could be opportunities that open up for graduates in these subjects as the economy develops over the next few years.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Computer science

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£23k

£23k

£25k

£25k

£26k

£26k

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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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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