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Journalism /Journalism (Sport) (top-up)

Entry requirements


Scottish HND

Pass

Entry to Year 3 of the programme, with a B in the Graded Unit, with any of the following HND titles: Journalism; Practical Journalism; Communication with Media or relevant media-related subject

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About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Broadcast journalism

**OVERVIEW**

UWS’s BA Journalism is a top-up degree which builds upon your previous studies and will teach you everything you need to know to become a savvy, multimedia-skilled journalist and reporter.

We have developed the curriculum that reflects what the actual experience of the rapidly changing newsrooms will be and the skills required to operate successfully in these environments at a practical and intellectual level. This will enable you to explore, analyse and critique Journalism in a forensic way to more fully understand why the news/ethics/managerial decisions being made in the newsroom are being made. The students will also develop a very firm grasp of the role of Journalism in the social, economic, civic and democratic life of our societies.

Underpinned by theoretical insight into ethical and effective journalism, you’ll study news reporting, develop interview techniques, and hone your writing skills to meet the practical demands of today’s fast-paced news environment.

You’ll also have the option to specialise in Sports Journalism.

**Journalism pathway**
Those opting for the straight Journalism pathway will continue to build on their previous knowledge with opportunities to undertake work placement, produce portfolio-based work in news, features, specialist magazine journalism across a range of digital and online formats.

**Sports Journalism pathway**
This opting for the Sports Journalism pathway will undertake some of the same modules as the Journalism pathway students, eg, research methods, newsroom practice, creative portfolios. However, the focus of their final two years will be in meeting the requirements of sports journalism, as well as their own aspirations. Modules will explore sports news production in a range of sports programmes, with news, features, commentary and live reporting being key (much of this will be focused around our involvement with a range of sports organisations & clubs). 

**PRACTICAL FOCUS**
During your time on this degree you’ll create content for uwsnewsroom.com and your own portfolio. You’ll also get the opportunity to develop close ties with partner organisations as media creators and producers, including Ayrshire Women’s Hub, Ayr United FC, St Mirren FC and Ayr Rugby Club.

You will be expected to undertake either work-based learning in a newsroom environment or work-related learning as part of specific projects. For example, The Newsroom Practice module includes a requirement to undertake a placement which enables you to apply the skills and knowledge you have gained in a workplace setting and from which you will gain a valuable experience that is aimed at supporting both your learning and future employability.

**CAREER PROSPECTS**
**Jobs**
The BA Journalism equips you to work in newsrooms across the globe and provides you the essential skills to compete within a multimedia environment.

Modules

In your first year of study you will study a range of modules outlining the role of journalisom is society, research methods, and newsroom practice. You can also choose to study the Sports Journalism Pathway where you will be introduced to sports news production as issues such as policty and the organisation of sport.

In your final year, you will re-inforce your studies of professionalism in journalism and broadcast, news and politics, as well asoptions in podcasting, an international perspective of news and gloabl issues in sports news. However, the major component in this year is the final year creative research project. This project provides you the the opportunity to develop a significant creative research practice output which will be the result of a strong industry and production focus with critical evaluation and academic underpinning. The precise nature of the project will vary with your interests but examples could include: short film script, a 15 minute documentary, a TV series pilot, an audio/radio project or a multimedia portfolio of news, features and sports content. There is the minimum of a 5000 word written contextualisation; you will also have the opportunity to write a dissertation with a smaller practice portfolio.

Assessment methods

Learning, teaching and assessment in this degree will be aligned with professional practice through the amalgamation of assessments that meet the needs of the university and a range of graduate skills, yet also help prepare students for the demands of the working environment beyond university. 

For example, aligned assessments are likely to include the production of a range of professionally produced news and journalistic artifacts that would be expected in industry and where effective communication, engagement and collaborative practice are key learning outcomes. The experiential learning opportunities in the programme will also students to learn how to work in teams co-operate with others in group projects, pose and resolve a range of problems both in the content and production of a range of journalism outputs, such as news, sports and magazine projects, and give and receive feedback through peer-review involving the whole class.

Teaching will comprise practice-based workshops, simulated newsroom environments, production days, seminars and lectures. All modules are supported Moodle, an online VLE which enables staff and students to both communicate and share content on assessment, learning activities, information sources such as online broadcast and print materials, discussion forums and support for teaching and learning.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,000
per year
International
£16,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Visit www.uws.ac.uk/scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

Ayr Campus

Department:

Business and Creative Industries

Read full university profile

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.

91%
Broadcast journalism

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

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
82%
Staff are good at explaining things
82%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
73%
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

45%
Library resources
55%
IT resources
64%
Course specific equipment and facilities
82%
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?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
79%
Male students
21%
Female students
70%
2:1 or above
17%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
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.

93%
med
Employed or in further education
44%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

30%
Media professionals
19%
Customer service occupations
9%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

£18k

£18k

£18k

£18k

£24k

£24k

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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