About This Course
Media plays an important role in reflecting, influencing and even shaping modern life and can be world-changing. Our exciting Media Studies and Production (with Foundation Year) degree spans the breadth of Media Studies, including: television and radio, film and video, digital media, journalism, public relations and media practice. Skills and techniques learnt during the study and production of audio-visual material lie at the core of many of the key areas in the creative industries. This course will equip you with a solid grounding in the technical and practical skills required to make you a sought-after professional in these fields.
Our Media Studies and Production (with Foundation Year) option is a four-year course with an integrated foundation year which leads to the same qualification as our three-year honours degree. It has been specifically designed for those wanting to undertake degree-level study but who may not meet the entry requirements or have traditional qualifications.
The Foundation Year (Year 0) offers you the chance to expand and strengthen your confidence, skills and knowledge – ensuring that you are well-prepared and qualified to progress into Year 1 of the undergraduate degree.
Why choose Bangor University for this course?
- Our approach is unique in its close integration of academic and theoretical approaches with hands-on creative practice. Students in the School have the opportunity at all levels to combine a study of their chosen field with practice-based outcomes such as writing, performance, and media/digital media production.
- We have excellent links with theatre companies, newspapers and the television industry.
- Final-year projects are often carried out in collaboration with a company and could include working in a team with students from creative arts degree courses.
- Many members of staff in the School are practising professionals and consultants.
- Teaching staff have a range of research interests including comics, gaming and virtual worlds, visual culture, live television, hypertexts and have recently written on topics such as film and video, multimedia, global media systems, virtual landscapes, social networks, interactive television, media and representation, and cult TV.
- We have a fully-equipped media centre with editing suites, production studios, media and digital media equipment.
- Bangor is the site for a range of Creative Industries conferences, video conferences and events.
Additional Course Options
This course is available with a Placement Year option where you will study for 1 additional year. The Placement Year is undertaken at the end of the second year and students are away for the whole of the academic year.
The Placement Year provides you with a fantastic opportunity to broaden your horizons and develop valuable skills and contacts through working with a self-sourced organisation relevant to your degree subject. The minimum period in placement (at one or more locations) is seven calendar months; more usually you would spend 10-12 months with a placement provider. You would normally start sometime in the period June to September of your second year and finish between June and September the following year. Placements can be UK-based or overseas and you will work with staff to plan and finalise the placement arrangements.
You will be expected to find and arrange a suitable placement to complement your degree and will be fully supported throughout by a dedicated member of staff at your academic School and the University’s Skills and Employability Services.
You will have the opportunity to fully consider this option when you have started your course at Bangor and can make an application for a transfer onto this pathway at the appropriate time. Read more about the work experience opportunities that may be available to you or, if you have any questions, please get in touch.
This course is available with an International Experience Year option where you will study or work abroad for 1 additional year. You will have ‘with International Experience’ added to your degree title on graduating.
Studying abroad is a great opportunity to see a different way of life, learn about new cultures and broaden your horizons. With international experience of this kind, you’ll really improve your career prospects. There are a wide variety of destinations and partner universities to choose from. If you plan to study in a country where English is not spoken natively, there may be language courses available for you at Bangor and in your host university to improve your language skills.
You will have the opportunity to fully consider this option at any time during your degree at Bangor and make your application. If you have any questions in the meantime, please get in touch.
Read more about the International Experience Year programme and see the studying or working abroad options on the Student Exchanges section of our website.
Watch - Studying Creative Studies and Media
Course Content
On this Media Studies and Production (with Foundation Year) degree you will be attending lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and viewing sessions, and undertaking both practical and theoretical tasks. Media Practice modules focus on three main areas: film and TV production, radio production and digital media more generally. Practical modules will be assessed both on the practical output and on the individual’s ability to reflect critically on their practice.
Modules on the history and influence of the media, and media culture, are assessed by examinations and assignments, but assessment methods will vary according to the modules that have been chosen.
Facilities
Film, Media and Journalism Facilities
- Extensive loans service for equipment such as digital recorders, video cameras, stills cameras and more.
- Professionally equipped radio studio.
- Audio editing suites running Adobe Audition.
- Digital video edit suites running Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express on Apple Macs.
- Auditoriums.
- Pontio arts and innovation centre, which includes a 200-seater cinema space with Dolby Surround Sound.
General University Facilities
Library and Archive Services
Our four libraries provide a range of attractive study environments including collaborative work areas, meeting rooms and silent study spaces.
We have an extensive collection of books and journals and many of the journals are available online in full-text format.
We house one of the largest university-based archives not only in Wales, but also the UK. Allied to the Archives is the Special Collections of rare printed books.
Learning Resources
There is a range of learning resources available, supported by experienced staff, to help you in your studies.
The University’s IT Services provides computing, media and reprographics facilities and services including:
- Over 1,150 computers for students, with some PC rooms open 24 hours a day
- Blackboard, a commercial Virtual Learning Environment, that makes learning materials available on-line.
Course Costs
General University Costs
Home (UK) students
- The cost of a full-time undergraduate course is £9,000 per year (2021/22 entry and 2022/23 entry).
- The fee for all placement, international, and sandwich years is £1,350 (2021/22 and 2022/23).
- More information on fees and finance for Home (UK) students.
International (including EU) students
Additional Costs
There are also some common additional costs that are likely to arise for students on all courses, for example:
- If you choose to study abroad or take the International Experience Year as part of your course.
- If you attend your Graduation Ceremony, there will be a cost for gown hire (£25-£75) and cost for additional guest tickets (c.£12 each).
Course-specific additional costs
Depending on the course you are studying, there may be additional course-specific costs that you will be required to meet. These fall into three categories:
- Mandatory Costs: these are related to a particular core or compulsory module that you’ll be required to complete to achieve your qualification e.g. compulsory field trips, uniforms for students on placement, DBS Check.
- Necessarily Incurred Costs: these may not be experienced by all students, and will vary depending on the course e.g. professional body membership, travel to placements, specialist software, personal safety equipment.
- Optional Costs: these depend on your choice of modules or activity and they are shown to give you an indication of the optional costs that may arise to make sure your choice is as informed as possible. These can include graduation events for your course, optional field trips, Welcome Week trips.
Entry Requirements
Offers are tariff based, 48 - 88 tariff points, from Level 3 qualification(s)* e.g.:
- A Levels (including: AS-levels, General Studies)
- International Baccalaureate
- Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
- BTEC Diplomas and Certificate are accepted
- Cambridge Technical Diplomas and Certificates
- City & Guilds Advanced Technical Diplomas
- Welsh Baccalaureate is accepted
- Scottish Highers
- Irish Leaving Certificate is accepted
- T-levels: considered on a case-by-case basis
We also welcome applications from mature applicants. Mature students and/or those with other qualifications are considered on individual merit
*For a full list of accepted Level 3 qualifications, go to www.ucas.com.
General University Requirements
To study for a degree, you’ll be asked for a minimum of UCAS Tariff points. For a fuller explanation of the UCAS Tariff Points, please see www.ucas.com.
We accept students with a wide range of qualifications and backgrounds and consider each application individually.
All students need to have good basic skills and the University also values IT and communication skills.
As part of the University’s policy, we consider applications from prospective disabled students on the same grounds as all other students.
We also consider applications from mature students who can demonstrate the motivation and commitment to study a university programme. Each year we enrol a significant number of mature students. For more information about studying as a mature student, see our Studying at Bangor section of the website.
EU and International Students' Entry Requirements
For detailed guidance on the entry requirements for EU and International Students, including the minimum English Language entry requirement, please visit the Entry Requirements by Country pages. International applicants can also visit the International Education Centre section of our website for further details.
Bangor University offers International Incorporated Bachelor Degrees for International students whose High School qualification is not equivalent to the UK school leaving qualification. The first year (or Year 0) is studied at Bangor University International College, an embedded College on our University campus and delivered by Oxford International Education Group.
Careers
As well as developing an understanding of media production and the context behind this, students will be practising a number of highly desirable transferable skills. Our students have therefore progressed to careers in areas such as the creative industries, and the creative media in particular, education and the public sector, and marketing and public relations. Several graduates go on to develop their work further with us through a period of postgraduate study, where once again the School offers a combination of critical and creative approaches to the study of media and media practice.
Creative Studies and Media courses have seen graduates involved in both academe and in industry, including work in:
- Creative Writing, Professional Writing and Publishing
- Performance and the Theatre, both on and behind the stage
- Print and/or Broadcast Journalism
- Actors, presenters and in television programme production
- Advertising and the Marketing industries
- Radio, as presenters, as well as in programme production
- Digital, Web and New Media production
- Multi-media industries.
Opportunities at Bangor
The University’s Skills and Employability Service provides a wide range of resources to help you achieve your graduate ambitions.
The Bangor Employability Award (BEA)
The BEA is a comprehensive online course that you can work through at your own pace, taking you through all the steps you need to take to explore, prepare and apply for your dream career.
Internships
Bangor University runs a paid internship scheme within the university’s academic and service departments.
Student Volunteering
Volunteering widens your experience and improves your employability. Find out more about volunteering on the Students’ Union’s website.
