Undergraduate study 2014 prospectus

Course information

Our course at Loughborough provides you with a unique and exciting opportunity to study media and communications from a multi-disciplinary view point, with its flexible nature enabling you to tailor your degree to suit your careers aspirations.

The degree course is designed to equip students with a broad understanding of the way communication and mass media systems are organised, and how they help shape economic, political, social, creative and intimate life. 

It covers historical and contemporary developments across a number of key media sectors, including the press, broadcasting, film, advertising and digital media.

The course also provides students with a range of general and specialist skills that are relevant to a wide variety of jobs related to media and communications, from working in the media industries or conducting market research to managing public relations in a company.

The course includes lectures, seminars, workshop sessions and one-to-one supervision. 

Teachers are acclaimed internationally for the excellence of their research, and the course has a long-standing reputation for providing high-quality teaching.

Students can, if they want to, choose one of the three optional schemes:

Optional Six Month Study Abroad

Students can visit a University abroad to study for six months. This a wonderful opportunity to enhance language skills and experience living abroad (taken during the second year of the course).

Optional English Language Assistantship Placement

This involves the option of taking a four year degree, in which a student can apply for a British Council placement to work as an English language assistant in a school abroad (during their third year).

This is paid employment and earns the Diploma in International Studies (DIntS) which is an additional award to the final degree.

Optional Placement Schemes

Other placement schemes operated by the University may be undertaken with the approval of the operating Department, which may lead to the Diploma in International Studies (DIntS), or the Diploma in Professional Studies (DPS), depending on the placement.

Selection

We do not favour any A-Level subjects over others and we accept General Studies as a subject in its own right. In addition we welcome applications from students with other qualifications, from students on Access courses and from mature students.

All candidates to whom we are considering offering a place will be invited to visit the University to find out more about the course, to meet current students and to look around the campus.

Assessment

Assessment involves exams, written coursework, oral presentations and a poster. Coursework involves essays, on-line reading commentaries, research reports, presentations and projects.

Career Prospects

Among our 2011 graduates, 94% were in employment or further study within six months of graduation. This figure is well above national averages for the sector and is testament to the quality and reputation of our degree and our graduates.

Loughborough’s Communication and Media Studies graduates are particularly good at securing jobs in marketing, advertising and public relations. Over the past few years, between 20-30% have secured jobs in these sectors.

Other jobs include: Press Officer, Broadcast Assistant, Publicist, Media Production Assistant, Events Coordinator, freelance Journalist for BBC Radio, Information Officer, Online Editor, Visual Merchandiser, Writer, Publishing Trainee, Customer Experience Manager etc.

Course structure

Year 1

Compulsory modules

• Introduction to Communication and Media Studies: Press and Broadcasting
• Researching Media and Communications 1
• Study Skills
• Media Landscapes
• Introduction to Critical Viewings
• Constructing Meanings: Texts and Audiences

Options to be chosen from:

• Sociology
• Social Psychology
• Criminology and Social Policy
• Deviance and Social Control
• British Politics
• Languages
• Plus others available at the time

Year 2

Compulsory modules

• Communication, Media and Cultural Theory
• Researching Media and Communications 2
• Critical Viewings: Film
• Promotional Culture: Advertising, Public Relations and Society

A selection of communication and media options (indicative list):

• Media, Memory and History
• Media Panics
• News Production
• Persuasive Communication
• Propaganda
• Global Media
• Media and Identity
• Youth Culture and Media
• Plus others offered from other subject areas in the Department

Year 3

• Communication and Media Studies Dissertation
• Critical Viewings: Television
• Critical Viewings: Documentary
• Digital Media and Society
• Plus a further selection of options from those listed for Year 2

Please note that optional modules are subject to availability and timetable permitting.

UCAS codes and entry requirements

The entry requirements for each course should be read alongside the University’s general entrance requirements, which give further details on acceptable subjects, alternative qualifications and minimum English language requirements.

SQA AHScottish Qualifications Authority Advanced Highers IBInternational Baccalaureate Diploma DPSDiploma in Professional Studies DISDiploma in Industrial Studies DIntSDiploma in International Studies