BA Journalism and Communications
Cardiff, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 22,700 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas | for home year two and three: £9,250 / year one: £9,000
Introduction
On a practical level, you will produce portfolios (including digital portfolios), practise journalistic writing skills across a number of platforms including online, broadcast, print and magazines, pitch ideas for new editorial products and businesses, and use a variety of software to produce graphic outputs, blogs, apps, and social media campaigns.
While you will be able to take a number of practical modules, the emphasis of the degree is academic and analytical. You will be able to follow a clear journalism and communication path throughout the three years of study.
Crucially, you will gain the ability to research, write and critique your own written projects according to the highest academic standards, and utilise modern information technology in researching and presenting. You will develop your ability to work both independently and in groups.
Finally, the course will develop and hone your awareness of the practical and economic forces that frame the media, cultural, and creative industries, leaving you ideally placed to work in any field where communication skills are required.
While Journalism and Communications in particular is a product of our extensive and growing communications environment, the course also benefits from our experience teaching and researching both journalism and media studies from national and international perspectives.
While this course is both challenging and academic in nature, it does NOT provide vocational journalism training.
Why Study this Course
Leading the Way
Put yourself at the forefront of Journalism and Communications in an internationally recognised and high-ranking school.
Capital Connections
Cardiff is thriving; take advantage of growing media and creative industries plus links to BBC Wales and Media Wales, situated next door.
State-of-the-Art Facilities
Including a specialised onsite library, bright study spaces and six newsrooms.
Journalism Now
Delve into pressing present-day issues such as mediation of political violence, internet governance and body image.
Placement Opportunities
Develop the skills, confidence and connections to accelerate your career.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
We are committed to investing up to a total of £500,000 in this high-value competitive scholarship scheme to support UK students who are planning to start an eligible Master’s programme in 2024/25.
Each Scholarship is worth £3,000 and will be awarded a tuition fee discount.
Eligibility
UK students are eligible to apply for the Scholarship. You normally need to have achieved at least a 2.1 or equivalent in your first degree to be eligible. You need to submit an application to study at Cardiff University and be made an offer to study before your fee status can be confirmed.
Curriculum
The BA in Journalism and Communications is a three-year, full-time, modular course. Most modules include 12 weeks of teaching and the rest of the semester is devoted to exams and other kinds of assessment, along with the processes of marking and exam boards.
Welsh-speaking students will have the opportunity to undertake their first-year seminars through the medium of Welsh.
Year One
All of our Single Honours degree programmes share a common first year. This is designed to give you a sound foundation in all of the contemporary and historical contexts of journalism, media and culture. It also introduces you to the practicalities of high-quality academic writing, analysis and research.
In total six core 20-credit modules are taught mainly using a lecture/seminar format. During your lectures, you will be introduced to new ideas and approaches and carry out more applied and team-based work in your seminars.
Core Modules for Year One
- History of Mass Communication and Culture
- Media Scholarship
- An Introduction to Media Audiences
- Advertising and the Consumer Society
- Understanding Journalism Studies
Optional Modules for Year One
- Representations
Year Two
You will study two core modules, one in each semester and four optional modules, taught mainly using a lecture/seminar format although the tasks developed in seminars will be more ambitious.
You will be expected to develop research protocols, both on your own and in groups, and will begin to experiment with and design methodological procedures (such as survey methods, ethnography, and content and discourse analysis).
By the end of year two, you will have the skills necessary to write a dissertation in year three.
Core Modules for Year Two
- Data Journalism in Theory and Practice
- Doing Media Research: Approaches and Methods
Optional Modules for Year Two
- Media and Gender
- Mediation of Political Violence
- Yr Ystafell Newyddion 1
- Yr Ystafell Newyddion 2
- Critical Issues in Television Production
- Managing Media Communications
- Celebrity Culture
- Fashion Futures: Technology, Innovation and Society
- Internet Governance
- Media, Globalisation and Culture
- Public Relations and Political Communication
- Employability: Knowledge, Skills & Experience
- Red Penned: Censorship and Resistance in Contemporary Arts Activism
- Media and Sexuality
- Film, Media and Cultural Theory
- War, Politics and Propaganda II
- Reporting Science, the Environment and Health
- Media Law Year 2
- Media and Democracy
Year Three
Year three consists of an optional dissertation and a choice of elective modules allowing you to specialise in your areas of interest. While a number of these will be based on a lecture/workshop format, the range of teaching methods will be more diverse and involve assignments of greater complexity and challenge.
You will conduct independent research and apply theoretical ideas and approaches to practical and/or analytical work.
Optional Modules for Year Three
- Dissertation
- Mediating Childhood
- The Making and Shaping of News
- East Meets West in Film and Popular Culture
- Media, Racism, Conflict
- Spin Unspun: Public Relations and The News Media
- Sport and the Media
- Communicating Causes
- Palu am y Gwir
- Stori Pwy. Cyfathrebu Cymru
- Reporting the World
- Media, Money and Markets
- Feminism and Television History
- Popular Music, Media, & Culture
- Understanding Digital Society through Black Mirror
- Introduction to Broadcast Journalism
- Screening Locations
- (Me) me, Myself and I: The Power and Politics of Digital Remix Culture and Online Inequalities
- Clothing Matters: Global Fashion Cultures and Politics
How Will I Be Assessed?
A number of modules also involve formative methods of assessment. These usually involve the production of proposals for research-based essays (including the dissertation), allowing module tutors the opportunity to provide feedback before they embark on more substantial pieces of written work or other projects. In some cases, formative assignments will have a summative element, and form part of the overall assessment.
The School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies guarantees that for assessed work:
- The marking criteria will be clearly displayed
- You will receive detailed typed written comments on your text
- You will receive prompt feedback and all assessed work will be returned to you within four weeks
- The feedback will be explanatory and worded to help you improve
- Where necessary we will meet you individually to ensure you understand the feedback
Program Outcome
What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?
You will acquire and develop a range of valuable skills, both discipline-specific and more generic ‘employability skills’, which will allow you to:
- Read, analyse and synthesise complex academic texts
- Analyse different media texts, including words, images and sound
- Communicate clearly, concisely and persuasively in writing and speech
- Learn from constructive criticism and incorporate its insights
- Work both independently and as part of a team, developing a collaborative approach to problem-solving
- Carry out various forms of independent research for essays, projects, creative productions or dissertations
- Work to deadlines and priorities, managing a range of tasks at the same time
- Use IT programmes and digital media, where appropriate
- Take responsibility for your own learning programme and professional development
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Our students have an excellent reputation for finding employment after they graduate and find their skills to be helpful in a range of communications and public relations roles.
They benefit from an ability to write copy quickly, effectively and for a specific audience. Our graduates often succeed in business due to their ability to structure coherent written and verbal arguments when pitching their business ideas.
Some of our graduates utilise their newfound knowledge of current affairs and world politics to pursue a career in journalism.
Because our undergraduate degrees do not provide journalism training or journalistic accreditation, many chose to progress on to our master's courses, such as broadcast, magazine, news or computational journalism, to gain their practical training. Find out more about careers and employability.
In fact, you will gain skills applicable to a range of modern media-driven jobs, recent career pathways and roles have included:
- TV Production – Producer and researcher
- Advertising – Copywriter and campaign manager
- Public Relations – Account manager and writer
- Teaching – Various disciplines
- Journalism – Local reporter and blogger
- Movie Production – Writer and producer
- Publishing – Writer and copy editor
- Communications – Press/communications officer