BA in Journalism

Why choose this course?

Journalism at Kingston University prepares you for the workplace as well as offering plenty of choices to follow your interests and career aspirations. Our BA, taught by professional journalists, provides students with all the current skills they need to succeed – evidenced by our 100% graduate employment rate. (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022).

You will get a thorough grounding in core skills including news and features, digital and social media, ethics and media law. Key to your learning will be hands-on experience at the River Newspaper and River Online and the opportunity to undertake work experience and internships in London, the hub of the UK's media industry, supported by our work placement.

You will also get opportunities to create your own innovative media products such as a magazine or website, podcast series or documentary, as well as pursue research into current issues in the journalism industry. You will have the chance to pursue your interests in depth by creating a cutting-edge journalism portfolio that could include broadcast, sport, fashion, visual journalism, data, creative non-fiction, and international, political or environmental reporting that will prepare you to pursue specialist beats on graduation.

All this learning is covered in broad-ranging core modules that develop your employability, innovative thinking, specialist knowledge and practical, academic and analytical skills. You will use our media facilities, which include industry-standard software, two dedicated newsrooms and a broadcast media suite.

Our graduates have gone on to work in top media companies including the BBC, Reuters, Sky, Channel Four, Hearst UK, Haymarket Media Group, EMAP, DMG Media, REACH and Vice.

Reasons to choose Kingston

• Kingston is ranked Top 5 in London for journalism (Guardian University League tables 2023).
• You'll have many opportunities to do work experience and internships in London, the hub of the UK's media industry. You'll be supported by our work placement scheme.
• You'll gain hands-on experience at our student-run River newspaper and River Online (a past winner of the Guardian Student Media Award newspaper of the year).

What you will study

This programme is designed to equip you with knowledge and expertise, both to understand the world of journalism as consumers and to engage with it as practitioners.

You will also gain transferable skills that are of use in a variety of professions. These include the capacity to carry out independent research and to demonstrate initiative and leadership; teambuilding, interview techniques digital skills; and the ability to produce precise, accurate, engaging written work to tight deadlines.

Modules

Each level is made up of four modules each worth 30 credit points. Typically a student must complete 120 credits at each level.

Year 1

Year 1 introduces the skills for becoming an effective journalist including digital skills, mobile reporting, video and social media, news and feature writing. You will also study the broader context of journalism in society and the critical issues facing journalists today.

Core modules

• Practical Journalism 1
• Thinking about Journalism
• Digital Skills for Journalists
• Journalism in the Wider World

Year 2

In Year 2, you will be able to develop your skills in a range of specialist modules including broadcast, and magazine journalism. In the Practical Journalism 2 module, you will produce your own live digital and print publications. You will also study core subjects such as video, layout and media law and have the opportunity to pursue a research project. You can also choose to study abroad at one of our partner universities.

Core modules

• Practical Journalism 2
• Journalism in History and Literature
• Optional modules
• Journalism Research Paper
• Magazine Journalism
• Broadcast Journalism

Optional year

You have the option to take an additional year to study abroad.

Final year

The final year enables you to put your learning into practice through hands-on experience at The River Newspaper and River Online - a past winner of the Guardian Student Media Award newspaper of the year. You will have the opportunity to undertake work experience and internships in London, the hub of the UK's media industry, supported by our work placement scheme.

You will study key subjects such as ethics and media law to prepare you for the workplace, and specialist modules such as sport, fashion, data or international journalism. You will expand your critical and analytical skills by undertaking a research paper on a specialist module or through a dissertation.

Core modules

• Practical Journalism 3
• Journalism, Ethics and the Industry
• Journalism Independent Project
• Journalism Specialism

Please note

Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.

After you graduate

Our graduates have progressed to roles at many of the main media organisations such as Reuters, Cosmopolitan, OK!, Channel 4 News, Sky, the BBC, The Times and Al Jazeera.

Examples of recent first jobs after graduation include:

• Journalist, Express Newspapers
• Picture editor/researcher, The Sun, News UK
• Sub-editor, MailOnline (Snapchat Discover desk)
• Junior feature writer, Harvey Nichols
• Junior fashion writer, SecretSales.com
• Multimedia reporter, Pink News
• Reporter, Copenhagen Times
• Reporter, Euromoney Institutional Investor
• Trainee reporter, South West News Service
• Video journalist, RT UK
• Editorial assistant, HMG Aerospace
• Copywriter, Health & Care