Media BA

UCL's Media BA is aimed at ambitious future media professionals. The three-year course combines the highest standards of academic and critical rigour with media practice and state-of-the-art professional skills, providing the opportunity to take up a work placement drawing on London's rich media environment in the second year.

In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 or 30 credits, adding up to a total of 120 credits for the year. Modules are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional modules varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 30-credit module is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

The programme begins, in year one, with introductory modules common to all students. This will include the theoretical approaches to media and the practical strands of film-making and games and interactive media. In the third term, you will undertake a practice-based project in which you can apply the new skills and knowledge you’ve learned.

In the second year, you select from three pathways that guide you through the rest of the programme.

Pathway 1 is Critical Media with Film, exploring the history and cultures of media, and their use in people’s everyday lives. You will also continue with the film-making practical strand, developing your skills through making documentary and fiction films.

Pathway 2 is Critical Media with Games/Interactive, similar to Pathway 1, except that the practical strand here will follow the games and interactive media, making narrative games and designing for VR/XR.

Pathway 3 is Media Practice, and follows both practical strands, allowing you to focus more strongly on production work in film and games, while also offering choices in theory-based modules.

In year two, you have the opportunity to take up a work placement. You will work with an organisation in the media industry, community sector, cultural sector or in education, gaining important experience of media in the workplace. Alternatively, you have the option to develop a main practical or research-based project instead.

Most of the third year will be taken up with your major degree project. This will either be a production project in which you develop a lab-based creative piece for the degree show; or a piece of research for the degree conference.

The final-year degree show and conference is the celebration of the students' achievements. The show will be open for public and includes a preview for industry and UCL’s media network.

Upon successful completion of 360 credits, you will be awarded a BA (Hons) in Media.