Entry Requirements: A minimum of a grade 6 in GCSE English Language and a grade 6 in English Literature | Exam Board: Eduqas (part of WJEC)

Why Study Media? 

The media is the most dynamic, innovative, and influential method of mass communication of modern times. It has been reported that adults in Great Britain are consuming media for almost 8 hours a day. That’s 8 hours a day watching films and television, reading newspapers, and scrolling through social media. Within that time, we are bombarded by other people’s representations of the world and how we respond to these representations can affect our perceptions of people, places, and society, of politics and culture, of ourselves and of our place in the world. Media Studies is a vital tool necessary to understanding the media’s significance and its power. 

What will you study? 

As a Media Studies student, you will analyse how media products use language and representations to create meaning. You will learn about the media industry and how the industry affects how media products are made. You will investigate media audiences, exploring who are the people who watch, read, and consume the products, and consider how different people might respond to products differently, and why. 

You will study nine media forms: 

• Film Industry 
• Advertising & Marketing 
• Video Games 
• Radio & Podcasts 
• Music Video 
• Television 
• Magazines 
• Online & Social Media 
• Newspapers 

You will explore and apply critical perspectives including those of world-renowned media and cultural theorists, and will examine how social, historical, political, and economic contexts affect media production. You will also have the opportunity to apply what you have learned through the production of your own media texts, exploring, and creating media forms such as film marketing, music videos, television, magazines, and websites. 

Assessment 

Component 1: Written Examination, 2 hours 15 minutes, 35% of qualification 

Component 2: Written Examination, 2 hours 30 minutes, 35% of qualification 

Component 3: (Non-Examined-Assessment): Cross-Media Production, 30% of qualification 

Skills 

Media Studies will help you to develop valuable transferable skills such as critical thinking, analysis, research, planning, skills of enquiry and evaluation, practical skills, creativity, essay writing skills and more. Your studies will complement and assist your learning in other subjects such as English Literature, Sociology, and Politics. 

Opportunities 

Over one hundred universities offer courses in Media, Communications and Cultural Studies in the UK. An A level in Media Studies helps you to progress to these courses, as well as in other related areas such as the Social Sciences, English and Humanities. There is a huge array of career opportunities in the media, which is an industry that is growing at an exponential rate, contributing billions every year to the UK economy. 

Local visits to media industries, workshops with industry professionals, and a subject enriching trip to London are highlights of the A level course at JCG.

Contact

Miss S Hearn M.A, B.A [email protected]