Course in brief

On our accredited multi-platform Journalism BA(Hons) course you will develop the skills for a career in journalism, including reporting, digital production, feature writing and shorthand.

National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) accreditation is recognised in the industry as the best indication that new recruits have the skills and knowledge to become effective multimedia journalists in a busy newsroom. In addition to your degree, you will take the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism, a widely recognised entry-level qualification for professional practice.

The course is taught by media industry professionals and highly respected academics who will help you develop key journalism skills as well as critical understanding, academic research and writing methods. You’ll use our industry-standard facilities, which include a 40-station newsroom, multimedia suite, and live satellite news and sports feeds.

You’ll benefit from our guest lecture programme, with previous speakers including Clare Balding, Nick Davies, Sky News head of news John Ryley, and a host of reporters and editors from national broadcasters, newspapers and magazines.

Your placement will give you experience in a professional journalistic environment and help you make industry contacts. Our students have completed placements at organisations including The Daily Telegraph, Stylist, Harper’s Bazaar, Ricochet Productions and Lonely Planet.

You will collaborate with other students to produce publications across platforms, including our student-led journalism website overtimeonline.co.uk. You will also use social media to develop your own following; previous students have created blogs on subjects as diverse as the cosmetics industry, theatre, Brexit and retro pop.  

Key facts

Location Eastbourne

UCAS code P502

Full-time 3 years

Accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists

Book your open day place

Apply now with UCAS

Start in 2018: how to apply

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

A-levels or BTEC
Entry requirements are in the range of A-level BBC–CCC (112–96 UCAS Tariff points), or BTEC Extended Diploma DMM–MMM. Our conditional offers typically fall within this range. 

We will generally make you an offer if your predicted grades are at the top of this range. If your predicted grades are towards the lower end of this range we may still make you an offer if you have a good GCSE (or equivalent) profile or relevant non-academic achievements.

International Baccalaureate
28 points, including English at Standard level 5 or Higher level 4, and maths at Standard level 4.

Access to HE Diploma
Pass with 60 credits overall. Level 3 units in media, history or journalism preferred. At least 45 credits at level 3, with 18 credits at merit or above.

GCSE (minimum grade C or grade 4)
At least five GCSEs, including English language and maths (or equivalent). We do not accept Functional Skills or Key Skills as a GCSE equivalent. Applicants must have already passed, or be in the process of taking the required GCSEs.

Studied before or got relevant experience?
A qualification, HE credits or relevant experience may count towards your course at Brighton, and could mean that you do not have to take some elements of the course or can start in year 2 or 3. 

For non-native speakers of English
IELTS 7.0 overall, 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in the other elements.

International equivalencies

International equivalencies by country
 
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language institute

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For academic preparation courses.

Course in detail

Course structure

All of our journalism courses have three main strands – two shared and one distinctive.

  • Core journalism study (newswriting, law, shorthand, public administration, digital journalism, multimedia).

  • A work placement, research methods module and dissertation.

  • Option modules and applied subject modules, which allow you to specialise in an area of particular interest.

On top of these core elements, you learn skills in digital and multimedia journalism, which are becoming increasingly central to industry practice. You also take a work placement in the final year so you can experience a professional journalistic environment.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, we will inform you of any improvements or innovations to the curriculum through our admissions portal.

 

Journalism student

Course news

Find out all the latest  news on our courses, students, staff and research.

Year 1 

You will be introduced to journalism and the news industry, and develop practical skills for written and audio-visual journalism. You are expected to reach a shorthand speed of 60 words per minute, and study the workings of local and central government. You develop a critical understanding of key debates about media in society.

Modules

  • Introduction to Journalism
  • News, Ethics and Shorthand
  • Public Administration for Journalists
  • Multimedia Journalism
  • Introduction to Journalism Studies
  • Power and the Public Sphere
Shorthand

Year 2 

You'll be encouraged to follow your own interests as you develop a portfolio of work for publication online. You are expected to reach a shorthand speed of 100wpm, write and research local news stories, learn to design printed pages, and become familiar with media law. In addition, you study social sciences research methods, and can choose from a range of options available at the Eastbourne campus.

Modules

  • Journalism in Practice
  • Advanced News Journalism and Shorthand
  • Media Law
  • Digital Journalism
  • Investigative Journalism and Critical Context
NEWSROOMSTUDENTS_018

Final year 

The climax of the course is the Critical Investigation: a lengthy piece of investigative journalism, developed in one-on-one tutorials over the whole year, with an accompanying essay. You'll be supported to complete a two-week placement in industry, and pursue your own interests and talents with specialist options including broadcast, magazine and sport journalism.

Modules 

  • Critical Investigation
  • Journalism Work Placement

Options*

  • Cross-platform Journalism
  • Magazine Journalism
  • Advanced Sport journalism
  • Entrepreneurship for Journalists
  • Public Relations
  • Arts Journalism

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

 

NEWSROOM_010

Overtime: Online student magazine

Overtime is an online magazine run by our journalism students. Originally developed with a focus on sports, Overtime now includes student generated content about a range of topics including the arts and current affairs.

What can I do on Overtime?
You can get involved in subediting, choosing pictures, writing headlines and uploading material. You can also learn to produce video and audio for the site, and develop your multimedia skills.

How will Overtime help me?
The work you produce acts as an excellent showcase for potential employers. Plus, practice makes perfect – the more you write, the better you get, and Overtime gives you the chance to hone your skills throughout your degree.

For more information, see the Overtime website.

Overtime

Course statistics

Unistats and key information sets

Unistats enable you to compare information when choosing a UK university course. All UK universities publish Unistats data on their website.

Programme specification

The programme specification is the approved description of each course. They are updated following course changes, and give a detailed breakdown of the content and structure of the course.

Programme specification

These charts give an indication of how much time you will spend on different activities at each level of the course, and an indication of the balance of assessment by coursework, and written and practical exams. For courses with option modules, actual proportions will depend on the modules you choose.

Find out more about how the academic year and degree courses are organised, and about learning and assessment activities you might get to grips with at Brighton. More specific information about this course is detailed in the programme specification (linked above). You can find out also about the range of support we offer to help you adjust to university life.

Overall workload

Assessments

Careers and employability

We have a successful history in journalism subjects and this degree will open up career opportunities in newspaper, magazine, radio, television and online journalism as well as in public relations, copywriting and media management.

Previous journalism students include:

  • Alex Smith, news reporter for the Stoke Sentinel
  • Chad Nugent, news reporter for the Harwich and Manningtree Standard
  • Gareth Burton, press officer for Essex County Council
  • Giuseppe Muro, Evening Standard correspondent
  • Jon Vale, news reporter for Cambridge Evening News
  • Jon Walton, a broadcast assistant at Radio5Live
  • Matt White, news editor at Isle of Wight Radio
  • Michael Ruffles, content and social media manager at Virgin StartUp
  • Sunni Upal, sports writer at Daily Mail Online
  • Jack De Menezes, rugby and motor racing writer at The Independent
  • James Pugh, reporter at The Racing Post

Multimedia journalism interview

Journalism student interviewing footballer Dee Okojie

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (full-time) 9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 14,040 GBP

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2018–19.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full- or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Location and living here

Location

About Eastbourne

Sunny, friendly and relaxed, there’s lots to do and enjoy in Eastbourne – music and arts festivals, theatre, galleries and sports – and all against the backdrop of the beach and the beautiful South Downs.

Eastbourne hosts some major sporting events, from Eastbourne Extreme – one of the biggest extreme sports festivals in the UK – to Eastbourne International, an annual tennis tournament where some of the world’s finest players prepare for Wimbledon.

Eastbourne has a close-knit community feel. From where ever you are on campus every place you need to go is around 15 minutes away on foot – the beach, the town centre and the South Downs. There is a great selection of clubs, pubs, restaurants and shops and always plenty of student-friendly deals on offer.

   Eastbourne Festival

Campus where this course is taught

Eastbourne campus

Located in one of the sunniest towns in the UK, our Eastbourne campus sits between the hills of the South Downs National Park and the south coast.

The campus has extensive sporting facilities, including a sports hall, fitness suite, climbing wall, swimming pool, three gyms, a dance studio and an artificial training pitch. For sport and exercise students, there are also exercise physiology labs, a human movement laboratory and an environmental chamber.

Professional-standard facilities on this campus include the Leaf Hospital Clinic, specialist practical skills rooms, culinary arts studio and accredited sports science laboratories.

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Accommodation

Eastbourne

Our Eastbourne hall of residence, Welkin Halls, is in the residential Meads area, next to the Hillbrow and Welkin site and within walking distance of Darley Road. The train station is about 20 minutes away on foot.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. We recommend Unihomes when you’re balancing learning with placements, shifts and other commitments, because they give you more choice and flexibility.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

Find out more on our accommodation webpages, and if you have any questions, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accomeastbourne@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 643810.

Welkin Halls

Welkin bedroom


  

Maps

house Accommodation
campus University building

Eastbourne campus map

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