MA

Digital Media Practice

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The Digital Media Practice programme at Winchester is designed to accommodate a wide range of specialist interests within the digital media industry. Build your theoretical understanding within the context of honing practical skills in a range of specialist careers. Develop new ideas and theories through your engagement with several live client projects, which may culminate in the real-time release of output through different media platforms.

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Course overview

Your practical work is supported and enhanced through masterclasses, seminars, discussions, workshops, tutorials and self-directed study, and work in professional contexts. Partnerships with professional practitioners and bodies give you the starting point to develop your own network of professional contacts. There is a dedicated, fully equipped digital design studio, with practitioner-based lecturers on hand to support you.

Your course consists of seven core modules, where you undertake individual projects and case studies relevant to your particular area of interest. Core modules include Digital Media Principles, Design Practice, a project on Emerging Media, Brand Design and Strategy and Interaction Design. Our programme's core strength is the unique opportunity it provides students to delve into and investigate specific interests within the digital media industry, providing you with a broader scope to allow you to explore your preferred areas. 

Each module is thoughtfully structured to encourage you to delve deeper into your chosen field of study. This flexible and comprehensive approach empowers you to shape your learning journey, aligning it more closely with your career aspirations.

What you need to know

Course start date

September

Location

On campus, Winchester

Course length

  • 1 year full-time
  • 2 years part-time

Apply

Apply online

Typical offer

A first or second-class honours degree

Fees

From £9,550 pa

Course features

  • Develop your skills through work on live client projects
  • Push creative boundaries with opportunities to to experiment, innovate and take risks

Course details

Learning and teaching

Start dates: September

Teaching takes place: Daytime

Students develop new ideas and theories through their engagement with several live client projects, which may culminate in the real-time release of output through different media platforms. Practical work is supported and enhanced through masterclasses, seminars, discussions, workshops, tutorials and self-directed study, and by undertaking work in professional contexts. There is a dedicated, fully equipped Digital Design Studio, with practitioner-based lecturers on hand during core hours.

Location

Taught elements of the course take place on campus, Winchester

Assessment

Our validated courses may adopt a range of means of assessing your learning. An indicative, and not necessarily comprehensive, list of assessment types you might encounter includes essays, portfolios, supervised independent work, presentations, written exams, or practical performances.

Through the undertaking of projects, students engage with real-world tasks, with assessment reflecting the solutions and outcomes expected in the digital media industry. Assessment takes place throughout the life of a project in order to test and offer feedback on the process and integration of skills. Students are required to complete a final substantial piece of work in the form of either an appropriate digital media project or a written dissertation.

We ensure all students have an equal opportunity to achieve module learning outcomes. As such, where appropriate and necessary, students with recognised disabilities may have alternative assignments set that continue to test how successfully they have met the module's learning outcomes. Further details on assessment types used on the course you are interested in can be found on the course page, by attending an Open Day or Open Evening, or contacting our teaching staff.

Feedback

We are committed to providing timely and appropriate feedback to you on your academic progress and achievement in order to enable you to reflect on your progress and plan your academic and skills development effectively. You are also encouraged to seek additional feedback from your course tutors.

Further information

For more information about our regulations for this course, please see our Academic Regulations, Policies and Procedures.

Modules

Please note the modules listed are correct at the time of publishing. The University cannot guarantee the availability of all modules listed and modules may be subject to change. The University will notify applicants of any changes made to the core modules listed. For further information please refer to winchester.ac.uk/termsandconditions

Modules

Digital Media Principles 20 Credits

This module will provide students with a detailed understanding of the contexts and practice of digital media in terms of design practices and production technologies. Students will be able to examine digital media concerns from the perspective of their own background in order to evaluate and synthesise them within their own developing practice.

The module will celebrate and incorporate the student’s previous experience and practice so that the group as a whole can identify their own areas of strengths and weakness, highlighting aspects to enhance or explore from scratch. This will help students to select their optional module choices and therefore the named pathway.

Design Practice 20 Credits

This module aims to strengthen students’ development of their design process in practical and theoretical terms. The development of a design proposal will, within the wider context of the design research, support and enable the development of the students’ area of interest. Through the undertaking of a major design task, students can build on the skills and knowledge developed from other Digital Media Practice modules and apply skills from their undergraduate programmes or industry practice. This module is intended to exercise the students’ ability to create design proposals that embody clear and appropriate conceptual frameworks against which the design outcome may be tested. The conceptual frameworks should be derived from research that governs the rationale of the design proposal. The design outcome should be sufficiently developed through a process of rigorous testing to demonstrate the validity of the concepts in some detail.

Emerging Media Project 20 Credits

This module will give students the opportunity to work with media practitioners from different fields of practice in the development of a shared collaborative project focusing on emerging media forms. The module enables the individual student the opportunity to devise and direct their own shared project in collaboration with practitioners from a range of practical media backgrounds.

At the beginning of the module the individual student will scope out the nature of the project they wish to work on. The student will then source and build a team ensuring all the necessary practical skills are covered for the scope of the project. As project manager, each student will then work with and direct their team to deliver their project using a variety of production skills.

Students will be asked to reflect upon both the processes of practical production and the experience of collaborating with other practitioners from different media industries and fields of media practice.

Brand Design and Strategy 20 Credits

This module will give students the opportunity to work with media practitioners from different fields of practice in the development of a shared collaborative project focusing on emerging media forms. The module enables the individual student the opportunity to devise and direct their own shared project in collaboration with practitioners from a range of practical media backgrounds.

At the beginning of the module the individual student will scope out the nature of the project they wish to work on. The student will then source and build a team ensuring all the necessary practical skills are covered for the scope of the project. As project manager, each student will then work with and direct their team to deliver their project using a variety of production skills.

Students will be asked to reflect upon both the processes of practical production and the experience of collaborating with other practitioners from different media industries and fields of media practice.

Interaction Design 20 Credits

The Interaction Design Module aims to equip students with the essential knowledge and critical skills required to design, prototype and evaluate highly usable interactive digital media artefacts. You will learn the principles of user centred design which lies at the heart of developing high quality interactive products in the process of developing the client based interactive product. In addition you will explore the role of media and, in particular, how the use of different media can impact on the interpretation of information. Through research in the ways that different media are being blended to create novel interactive experiences, both within physical and virtual worlds, you will develop your own, detailed interactive product in an area of interactive media.

Research Proposal 20 Credits

This module will provide students with a range of research tools that begin with the student’s own personal development and extend to those types of research most useful or appropriate to the individual student's research and career interests. The module helps students to engage effectively in relevant research strategies required in their production work and the more traditional forms of academic research needed in the preparation of their proposal for their major project or dissertation.

Additionally, this module provides an opportunity for each student to explore an area of industry practice production that develops their own career goals and aspirations, and identifies areas for development and consolidation in preparation for employment. These will be expressed as part of their Research Proposal.

Digital Media Practice Independent Study – Project or Dissertation 60 Credits

To qualify for a Masters level award it is necessary for all students to undertake a major piece of independent study. The study should build upon the knowledge and skills that the student has progressively developed throughout the programme and arrive at the production of original work in the realm of Digital Media Practice. In order to allow the widest possible scope to the professional and developmental interests of individual students, this major study may take the form of either:

a. a design project, comprising a research report, all necessary drawings and specifications and, where appropriate, a model or prototype of the completed design

OR:

b. a substantial research study presented as a dissertation, to include amongst its findings evidence of visual exploration, illustrated recommendations and the development of new approaches or ideas in relation to an area of Digital Media Practice
In both cases an appropriately demanding and rigorous quantity of personal research is required.

Entry requirements

A first or second-class honours degree

This course is open to those interested in pursuing a career within the digital media industry. Normally a first or second-class Honours degree or professional experience in the area of study is required. Applicants are asked to submit a portfolio of relevant work along with a short written statement outlining the relevance of the programme to their previous experience.

If English is not your first language: IELTS 6.0 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in writing or equivalent

Course enquiries and applications

Send us a message

This course is open to those interested in pursuing a career within the digital media industry. Normally a first or second-class Honours degree or professional experience in the area of study is required. Applicants are asked to submit a portfolio of relevant work along with a short written statement outlining the relevance of the programme to their previous experience.

If English is not your first language: IELTS 6.0 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in writing or equivalent

Course enquiries and applications

Send us a message

If you are living outside of the UK or Europe, you can find out more about how to join this course by emailing our International Recruitment Team at International@winchester.ac.uk.

Applications need to be submitted by the deadline published on our website. Late applications can be accepted throughout the remainder of the application year. For more information see our How to Apply section.

2025/2026 Course Tuition Fees 

  UK / Channel Islands /
Isle of Man / Republic of Ireland

International

Full-time £9,550 £17,450
Part-time £4,775 £8,725
Total £9,550 £17,450

Additional tuition fee information

If you are a UK student starting your degree in January / September 2025, the first year will cost you £9,550**.

If finance is a worry for you, we are here to help. Take a look at the range of support we have on offer. This is a great investment you are making in your future, so make sure you know what is on offer to support you.

**The University of Winchester will charge the maximum approved tuition fee per year.

Additional costs

As one of our students, all of your teaching and assessments are included in your tuition fees, including, lectures/guest lectures and tutorials, seminars, laboratory sessions and specialist teaching facilities. You will also have access to a wide range of student support and IT services.

 

SCHOLARSHIPS, BURSARIES AND AWARDS

We have a variety of scholarship and bursaries available to support you financially with the cost of your course. To see if you’re eligible, please see our Scholarships and Awards.

CAREER PROSPECTS

Graduates pursue careers in the digital media industry as lead designers, design researchers, account directors, content writers and creative producers.

OUR CAREERS SERVICE
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“The MSc programmes at Winchester provide you with an excellent foundation from which to pursue your career.” - Steve, MSc Graduate

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