Journalism
P500In a rapidly-changing world where news is disseminated across so many different digital platforms, the stories we tell are more important than ever. For a healthy democracy to function, journalism needs to be both principled and engaging. As the next generation to run newsrooms your reporting will need to be informative, entertaining and capable of holding the powerful to account.
Course overview
Our practical journalism course teaches you how to produce such compelling digital content as video, audio and text. You learn on the job, working in our 24-hour Multimedia Centre with its purpose-built, industry-standard newsroom and TV and radio studio, computerised radio station and facilities for multi-track audio recording.
Throughout the three-year programme you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in a range of roles in news, features and sport. In the final year there’s even the chance to work on your own documentary. At our award-winning, student-led news resource, Winchester News Online (WINOL), you work as a reporter in a simulated working newsroom. It is this practical experience that makes our course so widely recognised in the journalism industry as one of the leading sources of editorial talent.
All that studio work is backed up by a challenging series of lectures and seminars that place modern journalism in its historical and social context, looking at philosophy, literature, music, law, politics and the arts. We have one of the most progressive teaching teams in the country, led by award-winning filmmakers, journalists, editors, producers, feature writers and cameramen. The course is accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) and has won awards for innovation in journalism education.
The three-year programme includes a fascinating range of core modules from TV production and presentation to a history and context of journalism. There are advanced modules in multimedia reporting and specialist journalism. There is even an opportunity to work on the Winchester Justice Project in your third year. As part of the project students work on live cases, investigating potential miscarriages of justice. We are the only Journalism department in the UK to run a Justice Project.
Our programme gives you a mix of practical and analytical skills and the knowledge to prepare for a career in broadcast, print, periodical and electronic journalism. What’s more, your work will speak for itself, providing you with a portfolio to help open doors within the industry.
Accreditation
Accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) and will be seeking reaccreditation during 2022/23.
What you need to know
Course start date
September
Location
On campus, Winchester
Course length
- 3 years full-time
- 6 years part-time
Apply
P500
Typical offer
104-120 points
Fees
From £9,250 pa
Course features
- Produce award-winning student journalism while learning from the best in the business
- Accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC), the leading industry-led journalism training body
- Our strong links with industry, including BBC, ITV, ITN and beIn Sports, create excellent placement opportunities and progression into work
- Benefit from a new fully-equipped newsroom
- Work on live cases, investigating potential miscarriages of justice on the Winchester Justice Project in your third year
Course details
Our aim is to shape 'confident learners' by enabling you to develop the skills needed to excel in your studies here and as well as onto further studies or the employment market.
You are taught primarily through a combination of lectures and seminars, allowing opportunities to discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures in smaller groups.
In addition to the formally scheduled contact time such as lectures and seminars etc.), you are encouraged to access academic support from staff within the course team and the wide range of services available to you within the University.
Independent learning
Over the duration of your course, you will be expected to develop independent and critical learning, progressively building confidence and expertise through independent and collaborative research, problem-solving and analysis with the support of staff. You take responsibility for your own learning and are encouraged to make use of the wide range of available learning resources available.
Overall workload
Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, independent learning and assessment activity.
While your actual contact hours may depend on the optional modules you select, the following information gives an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities at each level of the course.
Year 1 (Level 4): Timetabled teaching and learning activity*
- Teaching, learning and assessment: 216 hours
- Independent learning: 984 hours
Year 2 (Level 5): Timetabled teaching and learning activity*
- Teaching, learning and assessment: 264 hours
- Independent learning: 936 hours
Year 3 (Level 6): Timetabled teaching and learning activity*
- Teaching, learning and assessment: 144 hours
- Independent learning: 936 hours
- Placement: 120 hours
*Please note these are indicative hours for the course.
The approach to this journalism course is based around the creation of a simulated real-life working news and sports production operation. The course uses all the technology of the social media age. This approach, together with very low staff-student ratios enables us to tailor the course to the individual needs and ambitions of particular students. At Winchester journalism students can specialise in magazine, consumer and fashion journalism, sports journalism, news, campaigning and investigative journalism; either online or on radio or TV and for magazines.
Location
Taught elements of the course take place on campus in Winchester
Teaching hours
All class based teaching takes places between 9am – 6pm, Monday to Friday during term time. Wednesday afternoons are kept free from timetabled teaching for personal study time and for sports clubs and societies to train, meet and play matches. There may be some occasional learning opportunities (for example, an evening guest lecturer or performance) that take places outside of these hours for which you will be given forewarning.
Assessments
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.
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.
Percentage of the course assessed by coursework
The assessment balance between examination and coursework depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose. The approximate percentage of the course assessed by different assessment modes is as follows:
Year 1 (Level 4)*:
- 87% coursework
- 13% written exams
- 0% practical exams
Year 2 (Level 5)*:
- 100% coursework
- 0% written exams
- 0% practical exams
Year 3 (Level 6)*:
- 87% coursework
- 13% written exams
- 0% practical exams
*Please note these are indicative percentages and modes for the programme.
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
This module provides an introduction to the media industries and the role of journalism in providing valuable commercial content for these businesses. At the same time it allows the student to amass certain preparatory skills and familiarity with media production systems and equipment. There are two main objectives for this module: for students to produce a short feature based on a journalistic organisation; and secondly to master the basics of news writing.
The media law module covers the basic curriculum of practical legal knowledge required by professional journalists. Topics covered include libel, contempt of court, copyright, and privacy. The module also covers the regulatory framework in which UK journalism, emphasising practical application through field trips to courts and the local authorities.
This module builds on the introductory module in semester one and moves on to establish a routine of weekly news reporting resulting as solo audio packages mixing reportage and script reading with interviews and other gathered sound material.
This module will provide an overview of longform journalism as it relates to a number of different types of publications, primarily: newspapers, magazines and other periodicals (both in print and online). It will cover the different types of feature - providing students with an understanding of the differing approaches to structure, language and style as well as the relationship between those types and a range of publications. The module will also look at the importance of social media and how it has transformed journalism. It will consider the use of the various social media platforms as newsgathering tools and as ways of promoting stories. It will also consider how social media competes with the conventional media.
This module builds on the introductory module in semester one and moves to the student completing a solo video package mixing reportage and script reading with interviews and other material. Work will be assessed according to legal and ethical frameworks and recognised industry best practice.
- Introduction to British Politics - 15 credits
- Contemporary Conversations - 15 credits
You will utilise your knowledge of audio production methods in both a pre-recorded output and a live radio show. The pre-recorded audio package will be produced individually within the specialised workflows of documentary and is expected to be devised with digital distribution in mind.
In the small groups, you will be tasked with planning, rehearsing and recording a live radio show at a set time and date. You will have the opportunity to train in the radio studio prior to assessment, gaining the necessary skills to deliver a successful show. With guidance from tutors and technicians, this module will provide students with an introduction to the logistics, practices and pressures associated with traditional radio production and newer exclusively digital standards.
Optional
This module provides an introduction to the media industries and the role of journalism in providing valuable commercial content for these businesses. At the same time it allows the student to amass certain preparatory skills and familiarity with media production systems and equipment. There are two main objectives for this module: for students to produce a short feature based on a journalistic organisation; and secondly to master the basics of news writing.
The media law module covers the basic curriculum of practical legal knowledge required by professional journalists. Topics covered include libel, contempt of court, copyright, and privacy. The module also covers the regulatory framework in which UK journalism, emphasising practical application through field trips to courts and the local authorities.
This module builds on the introductory module in semester one and moves on to establish a routine of weekly news reporting resulting as solo audio packages mixing reportage and script reading with interviews and other gathered sound material.
This module will provide an overview of longform journalism as it relates to a number of different types of publications, primarily: newspapers, magazines and other periodicals (both in print and online). It will cover the different types of feature - providing students with an understanding of the differing approaches to structure, language and style as well as the relationship between those types and a range of publications. The module will also look at the importance of social media and how it has transformed journalism. It will consider the use of the various social media platforms as newsgathering tools and as ways of promoting stories. It will also consider how social media competes with the conventional media.
This module builds on the introductory module in semester one and moves to the student completing a solo video package mixing reportage and script reading with interviews and other material. Work will be assessed according to legal and ethical frameworks and recognised industry best practice.
- Introduction to British Politics - 15 credits
- Contemporary Conversations - 15 credits
You will utilise your knowledge of audio production methods in both a pre-recorded output and a live radio show. The pre-recorded audio package will be produced individually within the specialised workflows of documentary and is expected to be devised with digital distribution in mind.
In the small groups, you will be tasked with planning, rehearsing and recording a live radio show at a set time and date. You will have the opportunity to train in the radio studio prior to assessment, gaining the necessary skills to deliver a successful show. With guidance from tutors and technicians, this module will provide students with an introduction to the logistics, practices and pressures associated with traditional radio production and newer exclusively digital standards.
Modules
Students work within a variety of specified roles generating content as reporters and feature writers/producers to produce a weekly live online publication – Winchester News Online. They work under the general supervision of third year students who perform a variety of executive and management roles on the same project. The online journal is updated weekly (and daily within specified periods) and so the students work in ‘shifts’ around the week, enabling them to carry on with the rest of their studies constituting the degree programme.
This module explores the role and impact of social media in democratic and non-democratic societies and the role and impact of digital media in journalistic practices and organizations.
Following on from Digital Reporting (1), work on the project is designed to integrate, consolidate and advance all previous learning in practical modules.
This module explores and analyses the role and impact of journalism in contemporary societies along with critiquing the ideological, political and social dimensions of journalistic practices and organizations. The lectures also consider the notions of social responsibility to professional practice in the media and communications industries.
Modules
Students work within a variety of specified roles directing and editing the production of content to publish a weekly live online publication – Winchester News Online. The pattern of work is similar to work on the live production during year two of the course, but in this phase students are required to carry out different roles and to work at a higher standard and more independently.
This module will discuss some of the most important traditions in documentary films and consider ways in which the ideas and concepts associated with these traditions can be applied in contemporary projects. It will consider the relationship of documentary to re-presenting ‘reality’, and it various ‘truth claims’. Taught by a range of Lectures, it will encompass documentary production in its changing social and historical contexts, and across some of its different distribution platforms, and deal with current debates about documentary ethics and aesthetics. You will then be given an opportunity to apply your own practical production skills in the development of a short documentary project.
This module supplements the study of principles and statutes developed at Level Four with the analysis of current cases and recent precedents both in the courts and in the findings of key regulatory bodies such as OFCOM. It will provide you with the skills to continually update your knowledge throughout your career through the examination of cases in this rapidly changing field.
For this module students must set up or develop an existing online editorial presence, adding new content and managing the development of the presence using social media and websites while at the same time reflecting critically on their own work and on the development of the journalism profession overall.
Entry requirements
Our offers are typically made using UCAS tariff points to allow you to include a range of level 3 qualifications and as a guide, the requirements for this course are equivalent to:
A-Levels: BCC-BBB from 3 A Levels or equivalent grade combinations (e.g. BBB is comparable to ABC in terms of tariff points). An A-Level A*-C pass is required in one of the following subjects: English, Economics, Politics, Languages, Science or a related subject.
BTEC/CTEC: DMM from BTEC or Cambridge Technical (CTEC) qualifications
International Baccalaureate: To include a minimum of 2 Higher Level certificates at grade H4
T Level: Merit in a T Level
Additionally, we accept tariff points achieved for many other qualifications, such as the Access to Higher Education Diploma, Scottish Highers, UAL Diploma/Extended Diploma and WJEC Applied Certificate/Diploma, to name a few. We also accept tariff points from smaller level 3 qualifications, up to a maximum of 32, from qualifications like the Extended Project (EP/EPQ), music or dance qualifications. To find out more about UCAS tariff points, including what your qualifications are worth, please visit UCAS.
In addition to level 3 study, the following GCSEs are required:
GCSEs English Language at grade 4 or C, or higher. Functional Skills at level 2 is accepted as an alternative, however Key Skills qualifications are not. If you hold another qualification, please get in touch and we will advise further
If you will be over the age of 21 years of age at the beginning of your undergraduate study, you will be considered as a mature student. This means our offer may be different and any work or life experiences you have will be considered together with any qualifications you hold. UCAS have further information about studying as a mature student on their website which may be of interest.
If English is not your first language, a formal English language test will most likely be required and you will need to achieve the following:
- IELTS Academic at 7.0 overall including 7.0 in writing
- We also accept other English language qualifications, such as IELTS Indicator, Pearson PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced and TOEFL iBT
If you are living outside of the UK or Europe, you can find out more about how to join this course by contacting our International Recruitment Team via our International Apply Pages.
2024 Course Tuition Fees
| UK / Channel Islands / Isle of Man / Republic of Ireland |
International |
|
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | £9,250 | £16,700 |
| Year 2 | £9,250 | £16,700 |
| Year 3 | £9,250 | £16,700 |
| Total | £27,750 | £50,100 |
| Optional Sandwich Year* | £1,850 | £3,340 |
| Total with Sandwich Year | £29,600 | £53,440 |
Additional tuition fee information
If you are a UK student starting your degree in September 2024, the first year will cost you £9,250**. Based on this fee level, the indicative fees for a three-year degree would be £27,750 for UK students.
Remember, you don’t have to pay any of this upfront if you are able to get a tuition fee loan from the UK Government to cover the full cost of your fees each year.
UK Part-Time fees are calculated on a pro rata basis of the full-time fee for a 120 credit course. The fee for a single credit is £77.08 and a 15 credit module is £1,156. Part-time students can take up to a maximum 90 credits per year, so the maximum fee in a given year will be the government permitted maximum fee of £6,935.
International part-time fees are calculated on a pro rata basis of the full-time fee for a 120 credit course. The fee for a single credit is £139.14 and a 15 credit module is £2,087.
* Please note that not all courses offer an optional sandwich year.
**The University of Winchester will charge the maximum approved tuition fee per year.
Additional costs
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.
There might be additional costs you may encounter whilst studying. The following highlights the mandatory and optional costs for this course:
Optional
Core texts
Core Texts are available from the University Library; however we strongly recommend student's purchase their own books. In Year 3 students are required to buy 3 core text books. These texts can be bought from the university bookshop, which in recent years have been offered as a package deal. Students can also find hard copies/e-copies of these books in the library. Indicative cost is £30-£200 per academic year.
Mandatory
Core texts
Students are required to purchase two books.
- Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers by Harold Evans
- McNae's Essential Law for Journalists by Mark Hanna and Mike Dodd
Indicative cost is £40.
Placement
In Year 3, students are required to take a 15 day placement. Students are required to cover the cost of travel to their placement. Costs varies depending on travelling distance and mode of transport.
Disclosure and Barring Service
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance check may be required if you undertake a placement, volunteering, research or other course related activity where you will have contact with children or vulnerable adults. The requirement for a DBS check will be confirmed by staff as part of the process to approve your placement, research or other activity. The indicative cost is £40.
Printing and Binding
The University is pleased to offer our students a printing allowance of £5 each academic year. This will print around 125 A4 (black and white) pages. If students wish to print more, printer credit can be topped up by the student. The University and Student Union are champions of sustainability and we ask all our students to consider the environmental impact before printing.
Course specific bursaries/scholarships
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 page.
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 page.
CAREER PROSPECTS
Graduates go into print, broadcast and electronic media as reporters, producers and researchers. Support is given in seeking both work placements during study and employment thereafter to assist the process of a successful career in journalism.
The University of Winchester ranks in the top 10 in the UK for graduates in employment or further study according to the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2021, HESA.
Pre-approved for a Masters
University of Winchester students studying Bachelor Honours degrees are pre-approved to start a Masters degree at Winchester. To be eligible students must apply by the end of March in their final year and meet the entry requirements of their chosen Masters degree.
OUR CAREERS SERVICE
"The course at Winchester is very practical, and I knew that when I left, I'd leave having all the skills needed to enter the industry."
