UDPHOTOJ - BA (Hons) Photojournalism

Students will be taught in practical interactive studios, lectures, seminars -in groups and in individual crit sessions. The course has a strong focus on professional practice and placements: all teachers are practitioners in journalism and photography. Students will be encouraged to make full use of social media and moving image as well as analogue and digital photography alongside emerging and converging platforms. Facilities will include photography studios, darkrooms, TV and radio studios and the journalism newsroom.

The course aims to equip students with the skills required in the photography and journalism industries. Students will develop practical and research expertise which will enable them to position and understand their photographic and journalistic practice in the context of the contemporary industries.

The course aims to equip students with the analytical and critical skills essential to higher education, as well as the practical and technical skills of those who work within the documentary photography and journalism industries.

The course aims to help students develop the ability to research and evaluate data from all sources, including scholarly research. It further aims to help students develop interviewing skills for primary research.

The course aims to foster the skills of working autonomously and in groups, as well as the social skills needed to pitch and sell ideas, to present concepts convincingly to different audiences and to respond flexibly to critical input.

The course aims to foster individual learning and problem solving. The course further aims to develop resilient learners, who can evaluate and learn from their learning deficits.

The course aims to help students harness their creativity to produce, ultimately, work worthy of professional publication across any or all media platforms.

The course aims to fit students for further advanced study, should they so wish, in related fields.

The following learning outcomes incorporate and depend on systematic understanding of the key aspects of the knowledge base of Photojournalism, including a coherent and detailed knowledge of some specialist areas in depth.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

• deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within Photojournalism;
• devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Photojournalism;
• describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in Photojournalism, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;
• manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Photojournalism;
• apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;
• critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;
• communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
• exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts;
• undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature

Culture, Media and Communications

Course assessment will include coursework, essays, in class tests, presentations and practical personal projects.

Progressive practical professional work placement is available with a mandatory work placement at level 5

See Course Structure

Critical analysis and self-reflective evaluation are integrated across all modules and at all levels. Group work will also encourage peer evaluation.

Most journalism modules include an assessed self-evaluation, moderated by tutors and measured against class participation.

Professional practice is integral to the course and there will be specialist workshops available across the course at all levels. Specific modules offer help in writing CVs, interview techniques, and work-ready behaviour.

External speakers are integral to the delivery of the course. We also have a panel of journalism industry advises, who help shape the course to match the changing demands of convergent media.

Photojournalists are increasingly in demand in the growing media sector. Careers open to you from this new undergraduate degree include press photography and promotional work, whilst potential employers are varied, from well known brands to startups, art exhibitions and charity campaigns. If you can create and promote striking images, then you can sell into a growing market. Graduates from the Journalism BA course have gone onto roles including Multimedia Journalists and Production Assistants. Companies they now work at include the BBC, the Turkish Radio Television Corporation and Hug Nivea Digital.

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• a minimum of grades BBC in three A levels (or a minimum of 112 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification)

You are also required to submit a 200-word article on a recent event that has affected your local area.

Suitable photojournalism applicants living in the UK will be invited to a portfolio interview. Applicants living outside the UK will be required to submit a portfolio of work via email.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.