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Journalism, Public Relations with Media with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


Access to HE Diploma

M:15

An Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 15 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

English Language or Literature at grade C or 4 or equivalents, and Maths at grade C or 4 or equivalents.

UCAS Tariff

80

With at least 32 points from one A level or equivalent BTEC National qualifications. For example: CDD at A Level, MMP in BTEC Extended Diploma, Pass overall from a T level qualification with C from core, or a combination of qualifications which must include an A level grade C or BTEC grade M.

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About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

4years

Full-time including foundation year | 2024

Other options

5 years | Sandwich including foundation year | 2024

Subjects

Public relations

Media and communication studies

Multimedia journalism

**Please check the Sheffield Hallam University website for the latest information.**

**Course summary**

- Get ready for a full degree by taking an extra foundation year at the start.

- Learn the practical, technical, writing and research skills that you'll need for undergraduate studies.

- Choose from a wide range of digital media, media arts and communications topics.

- Develop your portfolio and professional and academic skills.

The foundation year is designed especially for students who need additional skills or experience to begin a full BA Journalism, Public Relations and Media degree. The course is suitable if you don’t meet the entry requirements for our full degree course, or you want extra preparation before starting degree-level study. You'll learn with experienced practitioners and develop your interests. After completing your foundation year, you’ll have the skills and knowledge you need, and progress directly onto the full degree.

**How you learn**

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

After your foundation year, your studies will be led by a team that includes award-winning journalism, PR and media practitioners, along with internationally-recognised theorists. They have experience across a range of industries — including TV, health and charity — across the public and private sectors.

Throughout the full degree course, you attend a combination of lectures, workshops and seminars where key topics and concepts are introduced and explored. This includes a mix of tutor-directed learning and discussions, and student-led exercises and tasks. You’ll engage in collaborative activities in person, and online.

You learn through

- essays

- practical work

- case studies

- reports

- group work

- concept maps

- research projects

- oral presentations

- portfolios

**Applied learning**

**Work placements**

You will have the opportunity to arrange a year-long work placement in between your second and third years of the full undergraduate degree. This gives you a real-world experience to prepare you for your future career.

**Networking opportunities**

Our staff are active in the journalism, PR and media industries. As a result, experts from across the sectors are a core feature throughout the degree course. They cover topics from regional and national journalism, digital and social skills to search engine optimisation, crisis management, charity, sports and music PR.

Every year we hold industry events that link you with regional and national PR experts. Graduates return to share their experiences and top tips for finding jobs. Selected students are offered a chance to be mentored by PR professionals for one year.

You will gain automatic free student membership of the Public Relations Communications Association (PRCA). Benefits include exclusive access to work placements, internships, graduate schemes and entry-level jobs, free and unlimited online training, and free access to the industry-recognised PRCA Online Certificate.

We also work closely with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and the Professional Publishers Association.

**Field trips**

On the full degree, we take student trips to regional, national and international events, including the Berlin Film Festival, where you get the chance to meet industry experts.

You can also apply for our Go Global student initiative, which has taken our students to destinations such as Malaysia and Paris, gaining new skills and a broader cultural insight into how journalism and PR are applied internationally.

There is opportunity to study abroad with the possibility of funding through the Turing Scheme.

Modules

Module and assessment information for future years is displayed as currently validated and may be liable to change. When selecting electives, your choices will be subject to the core requirements of the course. As a result, selections may be limited to a choice between one of two or more specified electives in some instances.

Important notice: The structure for this course is currently being reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment are all likely to change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Once the changes have been confirmed, updated module information will be published on this page.

You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.

**Year 1**

**Compulsory modules**

Creative Synergies In Media Production
Media In Context
Media Project
Preparing For Independent Practice And Study

**Year 2**

**Compulsory modules**

Digital Skills And Client Management
History Of Communication
Introduction To Pr
Making Media
Media Law And Democracy
Pr And Persuasion

**Year 3**

**Compulsory modules**

Brand Management And Entrepreneurship
Reputations, Issues And Crisis Management
Research Skills
Researching And Reporting

**Elective modules**

Digital Communications In Practice
Feature Writing
Foreign Language
Global Communications Strategy And Critique
Life And Style Journalism
Radio And Sound Production
Tv And Video News Skills

**Year 4**

**Optional modules**

Placement Year

**Final year**

**Compulsory modules**

Contemporary And Professional Issues In Public Relations
Dissertation/Applied Project
Pr Specialisms

**Elective modules**

Corporate Communications: Strategy And Critique
Foreign Language
Magazine Creation
Magazine Publishing
Moral Panics
Pr And Power
Tv2: Tv Journalism And Production

Assessment methods

Coursework

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,655
per year
International
£16,655
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Scholarships, discounts and bursaries may be available to students who study this course.

The Uni


Course location:

Sheffield Hallam University

Department:

College of Social Sciences and Arts

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

85%
Public relations
68%
Media and communication studies
63%
Multimedia journalism

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Publicity studies

Teaching and learning

100%
Staff make the subject interesting
92%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
62%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

62%
Library resources
85%
IT resources
69%
Course specific equipment and facilities
46%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

91%
UK students
9%
International students
21%
Male students
79%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

Media studies

Teaching and learning

84%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
81%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

73%
Library resources
81%
IT resources
75%
Course specific equipment and facilities
54%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
59%
Male students
41%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
C

Journalism

Teaching and learning

65%
Staff make the subject interesting
70%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
69%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

76%
Library resources
69%
IT resources
80%
Course specific equipment and facilities
54%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
72%
Male students
28%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
20%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Publicity studies

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£17,000
med
Average annual salary
87%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

34%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
13%
Other elementary services occupations
9%
Media professionals

Media studies

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£16,500
low
Average annual salary
93%
med
Employed or in further education
20%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
15%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
14%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

Only a small number of students study courses within this catch-all subject area, so there isn't a lot of information available on what graduates do when they finish - bear that in mind when you look at any stats. Marketing and PR were the most likely jobs for graduates from these courses, but it's sensible to go on open days and talk to tutors about what you might expect from the course, and what previous graduates did.

Journalism

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£16,000
low
Average annual salary
91%
med
Employed or in further education
52%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

27%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
14%
Customer service occupations
10%
Media professionals

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Publicity studies

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£17k

£17k

£20k

£20k

£24k

£24k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Media studies

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£17k

£17k

£20k

£20k

£24k

£24k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Journalism

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£17k

£17k

£20k

£20k

£24k

£24k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
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UCAS Points: 112
Nearby University
University of Huddersfield | Huddersfield
Media, Promotional Culture and Advertising
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 104-112
Same University
Sheffield Hallam University | Sheffield
Journalism, Public Relations with Media
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 112

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here