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On this course you will:

• build your industry network and knowledge through networking events, client-based assessments, field trips, industry speakers, and an optional industry placement with a creative business or cultural organisation for your final project;
• develop real-world technical skills in creative and digital production, teamwork, academic research, leadership, project management and a variety of forms of communication;
• explore careers and roles across the vastly diverse creative and cultural industry landscape, developing acute awareness of the challenges and opportunities faced across the various sectors; and
• build a portfolio of creative content you have produced throughout your degree which could include short films, podcasts, scripts, press releases, social media campaign content, infographics or apps.

Structure

All students enrol onto the honours degree, but you can choose to exit with an ordinary degree after three years.

Teaching, learning and assessment.

You will be taught in lectures, seminars and in practical workshops. You will be assessed in a wide array of ways across the course, including presentations, case studies, podcasts, blogs, videos, essays, video essays and some written exams.

Placement

You will complete a four-week or 150-hour placement either in the summer vacation between Years Three and Four or in Year Four alongside other modules. Students are responsible for sourcing a placement host organisation and this can be in the UK or abroad. To help with the process, we hold a speed interview event to match hosts offering placements with students. The placement is unpaid although some hosts pay a wage and others cover travel and subsistence. We are able to help students find placements in many sectors including theatre, festivals, local and national charities, Scottish Government, and film companies, as well as marketing agencies. We keep in touch with our former students and many are keen to support our placement scheme having benefitted from this themselves while they were studying with us.

Facilities

We have superb on-campus resources, and media production equipment, including a recently-upgraded film editing suite and dedicated production and photography area equipped with a green screen and on-site lighting equipment, plus a fully equipped studio theatre and construction workshop.

Our students have access to a wealth of cameras, audio recording equipment and other related filmmaking equipment for both their studies, and extra-curricular pursuits. This includes access to Adobe’s Creative suite of programmes, including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects and Audition.*

*subject to availability and agreement with our technician staff.

You will have access to our on-campus Business Gateway andÌýStudent Start Up StudioÌýthat together provide business incubation spaces for student-led or graduate-led start-up companies and offer: desk space, a QMU business address, meeting facilities, ad-hoc rehearsal space and editing facilities, Business Gateway support and advice, a profile for your company on the QMU website, support with marketing materials and access to entrepreneurial networks within QMU and other universities (including Enterprise Campus, Scottish Institute for Enterprise, Sporting Chance and Converge Challenge).

Exchange opportunities

Studying abroad through our exchange programme can be one of the most exciting and rewarding challenges for a student to experience. The opportunity to travel and live in another country, learn different customs and traditions, meet new people and future career opportunities draws many students into the exchange programme. In Year Three you have the opportunity (subject to availability) to study for one semester at a university overseas. Please visit theÌýExchanges and Study AbroadÌýpages for more information.

Teaching staff, class sizes and timetables

You can read more about the teaching staff on this course at the bottom of this page. Please note that the teaching staff is subject to change.

For more information, please also visit ‘How we teach and how you’ll learn’.

Year One

You will:

• explore the concepts of creativity and culture and their meaning, value, and function in society;  
• learn the basic principles of different forms of creative production and storytelling; video (editing, framing, composition, lighting, and story), photography, and digital media content; and
• develop your knowledge and understanding of the diverse range of sectors that sit within the broader creative and cultural industries.

Modules  

• Introduction to Creativity and Culture
• Creative Practice: Visual Storytelling
• Introduction to Theatre Production
• Media and Creative Industries
• Analysing Stories 
• Creative Practice: Critical Thinking and Writing

Year Two

You will:

• develop your knowledge and understanding of how creativity and technology intersect and think critically about how technology has reshaped cultural participation, experience, and consumption, and how we can work creatively with new technologies;
• strengthen your creative production skills and develop more complex stories in your creative practice; and
• apply your skills to real-world situations by developing a digital strategy for a media project for a business or charity.

Modules

• AI and Digital Communication
• Creative Writing For New TechnologiesMediaPolitics and Culture
• Creative Practice: Podcasting
• Audience, Participation and Engagement
• Digital Marketing and eCommerce Management

Year Three

You will:

• learn important research skills to prepare you for Year Four and life beyond university;
• develop a plan for your post-university creative career and understand working in the creative industries;
• choose specialist options in, for example, film festivals, communication, arts and activism, screenwriting, photography, or writing for radio; and
• have the opportunity (subject to availability) to study for one semester at a university overseas. For more information, visit Exchanges and Study Abroad.

Modules

• Working in the Film, and Creative Industries
• Arts Funding in its Policy Context
• Project Managing a Live Event
• Designing Research projects
• Plus, two options

Year Four

You will:

• choose further specialist options in, for example, film festivals, communication, arts and activism, screenwriting, photography, or writing for radio;
• develop your understanding of creative and cultural management and the business side of the creative and cultural industries, gaining skills in project planning and management, marketing, leadership, as well as the financial side of the creative and cultural industries; and
• complete a placement with a cultural organisation or creative business.
• complete a written or creative production dissertation. Creative production dissertations can be in photography, script, or video essay.

Modules

• Dissertation
• Placement
• Plus, two options

Year Three and Four options may include:

• Advanced Theatre Production
• Communication, Arts and Activism
• Experiential Learning Placement
• Film and the Family
• Film Festivals
• Photography and Visual Culture
• Photography Practice
• Playwriting
• The Business of Creativity
• Now That’s What I Call 90s
• Reputation Issues and Crisis Management
• Film and Feminism
• Digital Culture and Society
• Screenwriting
• Site-specific Performance
• Student Initiated Module
• The Only Way is Ethics
• The Video Essay
• Video Production

NB This course has been re-validated since the printing of our Undergraduate Prospectus 2026 and the modules outlined above have been updated following the re-validation. The modules listed here are correct at time of updating (Dec 2024) but may differ slightly to those offered in 2025. Please check back here for any updates.

QMU has specialised in providing courses in the area of media and communications for many years. Our graduates are highly employable and much sought after, and currently are making names for themselves in film and television production, media research, PhD and academic research, public relations, marketing, advertising, arts and cultural management.

As a graduate of this new course, which has been developed to reflect current and future trends, you will be ready to start an exciting career in the modern creative and cultural industries. You will be armed with a host of knowledge and skills. You will graduate as a critical maker and consumer of creative content, with project management experience. You will be technically competent in digital content creation, with well-rounded practical skills.

Example careers from this degree may include arts marketers, theatre managers, festival curators or programmers, sales agents or distributors, policy advisors, cultural leaders, museum or gallery managers, fundraisers, and audience data consultants.

Entry requirements

Scottish Higher:ÌýStandard - BBBB, Minimum - BBCC

A Level:Ìýµþ°ä°ä

Irish Leaving Certificate:ÌýH2 H2 H3 H3

International Baccalaureate:Ìý28 points

International:ÌýIELTS of 6.0 with no element lower than 5.5

Required subjects: English, Media Studies, or Film Studies preferred at Higher/A level or equivalent. English required and Maths preferred at Nat 5/GCSE at grade C/4 or above. We can also accept National 5 Application of Maths or Lifeskills at the same grade.

Am I a Widening Access student?:ÌýWe apply the minimum entry criteria to applicants who meet one or more contextual factor. To see if this would apply to you, please refer to theÌýaccess and applicationÌý±è²¹²µ±ð.

Mature/Access:ÌýWe welcome applications from mature students with relevant qualifications and/or experience. Visit ourÌýCollege Leavers and Mature Students Advice pageÌýfor more information.Ìý

Direct Entry:

Year Three

• Not available for this course. It is available for theÌýBA/BA (Hons) Media and Communication.

For details of related HNC and HND courses, visit ourÌýCollege Leavers and Mature Students Advice page.Ìý

Other costs

The additional costs associated with placement travel and accommodation are the responsibility of the student. Students who receive SAAS funding may be able to claim for some of these expenses to be reimbursed.

Disability/health conditions

If you have a disability, long-term physical or mental health condition, or learning disability, it should not stand in the way of your studying at QMU. However, if you are not sure whether your disability might be a barrier in your studies or in relation to the professional standards, pleaseÌýcontact the disability serviceÌýwho will be able to have a conversation with you about reasonable adjustments and supports available to you.

How to apply

Application for this course should be made through . More application information is available in the 'Start your Application' box at the top right of this page.

Terms and Conditions

• The delivery of this course is subject to the terms and conditions set out in ourÌý2025/26 Entry Terms and Conditions (Undergraduate).
• The course information on this page is correct at the time of posting (Feb 2024) but may differ slightly for 2025 entry. Please check back here for updates.

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