The global creative industries have never been so influential in our politics, our society and our individual lives. Our Film, Communication and Creative Industries courses offer you the opportunity to engage with the debates in these fields and to develop highly valued, industry relevant skills.
You’ll study the way in which the various creative industries work, and gain the practical expertise you’ll need to make a difference as you build your career.
Our courses
We offer the following undergraduate degree courses:
- BA (Hons) Creative and Cultural Industries
- BA (Hons) Digital Marketing and Public Relations
- BA (Hons) Film and Media
The following course will also be available for those wishing pursue direct entry in 2025 from an FE college into Years Three:
Why QMU?
Our new professionally-recognised BA (Hons) Digital Marketing and Public Relations course provides the strategic insight, creative practical skills and industry experience to kick-start your career in the fast-paced and rapidly growing industries of digital marketing and PR. You will get to work with live clients as well as have the opportunity to go on placement, where you can put your knowledge and skills into action. When you graduate you will be ready to make your mark in a wide range of career roles, for example as a digital marketing executive, PR executive, social media strategist, advertising executive digital content creator, publicity and promotions executive, SEO strategist, digital advertising executive or events manager.
Our BA (Hons) Creative and Cultural Industries will give you the expertise to succeed in a wide variety of careers. You will learn about the creative and cultural industries landscape and develop the critical thinking and content creation skills that will set you up for a career in the exciting and thriving creative and cultural sectors. The course team is closely connected to the sectors and industry more generally, ensuring our students are known to the creative leaders in the workplace. Throughout the course students will hear from visiting guest speakers from industry, work on client briefs, embark on field trips, attend networking events, and have the opportunity to carry out a placement in Year four within a creative or cultural organisation. In each year of your course, you can engage with digital learning and production to ensure that you have practical skills in creative production and a portfolio of work to evidence this, as well as a solid understanding of how fundamental digital is to the creative industries. You’ll also learn in our specialist on-campus facilities including digital editing suites
Our BA (Hons) Film and Media course gives you the opportunity to study film as an artistic, cultural and commercial enterprise. You’ll engage in deep critical thinking about culture, media and society as a whole. You will develop real-world technical skills in video and media production, as well as teamwork, academic research, project management and a variety of forms of communication. Modules in the first two years will introduce you to key developments in film and media, including the emergence of cinema and the establishment of national broadcasting systems, alongside key concepts such as narrative, popular culture and citizenship. In later years you will be able to choose from a range of electives that allow you to tailor the course to your own particular interests.
All of our film, communications and creative industries courses give you the chance to learn practical skills and approaches that will enhance your business sense and employability. Many of our students have gone on to create their own successful companies and we have an in-house Startup Studio to help you get your enterprise up and running.
Our approach to learning and teaching: providing the optimum balance of theory and practice
Our degrees are modular and you will benefit from a variety of teaching methods including lectures, seminars and workshops. Problem-based learning and group work are vital in developing the key skills you’ll need in the workplace. Assessment methods also vary and include written reports, client projects, digital content creation, essays, presentations, examinations and peer assessment.
We have digital editing suites and post-production equipment includes Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6k G2, Sony a7S, Canon 5D Mark 3, Zenmuse x5R and GoPro cameras with accessories such as shoulder rigs, cages with follow focus systems, sliders, tracks and external monitors, a variety of lighting kits (including LED and tungsten) and digital sound recording devices (Tascam and Zoom) along with shotgun, lavalier and wireless microphones, Adobe Premiere Pro, and DaVinci Resolve Studio complete with colour-calibrated editing suites. We also have one of only two ‘infinity’ green screen facilities in Edinburgh. For photographic work, students have access to a range of cameras including Canon DSLRs with specialist lens and lighting equipment, and post-production software including Adobe Lightroom.
Across all three courses the first two years are a combination of specialist and shared modules, giving students a thorough grounding in the subject area. You will learn about the historical forces that have shaped the global film industries, communication sectors and creative and cultural landscape and you will engage with debates on contemporary topics in these fields. For example, this is a very apposite time to be studying the role of publicity, propaganda and social campaigning in our contemporary democracy, as well as the role that creativity and cultural plays in a digital society.
The media industries are rapidly changing and we are continually updating our modules to keep up with the latest changes in the communications landscape. No matter which course you choose, you will learn about the artistic and creative digital work that shapes the societies we live in. You will also gain a wide range of transferable skills, such as creating digital content, making presentations, undertaking research, managing social media and developing client briefs, further preparing you for a variety of workplaces and careers.
Our staff are well connected to industry and employers are supportive and complimentary about what our students learn. All of our courses include specialist guest lectures from a range of practitioners and visiting professors. Furthermore, we actively encourage and support all students to gain some work experience while on their course. Public Relations students benefit from a compulsory placement while industry-based learning opportunities are an integral part of all three degrees. Our students tell us that work experience is an invaluable part of their course work, enabling them to put what they have learnt into practice and a number of students have secured permanent positions through the contacts that they have made.
Many of our students snap up the opportunity to study for a semester abroad during their course and we have university partners in Australia, Canada and the USA (subject to availability).
Research-informed teaching
The majority of our staff are actively engaged in cutting-edge and inspirational research that they continually reflect in the course material. Recent and ongoing scholarship includes: critical dialogue, engagement and action research; informational justice; melodrama in film; documentary film, TV comedy; the music industry; political communication; film festivals; and screen education.
Preparing you for a multitude of career routes
As a graduate of QMU you will have the skills, knowledge and experience that forward-thinking employers need. Our graduates go on to work in a variety of careers, not only in the UK, but also across the world. However, should you choose to remain in Scotland, you are well placed to benefit from job opportunities, with Edinburgh playing home to the second highest number of public and private sector headquarters in the UK after London and a growing number of film, media and communications companies are choosing to base their businesses in Scotland’s capital city.
Find out more information on how to apply for a course at QMU.