Programme Specification for the 2025/6 academic year
BA (Hons) Media and Communications
1. Programme Details
| Programme name | BA (Hons) Media and Communications | Programme code | UFA3CMMCMM01 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study mode(s) | Level 1 |
Academic year | 2025/6 |
| Campus(es) | Streatham (Exeter) |
NQF Level of the Final Award | 6 (Honours) |
2. Description of the Programme
The BA (Hons) Media & Communications programme allows you to develop deep knowledge and understanding of a variety of historical, theoretical, and methodological approaches to the study of media and communications technologies, and to explore key issues surrounding the production, dissemination, and reception of media texts. From early print media, through the broadcast era, to the current era of networked digital media, this degree will allow you to interrogate the ways that media and communications technologies mediate social realities in specific historical and cultural contexts. You will gain a critical understanding of the links between media, technology, and social change, and develop frameworks to make sense of how these relationships are central to everyday life in the era of digital media, algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence. You will learn about media policy, law and regulation, and learn to apply a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including critical interpretative approaches, content analysis, (digital) ethnography, platform analysis, social network analysis, and mixed methods. Employability skills are embedded throughout the programme, and our dedicated Work Placement module will allow you to hone practical and professional skills that will prepare you for work across a range of careers in the media, communications, and creative industries.. Modules are taught by published experts in Media & Communications, and students benefit from access to world-leading resources, such as the Digital Humanities Lab, the Foreign Language Centre, and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.
Advice and guidance on your programme can be sought from your personal academic tutor and programme director. All staff offer regular office hours that you can drop into without a prior appointment for this purpose.
3. Educational Aims of the Programme
4. Programme Structure
5. Programme Modules
The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme.
Media and Communications modules https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/studyinformation/modules/?prog=comms
The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual review of this programme. Details of the modules currently offered may be obtained from the university website:
You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.
You may take elective modules up to 30 credits outside of the programme in any stage of the programme as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.
Stage 1
Stage 1: 90 credits of compulsory modules, 30 credits of optional modules
Compulsory Modules
*CMM1004 Communications Research Methods is a new module from 25/26 for students at Stage 1 of the programme. CMM2008 Communications Research Methods is only for students at Stage 2 of the programme in 25/26 and will be removed from the programme, replaced by CMM1004, after 25/26.
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMM1001 | Perspectives on Communications | 30 | No |
| CMM1002 | Communications Challenges | 30 | No |
| CMM1004 | Communications Research Methods | 30 | No |
Optional Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media and Communications SH Stage 1 Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| CMM1005 | Social Media and Society | 30 | No |
| EAS1044 | Imagine This: Prompts for Creative Writing | 15 | No |
| HAS1001 | Enter the Matrix: Digital Perspectives on the Humanities | 15 | No |
| EAS1016 | Digital Cultures: Narrative, Creativity, Industry | 15 | No |
| DRA1016 | Performance Analysis | 30 | No |
Stage 2
60 credits of compulsory modules, 60 credits of optional modules for a total of 120 credits
Compulsory Modules
CMM2008 is a pre-requisite for taking either CMM3002 Communications Dissertation or CMM3003 Communications Practical Research Project in final year.
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMM2002 | Communications in the Workplace | 30 | No |
| CMM2008 | Communications Research Methods | 30 | No |
Optional Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media and Communications SH Stage 2 Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| CMM2010 | Professional Writing | 30 | No |
| CMM2016 | Economies of Engagement: Gamification and Platform Cultures | 30 | No |
| CMM2017 | Internet Foundations and Frontiers | 30 | No |
| CMM2012 | Communications and the Climate Crisis | 30 | No |
| CMM2014 | Design Thinking | 30 | No |
| CMM2018 | Media and the Law: Regulation, Governance, Ethics | 30 | No |
| EAF2502 | Shots in the Dark | 30 | No |
Stage 3
30 credits of compulsory modules, 90 credits of optional modules
Compulsory Modules
Subject to choosing 120 credits for the stage overall, you must:
a - You must select either CMM3002 or CMM3003 (you cannot choose more than one module from this group).
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMM3002 | Communications: Dissertation [See note a above] | 30 | No |
| CMM3003 | Communications: Practical Research Project [See note a above] | 30 | No |
Optional Modules
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media and Communications SH Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| CMM3005 | Gender, Sexuality and Media | 30 | No |
| CMM3009 | Selling the Self: Influencer Culture and Digital Capitalism | 30 | No |
| CMM3007 | Critical AI Studies | 30 | No |
| CMM3008 | Imagining Tech Futures for the Common Good | 30 | No |
| CMM3010 | Social Media and Migration | 30 | No |
| CMM3006 | Digital Inequalities | 30 | No |
| EAF3515 | Something to See: War and Visual Media | 30 | No |
| EAF3501 | American Independent Film | 30 | No |
| EAF3519 | Cinema in the Anthropocene | 30 | No |
| EAF3523 | Perspectives on Animation | 30 | No |
| EAF3522 | Film, Philosophy, and the Internet | 30 | No |
| DRA3102 | Audio Dramaturgy: Theatre of the Ear | 30 | No |
| EAS3128 | Writing the Short Film | 30 | No |
6. Programme Outcomes Linked to Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods
Intended Learning Outcomes
A: Specialised Subject Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
Intended Learning Outcomes
B: Academic Discipline Core Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
Intended Learning Outcomes
C: Personal/Transferable/Employment Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
7. Programme Regulations
Classification
Full details of assessment regulations for all taught programmes can be found in the TQA Manual, specifically in the Credit and Qualifications Framework, and the Assessment, Progression and Awarding: Taught Programmes Handbook. Additional information, including Generic Marking Criteria, can be found in the Learning and Teaching Support Handbook.
8. College Support for Students and Students' Learning
9. University Support for Students and Students' Learning
Please refer to the University Academic Policy and Standards guidelines regarding support for students and students' learning.
10. Admissions Criteria
Undergraduate applicants must satisfy the Undergraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.
Postgraduate applicants must satisfy the Postgraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.
Specific requirements required to enrol on this programme are available at the respective Undergraduate or Postgraduate Study Site webpages.
11. Regulation of Assessment and Academic Standards
Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed College assessment and marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures.
The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the appointment of External Examiners for each programme. External Examiners have access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. They are required to attend the Board of Examiners and to provide an annual report. Annual External Examiner reports are monitored at both College and University level. Their responsibilities are described in the University's code of practice. See the University's TQA Manual for details.
14. Awarding Institution
University of Exeter
15. Lead College / Teaching Institution
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS)
16. Partner College / Institution
Partner College(s)
Not applicable to this programme
Partner Institution
Not applicable to this programme.
17. Programme Accredited / Validated by
0
18. Final Award
BA (Hons) Media and Communications
19. UCAS Code
Not applicable to this programme.
20. NQF Level of Final Award
6 (Honours)
21. Credit
| CATS credits | ECTS credits |
|---|
22. QAA Subject Benchmarking Group
23. Dates
| Origin Date | Date of last revision |
|---|
