Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Media and Communication

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

Want to study both psychology and criminology at University? Our BSc (Hons) Psychology with Criminology degree combines both subjects and allows you to take a year-long industry placement.

Our innovative criminology and psychology course will give you a deep understanding of how the core and specialised areas in psychology and criminology contribute to our understanding of contemporary issues.

You will apply scientific reasoning and evaluate patterns of behaviour, gaining key transferable skills in communication, teamwork and problem-solving. Additionally, you will also learn how psychology can be applied to explain certain aspects of crime and criminal behaviour.

What's covered in this course?

This versatile course provides the opportunity for you to embark on a psychology career, or bring those skills to the domain of criminology.

Over the three years, your Psychology modules will help you gain a deep understanding of one’s mind, behavior and reasons why individuals carry out certain actions, while your Criminology modules will help you understand the relationship between the different aspects of crime and victimisation.

Our focus on contemporary and innovative learning practices will help you gain key employability skills, such as communication, teamwork and problem-solving, as well as key skills in two innovative, intriguing disciplines.

A law degree is an important first step into a career in law, as well as an important foundation on the route to many other careers, and Birmingham City University is a long-established provider of legal education to the Birmingham legal community and beyond.

This course has been developed to enable anyone wishing to qualify as a solicitor or barrister to undertake this first, important academic stage of their career. To achieve this, the course has been designed to align with the subjects that you will need to study further in order to successfully undertake the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), while also meeting the requirements of the Bar Standards Board for an undergraduate law degree.

What's covered in this course?

The study of law is both academic and practical, and therefore both of these are important elements in the LLB (Hons) degree at BCU. Theory and academic study are important on an LLB, but so too is the application of that knowledge, and so our LLB (Hons) degree offers plenty of opportunity for you to develop the practical lawyering skills, as well as the transferable skills enhancing your employability, that graduates will need when entering the workplace.

The different pathways on the LLB course will allow you to make decisions regarding the direction in which you want to take your studies, with named degrees in Law with American Legal Studies, Law with Business Law, and Law with Criminal Justice, as well as a broad range of optional modules ranging from more theoretical topics through to those aimed at the practical application of the law in real-world situations.

You will also have the opportunity to put those skills to practical use, both in the local community and beyond. Whether that is through our programme of placement opportunities with local providers such as Citizen’s Advice and various legal advice charities, through opportunities in the local legal community, or via BCU’s own Law Clinic, established to serve the local community from our City Centre campus, there are plenty of options available to you.

You can also apply your legal knowledge further afield, through our US internship programme which has been placing students with attorneys throughout the US for over 20 years. A professional placement year is also available, between years 2 and 3 of the degree, offering further opportunity for you to put your knowledge and skills to practical use, and thereby enhancing your CV further.

By focussing on the development of a range of transferable skills, the course employs numerous innovative assessment methods, going beyond the typical forms of written academic assessment.

You are also encouraged to engage in extra-curricular activities to support your learning, with student societies such as the highly successful Mooting Society. Furthermore, you will have the ability to engage with the wider Birmingham legal community through our connections with the Birmingham Law Society, the largest regional law society in the UK.

BA (Hons) Fashion Imaging will enable you to become highly creative, innovative and employable fashion imagemakers. By effectively embracing new and traditional technologies with an open and experimental approach, you will learn how to create exciting and challenging fashion imagery.

The MSc in Real Estate Management course is an interdisciplinary Master’s program that fuses economic, social and environmental perspectives within a framework for identifying, assessing, designing, delivering and evaluating effective real estate interventions and responses.

What's covered in this course?

Our program reflects synergies with the Master’s courses in Planning Built Environments and Environmental Surveying in order to create a program that works across the whole built environment profession and disciplines.

The program focuses on the interaction between business and legal processes on property ownership and management. It integrates technological, financial, legal and management issues as they relate to property matters.

The theoretical underpinning of the course is rooted in real estate which stresses the need for interdisciplinary approaches and solutions.

This course will help you to connect the theory and practice of real estate to a range of real-life case study challenges. It will give you a framework of knowledge, skills and tools to start understanding the complex world of property, whilst supporting you to become an independent learner and reflective practitioner.

Our program builds on applied academic research and contemporary real estate practice. The course design and delivery utilises our expertise across real estate, sustainability and planning and also brings in external experts and practitioners to address key challenges and opportunities within practice.

Our real estate degree courses are designed and developed with support from relevant professional bodies (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and local professional individuals and practices. Owing to the need to meet these professionally-set learning outcomes, there is little choice in modules within these programs, although it is possible to begin to specialise with dissertation and project topics.

Become a competent, innovative practitioner with our MSc Logistics Supply Chain Management (CILT) course. Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, our course addresses the key concerns of the subject, ensuring you graduate with the skills the industry demands.

What's covered in this course?

With companies facing ever-increasing competition, coupled with the need to reduce waste and improve the overall service offered to customers from initial design to final delivery, the need for highly skilled logistics practitioners and managers has never been more pronounced.

This supply chain management course addresses the main operations aspects of both product-based and service industries. It is concerned with the initial design process, sourcing materials for the long-term satisfaction of the customer. Customer satisfaction is achieved by ensuring the supply of the right goods, in the right quantity, of the right quality, at the right price, to the right place, at the right time.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement option will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.  Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

Our postgraduate degree in Jewellery and Related Products is a highly respected, innovative course, which develops your creative potential and in-depth knowledge of theories, processes and techniques.

Students on our course demonstrate understanding, and a critical awareness of current issues and/or new insights.

What's covered in this course?

The focus of this course is very much on developing your entrepreneurial spirit and helping you become the designer you want to be.

You will use a variety of materials, manufacturing techniques and processes.

The scope for design is very broad and builds on knowledge in the area of personal ornaments, body signification and decorative metal objects.

There are affinities with industrial design, fashion design, fine art and sculpture and content is often informed by philosophy, conceptualisation and critical theory.

Project-based activities will develop creative, design and making skills and enhance your professional skills. You will develop concepts and products, analyse problems and reflect on the relationships between personal objectives, cultural values, market identities, prototyping techniques and new technologies.

You will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to your own research and advanced creative activity, alongside exhibiting originality in the application of knowledge.

You will demonstrate your practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in our discipline and create innovative new designs in jewellery and related products.

The course is based at our internationally renowned School of Jewellery, in the heart of Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter. The historical facade of our Vittoria Street building conceals a contemporary environment including workshops, a specialist library, an atrium gallery and exhibition space.

Want to study child psychology at Master’s level? Our MSc Applied Child Psychology course will allow you to explore and develop knowledge of cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and neurological development, as well as research methods in child psychology, and consider the implications for policy and practice in applied contexts such as education and mental health.

The course aims to equip you with a range of applied and transferable skills, enhancing your opportunities for professional and career development in a variety of disciplines within the field of child psychology. Modules will encourage you to develop specialist theoretical and practical knowledge that will underpin your work with children and consider applications of this knowledge to professional contexts and situations, e.g., supporting children with diverse developmental, neurological, and psychological needs.

Although the course is not part of a chartered route into psychology or a prerequisite for entry into Educational or Clinical Psychology training, the course provides an MSc level qualification alongside employability coaching and the option of completing a six-month work placement. If you already have a BPS accredited undergraduate degree in psychology, successful completion of the MSc Applied Child Psychology course can enhance your prospects of applying for doctoral training in these highly competitive fields.

The course is also open to applicants with non-psychology backgrounds and provides opportunities for enhancing and specialising your knowledge of child psychology for work in a wide variety of child-related environments and professions. This includes childcare, education, child and adolescent mental health, pastoral care, special educational needs (SEN), supporting children with disabilities, coaching and mentoring young people, and careers involving research with children.

Finally, if you are already working in the field of child psychology, the course can enhance your future employment and promotion prospects, for example, by aiding re-specialisation as a SENCO, mental health lead, or progression to more senior roles. The option to study full-time or part-time also means that you can fit your studies around your existing work and personal commitments.

Data Science is an exciting new discipline that integrates computer science and statistics, which helps enable us to gain valuable insights that are needed in modern organisations. The Computer and Data Science degree course is designed to equip you with the cutting-edge skills required to satisfy the global demand for Data Scientist roles and thus build a rewarding career.

You’ll gain a well-rounded education in Computer and Data Science, whilst developing your teamwork and software development skills. When you graduate you’ll be able to design software by applying mathematical and scientific principles, enabling you to thrive in the IT industry.

You’ll cover all aspects of data science, ranging from data acquisition, integration, storage, analysis and visualization of data. You’ll also learn about data mining, statistical analysis, and machine learning by working collaboratively with academics and businesses, applying practice-based skills to real-life case studies and projects.

The MA in Data Journalism is a cutting-edge course designed to give you the interactive storytelling skills needed to work within a growing number of jobs in the media and beyond.

The course has relationships with Huffpost and the BBC, as well as a number of other organisations covering broadcast, online and print data journalism, all of which are keen to bring in the skills that you will be developing on the course. You should indicate on your application in you wish to be considered for opportunities with those organisations during the course.

Studying under internationally renowned course leaders in a city with a vibrant cultural sector, and with access to a range of media organizations, you’ll learn exciting new skills in data journalism and interactive storytelling across a range of contexts, from mobile-first data journalism on social platforms to practising data-driven journalism within online and broadcast newsroom contexts. Partnerships with newspaper, magazine, online and broadcast organisations provide unique opportunities for students to build contacts and experience, and work on live projects.

Serious about working in games? Then enrol at the industry-endorsed finishing school for games developers and artists.

Gamer Camp: Pro (MA and MSc Video Games Development) has been created in partnership with the likes of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Codemasters, Rare and Exient.

We aim to help you become the perfect recruit for development studios within the game industry, uniquely combining professional, multidisciplinary game development practice with the latest industry insights and tools.

It's a winning formula. With mentoring from industry veterans and support from leading game development teams, our graduates are prepared for success. Recent graduates are employed by companies including Creative Assembly, Ubisoft and Codemasters.

What's covered in this course?

The course was founded by Oliver Williams (Deputy Head of the Birmingham Institute of Creative Arts) and Guy Wilday, former Studio Director at SEGA Racing Studio (SEGA Rally) and Head of Studio at Codemasters (Colin McRae Rally), currently Development Director at Sony's London Studio. It was developed in partnership with the industry to provide a ‘finishing school’ that produces work-ready graduates with the practical skills they need to be successful. Many companies recruit directly from the course, giving you access to jobs that you would not come across elsewhere.

You will get specialist skills training, mentoring and support from leading game developers, the chance to develop a working game that can be published, and experience every stage of the game development cycle. You will receive real game briefs, training and mentoring from industry partners such as Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Exient, Mediatonic, Rare and Codemasters.

Working in teams in your own game development studio, you will be provided with all the software you need for the duration of the course. You will create a fully working game for a series of platforms, culminating in the development of a working PlayStation4 game prototype for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.