Master of Arts in English Literature with Professional Placement

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

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.

Are you interested in understanding business concepts and how to use IT to serve business needs?

Our Business Information Technology degree gives you the skills to make IT work for businesses.

Business Information Technology bridges the gap between IT and Business to drive innovation and growth in the modern global organisation. It embeds a systems philosophy of connectivity, to offer an in-depth understanding of business concepts and how to use IT to serve business needs. It will also provide essential skills that will facilitate communicating and discussing technical and business ideas effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.

What's covered in this course?

You will work collaboratively with tutors, researchers and businesses, applying practice-based skills to real-life case studies and live project briefs which will develop your problem-solving and analytical skills. Learn how to think like a coder, to influence the design, development and use of information systems and technology in organizations.

You will also gain an in-depth understanding on how organizations can harness the data to improve decision-making. In a summary, this course will give you the skills and knowledge to make IT work for businesses.

Develop your technical, research, design and organizational ability, and leave with the skills employers want.

Work in our advanced software development and computer programming labs, using dedicated facilities for systems analysis, networking, e-commerce and business intelligence – all of which reflect advanced professional practice.

Our MA Fine Art Master’s course embraces art practice, in whatever form it takes (drawing, painting, sculpture, print, photography, installation, lens-based media, performance, participatory, interdisciplinary and expanded practice) and in whichever circumstance it occurs.

It is conceptual at heart, pursuing strong ideas and challenges of art in real life. The artist Joseph Beuys, working in Social Sculpture, famously said: "Each and every man has the most precious building in the world in his head, feelings and free will. And the French poet Baudelaire said: the best form of art criticism is another work of art."

We agree and so art is considered in relationship to philosophy, art history and theory, contemporary discourse and global contexts, establishing critical frameworks in which artists make work. We also have strong links with art galleries and artists communities, including Eastside Projects led by Gavin Wade and Céline Cordorelli.

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.

Looking to study a postgraduate accounting course in Birmingham, the UK’s second-largest City? Are you also looking to study ACCA to become part of a huge global network of highly skilled professionally qualified accountants?

Our MSc International Professional Accounting (ACCA) degree is directly aligned with the Strategic Level professional examinations of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) professional body. The course is a professional and practice-based level 7 Masters and aims to provide you with enhanced employment prospects.

This is an ideal opportunity to combine your studies towards achieving a high-quality Master's level degree award whilst also studying towards the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Strategic Professional examinations.

The ACCA do not grant exemptions from their essential strategic professional papers but this course is designed to fully prepare to undertake these professional body exams. The successful completion of this Masters course does not provide you with the ACCA qualification; however, the course is designed to prepare you for the rigour of the external professional examinations.

Our status as a Platinum Approved Learning Partner of the ACCA reflects the quality of our course provision and excellence in the standard of our tuition.

Professional Placement option

For our International Professional Accounting degree, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which 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 and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.

Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, our BA (Hons) Marketing with Commercial Management degree gives you the practice-based skills needed to succeed in the ever-changing discipline of marketing.

This approach not only gives you the marketing knowledge needed but also the personal skills employers demand, allowing you to make an immediate impact upon graduation. This experience is further enhanced by the opportunity to undertake a yearlong placement.

Businesses value marketing more than ever due to its ability to identify opportunities, shape experiences and drive profits. It is an ever-evolving discipline, constantly responding to changes in technology and consumer behaviour.

To be successful in this exciting area not only requires a depth understanding of the core principles, but also relies on having the acumen and practical abilities to apply and adapt this knowledge in a wide variety of scenarios. This in-demand course has been designed to give you the practical and professional skills that employers seek through our practice-based learning approach

Our LLM in International Human Rights will expose you to the fundamental aspects of the field and provide you with the opportunity to critically examine the impact of the international human rights standards on national constitutions and laws, with particular focus given to the conflict between international standards and national provision.

The LLM International Human Rights also provides you with an opportunity to assess how international human rights law offers protection to different categories of vulnerable groups.

Additionally, our LLM provides an opportunity to acquire, or build upon existing skills gained from your undergraduate course - enhancing employment opportunities in the legal profession and providing a basis for progression to doctoral studies.

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.

Are you looking for a course that can act as a springboard for a rewarding career in design and production for theatre, festivals, exhibitions, nightclubs, live arts and more?

This degree will enable you to make creative and informed contributions to contemporary performance design practice. Ambitious in its approach, this course includes design and production for theatre, events, museums, concerts, exhibitions, festivals, environments, nightclubs, film, live arts and scenography.

You will benefit from the collaboration of ideas within a multidisciplinary School, on a course that reflects the dynamic crossover common to creative arts in the 21st Century. Imagination, experimentation and risk-taking are fundamental to our students, as the challenges and opportunities are so varied on this course.

Do you want to develop your digital skills and become an Industry 4.0 specialist? This MSc Smart Manufacturing course will prepare you to apply digital skills into a dynamic and highly in demand sector, putting you ahead in the graduate job market.

Smart Manufacturing is the convergence of Operational Technologies and Information Technologies, to support the operations of the factory of the future. Also known as Industry 4.0 the convergence of manufacturing’s physical aspects and processes with data, sensors, artificial intelligence, cyber security and computer networks enables an increase in efficiency across the value chain of the manufacturing sector.

On this course, you will focus solely on the computing aspects of Industry 4.0, to enable your professional development by filling the skill gap required to understand how data and digital technology transforms and augments the physical aspects of manufacturing and its related areas.

The MSc User Experience Design course will provide you with in-depth theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience in designing, developing, and evaluating digital products across a range of platforms and state-of-the-art technologies. The course places a strong emphasis on the development of professional technical skills that are in high industry demand and will position you well for careers around the field of user experience (UX).

What's covered in this course?

The course has been designed to support graduates from a wide range of disciplines (including those with technical and non-technical backgrounds) who wish to specialise in the area of user experience (UX) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The key topics taught on the course include interaction design (techniques for user-centered design), front-end development (using industry-standard development environments), visual design (creating interfaces with strong aesthetics), accessibility (methods for supporting inclusive design), and usability testing (collecting and analyzing data via user evaluations). You will also have the opportunity to consider and create user experiences for technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, eye gaze tracking, speech interfaces, mid-air gesturing, haptic systems, and brain-computer interfaces.

The course philosophy is focused around industry and research-led activities, supported with assignments that are closely aligned to the development of essential knowledge and technical skills used in practice. You will therefore have the opportunity to work closely with academics, researchers, and industry partners on real-world project briefs thus supporting you in developing a strong portfolio of work (which is essential for gaining employment in this field). The course will also provide opportunities to collaborate with academics based in the School of Computing and Digital Technology’s Mixed Reality and Human-Computer Interaction research group to work on cutting-edge research projects.

Graduates from the User Experience Design course will be well placed for industry roles that are in high demand including front-end developers, user experience designers/developers, information architects, usability consultants and UX researchers, web designers/developers, and interaction designers.

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.