Master of Arts in Feature Film Development with Professional Placement

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

The world of fashion is one of the globe’s fastest-growing industries, as well as one of the most competitive. This course equips you with the skills and knowledge to succeed as a manager in this exciting industry.

You will gain a technical understanding of the sector, combined with a solid foundation of management principles. We will help develop your overall understanding of the modern fashion industry, as well as the necessary skills for working in the sector.

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.

Whether you are interested in developing a career in the Global Food and Beverage sector or working in the Global Hotel industry, this course will enable you to fulfil your potential.

To help in equipping you with the knowledge and skills to apply for work in the exciting global hospitality industry, the BSc Global Hospitality Management course will combine academic theories and hands-on practical experience throughout the degree, with embedded work-based learning opportunities at levels 4, 5 and 6.

You will learn how to analyse the strategies of global hospitality companies, the management of hospitality facilities (including rooms division), food and beverage management, business analytics, revenue management, emotional and social intelligence. You will be adept at understanding cultural differences, customer relationship management and global marketing strategies, in addition to a variety of other highly transferable skills.

More than many industries, those who operate in this industry are dynamic and fast-moving in order to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers. As with many industries risk assessments are necessary to anticipate the potential occurrence of crisis that need to be managed and assessed. A well-managed response to such crisis will ensure future security of your future industry.

Looking to study a criminology degree at University? Our BA (Hons) Criminology course is supported by our close links with local criminal justice organisations, including West Midlands Police Force.

Make sense of the world of criminal justice by getting the big picture perspective on crime, punishment and victimisation.

This course aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the core schools of criminological thought, their historical and political foundations and practical application.

What's covered in this course?

Our curriculum offers you a variety of subjects, through which you will be able to develop your interests before focusing on specialized fields within Criminology. The course also utilises guest speakers, external visitors as well as unique assessments to enhance students understanding of the discipline.

The course's real-world applications are supported by its close links with local and national criminal justice agencies, including police forces, charities, pressure groups, criminal justice agencies, criminal rehabilitation, probation service and prisons.

The course is delivered by expert staff in the fields of policing, security studies and criminology, and you will also enjoy regular guest lectures from highly influential voices in the discipline.

The BA (Hons) English degree course combines the creative and the critical, the personal and the social, the historical and the contemporary.

In the School of English, you will be taught by respected academics and practitioners offering a diverse range of modules in literary studies, linguistics, creative writing and drama. Your degree will allow you to tailor your studies to your individual interests and career aspirations with both a local and global outlook.

What's covered in this course?

English as a discipline continues to be relevant to the lives we lead and is central to a wide range of contemporary and social contexts. It is this fact on which the School has built its philosophy and approach to English as a subject, which has interdisciplinary reach beyond its own boundaries.

Identifying how language works in practice, engaging with multiple forms of communication, examining how language and literature engage with societies and cultures past and present, and the place of English in a global context, are all vital aspects in understanding how the discipline connects with the wider world, enabling you to focus on the production, interpretation and negotiation of meaning and to understand the world from a variety of perspectives.

You will benefit from student-focused and research-informed teaching in a friendly and supportive learning environment where you will be taught by respected academics and expert practitioners who foster a community of experimentation, innovation and inclusivity.

Our graduates are characterized by their extensive subject knowledge, critical thinking and intellectual curiosity, reflected in the skills and abilities that enables them to adapt to a wide range of career paths and employment opportunities.

The School is committed to contributing to the cultural life of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. We do this through working closely with partner colleges and schools, by maintaining close links with cultural institutions such as the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI) and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG), and by working with agencies such as Writing West Midlands. In all of this we seek to widen participation and provide opportunities for the community to engage with the discipline and the University.

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.

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.

Interested in security sector jobs in Birmingham? Our BA Criminology and Security Studies course covers a range of topics, from war and conflict to counter-terrorism.

Our degree will equip you with a wide range of knowledge about both national and international politics and intelligence. It will also show how politics can impact both security and insecurity in Birmingham and the United Kingdom.

What's covered in this course?

In your second and third years, this wide knowledge base will be built upon as you specialise in your learning. Your knowledge of the core ideas in Criminology will be re-enforced throughout these two years, and you will learn more about topics such as the role of MI5 and MI6, extremism, terrorism and counter-terrorism, the Middle East and conflict in the modern world, and International Relations.

Together these two years will provide you with a well-rounded knowledge of the political and historical issues which are leading to continued conflict and instability in the world today. This is an exciting and dynamic course whose modules directly reflect what is happening around the world and which is at the cutting edge of current scholarship.

Want to learn how to design the outside world? This Landscape Architecture degree course will help you to gain real industry exposure and work on a wide range of exciting briefs. The course focuses on offering experience through practice, which will enhance your chances of securing a role after you graduate.

Landscape Architecture is the design of the world outside, as a combination of art, utility and natural systems. The aim is to create rich, positive experiences and to provide designed environments, which engage users with character and a sense of place.

Through guided exploration of personal design and research process, you will explore and unwrap many layers to reveal the unlimited storyboard of design options that our landscape presents.

What's covered in this course?

Covering all aspects of landscape architecture, our course is fully recognised and accredited by the Landscape Institute (LI) and supported by a leading design team in its field.

You’ll work in a design studio culture, which mimics real-world creative practice for landscape architects and prepares you for your future career.

Experience on live local sites and project briefs in landscape studios will develop your design creativity and hone your professional practice skills. Placements and competitions will give you fantastic opportunities. There are also chances to compete for industry connected awards.

You’ll have the chance to be part of collaborative architecture and design initiatives within the School of Architecture that give you the chance to work on a diverse variety of live projects. Past examples include: explorations in timber construction in the Wyre Forest, communicating with the public about what they really want from design for Stirchley High Street in Birmingham and implementation of a viewing structure to observe wetland ecology at Henbury Ponds.

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

Our innovative course will give you a deep understanding of how the core and specialized areas in psychology and sociology 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.

Sociology helps us make sense of the societies in which we live and our place within them. Our Psychology with Sociology course brings together two closely interrelated areas, allowing you to gain significant knowledge and insight.

What's covered in this course?

Over your three years of study, your Psychology modules will help you gain an understanding of a person’s mind, behavior and actions, while the Sociology side will equip you with the knowledge of group interactions and society as a whole. Practical in nature, our course will enable you to apply both Psychology and Sociology to human behaviour and society.

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.

The MSc Advanced Computer Science program intends to develop your competence in using tools and techniques for producing computer systems solutions, from a sound mathematical and scientific base while appreciating the professional responsibilities and quality needed by industry.

What's covered in this course?

The course is designed to cover a number of advanced computing topics in computer science, namely, ontological engineering, service-oriented design, database design, data engineering, and mobile-application development. In addition, you will receive a solid grounding in research methods and project management before undertaking an individual project that provides an opportunity to demonstrate technical and general employability skills in preparation for career progression. More specifically, the individual project simulates typical graduate workplace tasks that require in-depth knowledge and skills in a specific area of computer science. This will include consideration of wider issues and the ability to manage activities and resources, as well as generate, implement and report on solutions to meet task objectives.

Throughout your masters in computer science, you’ll be supported by our expert teaching staff, all of whom have a wide range of research and industrial experience in areas such as intelligent systems, mobile computing, Semantic Web, machine learning and software engineering, which they use to enhance the curriculum.