Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Illustration with Placement Year

at University of Westminster - Harrow Campus United Kingdom

The Documentary Photography and Photojournalism MA allows you to explore society through photographically-related practice and within critically-informed ways through a combination of practice-based teaching and discussion of critical contexts.

We consider documentary photography and photojournalism as exciting and expanding mediums, situated within their own histories, taking many forms in the 21st Century.

Applicants can include students of documentary photography or photographers in general who are interested in specialising in this area and developing their practice. Artists who wish to focus their activities on a more social practice, and individuals from other disciplines who wish to explore the subject area at postgraduate level are also welcome.

From the moment you arrive, we emphasise the development of your own practice, leading towards a consolidation of your learning into a high-profile exhibition in a central London exhibition space.

You will be taught by practising professional photographers, artists and writers, within a supportive course atmosphere.

Our facilities are equipped to the highest professional standards for both analogue and digital production of still and moving image.

Our course in Fashion Marketing and Promotion has been designed to cater for creative, passionate and motivated students who want to pursue a creative degree within the fashion industry and develop a solid understanding of business in our digital era.

The fashion promotion industry offers some of the most attractive jobs in the industry and our course allows you to experience the wide spectrum of this field. The course will also give you a much better understanding of how you could use your strengths to achieve your future ambitions in the arena of fashion promotion.

Our aim is to help you realise your potential by directing you to the areas that are of greatest interest to you, both for your studies and in the future. 

We’ve developed this course with expertise from the industry in order to respond to the changing needs of fashion brands in our current innovative fashion industry landscape. Our industry experts are increasingly looking for creative and digitally literate fashion business graduates to help drive their marketing and promotion strategy across multiple customer touchpoints. This course is designed to develop your creative, technical and business skills on a commercial level.

During your three years on the course, you'll be introduced to a wide range of fashion promotion and marketing projects, including trend, creative marketing and communication, branding, styling, visual merchandising photography, film and media, visual merchandising, branding, strategic marketing, digital creation and new development in social media.

You'll also have the opportunity to apply for a semester abroad during your second year of study at one of our partner institutions. Our exchange programme is designed to equip you with the creative skills, knowledge and practical experience, along with the development of a professional character that is key to successful employment.

Digital and Interactive Storytelling LAB MA is a new and innovative course, designed for digital storytellers and shaped like a media LAB. This means that during the course you will be able to produce a wide range of digital-first work for multi-platform formats. Your work will be underpinned with academic research, theories and expertise on mobile platforms, and digital interactive communication.

The course delivers industry-level professional expertise in visual communication from photography to video content creation, interactive narratives and apps for change.

You’ll be involved in creating content that extends beyond current ideas in multimedia and online productions – as our aim is to advance storytelling as a format of communication and as a practice.

We recognise how competitive the job market currently is, therefore this Master's has been created to develop your skills and knowledge in a way that will enhance your career development.

Our Photography BA course is a long-established course with an excellent international reputation for its academic and practical teaching. This reputation is reflected in high application rates, a distinguished record of graduate employment in the industries it serves, and in the publication, production and teaching profile of its staff and graduates.

Our course will enable you to develop your creative production skills across a range of photographic and lens-based media, to establish a critically engaged and self-reflective creative practice. It will equip you with the skills to adapt to creative opportunities, participate in contemporary cultural debates, and increase your awareness of the political, ethical and aesthetic implications of your work. You’ll learn to form independent, informed opinions of your own work and that of others.

Our course is renowned for its distinctive philosophy, which aims to provide a holistic photographic education. It combines high levels of technical and visual photographic skills with excellent visual literacy and a critical awareness of visual culture alongside solid professional practice.

You’ll also explore a wide range of relevant contemporary theories and debates designed both to stimulate a critically engaged practice and to better prepare you for a range of related careers.

The course is part of the University's College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries, based at our state-of-the-art Harrow Campus – a cutting-edge creative hub.

Top reasons to study with us

• Fantastic location -  you'll enjoy all the benefits of studying at our Harrow Campus – just a 20-minute tube ride from London, a global hub for the media and cultural industries
• Develop your creative production skills – work across a range of photographic and lens-based media to establish a critically engaged and self-reflective creative practice
• Learn from high-profile experts in photography theory and practice, dedicated to photographic education
• Photographic pioneers – photographic education at the University of Westminster has a unique depth of tradition. Classes in photography were taught at the Polytechnic Institution, the forerunner of our University, from 1852, and the School of Photography was established in 1883

This innovative Master's degree aims to equip students with the skills, knowledge and strategic approach to develop and analyse social change campaigns and activism, with a particular focus on the role of communications and the media. This is the only postgraduate programme of its kind, and has a flexible delivery to suit both full-time and part-time students.

The course builds on our close links with leading campaigners and communicators in London's vibrant social change sector. An advisory panel, with representatives from Amnesty UK, Friends of the Earth, Save the Children, WaterAid, SumOfUs, Advocacy Hub, Campaign Bootcamp, FairSay and The National Council of Voluntary Organisations among others, will ensure we always reflect the skill sets in demand and deliver an exciting learning experience. A limited number of work placements and internships will be available.

Our innovative MA in Film and Television builds on its prestigious heritage as the longest running degree programme of its kind in the UK. We aim to equip you with wide-ranging skills, knowledge and critical awareness to meet your career aspirations in sectors in which moving images play a central role. Our curriculum incorporates an exciting variety of learning and teaching activities designed to foster your capacity for researching and rigorously analysing different aspects of film, television and moving images. You will have the opportunity to develop key skills for communicating about and with moving images across a range of contexts and platforms.

The Social Media and Digital Communication MA will give you the opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of contemporary digital communication and its seismic impact on politics, culture and society.

Social media have challenged how we understand communication, democracy, news, relationships, privacy, advertising and entertainment. Social media have captured the attention and imagination of hundreds of millions of people. They enable their users to develop and display their creativity, to empathize with others, and to find connection, communication and communion. But social media have also captured those users’ personal information, and turned their daily lives into commercial data through business models built around surveillance.

The course examines social media as industries and as central sites for understanding the cultural politics of everyday life. It explores the meanings of sharing and privacy, of remix cultures and new forms of journalism, of new forms of communication and new forms of citizenship. It connects social media to other digital phenomena such as the internet of things, Big Data, and media convergence. In its core modules, learners engage with questions of media technologies and texts, of platforms and users, and of how networked digital media are adopted and adapted in an environment built around the convergence of personal and public communication.

This highly regarded course offers a rigorous analysis of the political, economic, cultural and sociological factors which shape the practices and outcomes of mass media. It will give you the opportunity to study and research the main ways in which social scientists have analysed the role of the mass media and communication, and how to develop, evaluate and apply research to evaluate those theories.

The MA ensures that you will receive a relevant, well-grounded, high-quality education and skill base, and a clear and comprehensive understanding of communication and the mass media. It is designed both for those who already work in or want to work in the media, and for those who want to go on to pursue further academic research in media and communication.

Our Fashion Design BA has an exceptional reputation for being aligned with the international fashion industry and enabling you to have outstanding opportunities to engage with the industry throughout your course. 

We specialise in enabling you to become a highly original and individual creative designer, capable of working at the highest levels of the international fashion industry. We were the first undergraduate course to show at London Fashion Week, and able to show in February 2020, prior to the national lockdown.

Throughout our course, the emphasis is on the development of your personal design philosophy. Our course offers a comprehensive design education for dedicated and ambitious individuals looking for a specialist career in the international fashion industry. You'll also gain the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Our students gain an enormous amount of specific and transferable knowledge from working within the fashion industry, whether these are in the context of ‘live’ design projects at university or out on extended periods of work placement.

Internships on both the three-year and sandwich course take place in partnership with leading international fashion companies, and have previously included: A Cold Wall, Alexander McQueen, Ashley Williams, Balmain, Burberry, Chalayan, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Charlotte Knowles, Christopher Kane, Cottweiller, Craig Green, Eckhaus Latta, Erdem, Eudon Choi, Gareth Pugh, Givenchy, Haider Ackermann, Halpern, JW Anderson, Kenzo, Kilgour, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela, Marine Serre, Marques Almeida, Molly Goddard, Nazir Nasar, Norse Projects, Peter Pilotto, Phoebe English, Preen, Raf Simons, Richard Quinn, Roksanda, Self Portrait, Simone Rocha, Stefan Cooke, Supriya Lele, Thom Browne, Underage, Viktor & Rolf, and Walter van Bierendonck. 

Embedded into the course structure are several opportunities to engage with the international fashion industry through set live briefs with companies. Previous companies have included FENTY, The Gap, CLOSED denim, Epson, Topshop, H&M, ISKO Denim, Max Mara, Abercrombie and ASOS. 

Course graduates include London Fashion Week designers Katie Ann McGuigan, Roberta Einer, Liam Hodges and Ashley Williams, as well as Jutta Kraus, Creative Director of Bernhard Willhelm; Stuart Vevers, Creative Director of Coach; Christopher Bailey; and Katie Hillier.

Our previous Fashion Design BA graduates have gained employment at companies including Versace, Rick Owens, Celine, Loewe, Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Carven, Tom Ford, Gucci, Versace, Ferragamo, Kenzo, H&M, Preen, MaxMara, Anya Hindmarch, Burberry, J.W. Anderson, Norse Projects, Acne, Jacquemus, Paul Smith and adidas.

Media professionals and media firms are united in their need to acquire the commercial, strategic and managerial skills to prosper in an industry undergoing constant fundamental change. This course is designed to address these needs, developing entrepreneurial leaders equipped to deal with the complex and novel challenges presented by new technologies, consumer behaviour, and evolving business models.

The course will enable you to identify and analyse strategic and operational problems and opportunities, understand, quantify and access national and international media markets, and use foresight and planning techniques to understand and respond to change. As well as being able to manage complex media projects, you will also have the skills to engage in strategic direction setting, deploy business-planning skills, and excel in leadership and implementation.

The course is delivered by academic staff with lengthy experience of advising and managing media organisations. Teaching methods are based around practical problems and include in-class exercises and individuals and group projects and assessment. Assignments will enable you to develop and apply your skills in creative project development and business planning.