Journalism and Media with Foundation Year

Journalism and media is a discipline that prepares you both to practise journalism professionally and to understand the media industries and their role in democratic society. Journalism as a craft involves finding stories, gathering information, verifying facts, and communicating what you have found clearly and compellingly for a public audience. Media studies provides the analytical and theoretical framework to understand the organisations, technologies, economics, and cultural politics within which journalism is practised, and to examine critically how media shapes public knowledge and political life.

At Birkbeck College, part of the University of London, this four-year programme includes a foundation year that provides the academic preparation needed to engage with both the practical and analytical dimensions of the degree. The main programme then develops your journalistic skills across print, digital, broadcast, and multimedia formats alongside a sophisticated critical understanding of how journalism and the media work. Birkbeck's evening and flexible teaching tradition makes its programmes accessible to a wider range of students, including those who have prior professional experience or other commitments.

The programme is taught by experienced industry professionals alongside academic staff. The typical entry tariff is 88 UCAS points.

Graduates work as journalists, reporters, producers, editors, and content creators across news media, digital platforms, broadcasting, and specialist publications. Many also move into public relations, communications, content strategy, and media management. The critical media literacy the programme develops is also valuable in roles concerned with media policy, regulation, and research.

Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in journalism, media, or communications.