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UWE Bristol · Undergraduate
BA (Hons) Film Studies Bachelor's degree at UWE Bristol
BA (Hons) Film Studies at UWE Bristol. You'll develop both critical thinking and hands-on creative skills, positioning yourself for work in a competitive field.
BA (Hons)
Award
–
Years
Part-time
Study mode
University of the West of England
Location
About this course
Study our BA(Hons) Film Studies degree to learn from leading academics, make valuable contacts, and build industry-ready skills for your creative career. From the provider’s course page.
BA (Hons) Film Studies is a Bachelor's degree (BA (Hons)) at UWE Bristol, based in University of the West of England. It is studied part-time; duration varies by route.
For the typical curriculum, specialisations, career paths and graduate earnings for Media & Communications, see the sections below.
Curriculum & modules
Real modules published for this course, grouped only where the source gives a year, stage or level.
Year 1 4 modules
- Human Stories
Module details
You'll develop a critical understanding of storytelling as an aspect of human experience, exploring different approaches to storytelling and building critical literacy skills.
- Realism, Spectacle, Narrative
Module details
You'll be introduced to key debates about the nature of film, exploring how representations of reality are constructed through a negotiation between the filmmaker, the camera and the audience, and how spectacle creates meanings as well as effect.
- Film Style and Meaning
Module details
You'll discover a range of key terms and concepts needed to analyse film texts in close critical and contextual detail. You'll also investigate the role of film criticism in contemporary film culture, both in written and in audiovisual formats.
- The Movie Experience: Audiences, Culture and Taste
Module details
You'll be introduced to key production, exhibition and distribution contexts within the global film industry, focusing on the ways in which people watch and have historically watched movies, concepts such as cinephilia and fandom, and how these connect to issues of taste.
Year 2 5 modules
- Human Futures
Module details
You'll study human culture, including how humans interact with each other, with non-human animals, and with the world. You'll engage with the pressing questions of our age, as well as considering the power of culture, justice, and activism to offer solutions.
- Professional Writing About Film
Module details
You'll dive into some of the many varieties of professional writing about film, including reviews, feature articles, interviews, podcasts, screening notes, festival programmes, marketing and publicity.
- Screenwriting: Creative and Critical Practice
Module details
You'll study professional screenplay layout and structure, and the role of the screenwriter in the contemporary screen industries. You'll build your creative, critical and commercial understanding by exploring the relationships between screenwriting and concepts such as narrative, genre, and adaptation.
- Global Cinemas
Module details
You'll discover the complex industrial and cultural relationships between Hollywood and cinemas around the world with a special focus on the relationship between Hollywood and the UK film industry.
- Professional Development on PlacementOptional
Final year 5 modules
- Humanities Research Project
Module details
You'll design and deliver a self-devised project which addresses a series of research questions using appropriate methods. Your completed project will showcase your individual contribution to knowledge within the Humanities
- Contemporary Cinema
Module details
You'll study the structure of the film industry today, examining the structure of the global media conglomerates that own the major Hollywood studios and the financing of the independent sector in America and funding mechanisms that support film production in the UK, Europe and the Global South.
- American Independent and Global Cult CinemasOptional
- Stardom and Representation: Identity and Diversity in Global CinemaOptional
- Sensing Cinema: Perception, Style and AffectOptional
Source: provider course page. Modules can change; required/optional status, credits, descriptions and assessment are shown only when explicitly published.
Course in depth
What this course covers, who it suits and where it leads.
What you'll study
This degree combines critical understanding of film, media theory and practical production skills. You'll usually begin with foundations in media power, audiences and representation, alongside hands-on training in camera, audio, editing and writing across platforms. Year 2 typically moves into digital cultures, research methods, and specialist modules such as Journalism, PR & advertising, Film & TV, Social media, Games & interactive, or Production portfolio work. In your final year, you'll deepen your chosen specialism through advanced options, undertake an industry project or placement producing real work with a media organisation, and complete a dissertation or substantial media production that demonstrates your creative and analytical capabilities.
Who it's for
You're drawn to film, its history, storytelling, visual language, and cultural impact. You're equally comfortable analysing a scene in depth and making something yourself. You want to understand how cinema works and why certain films matter, and you're ready to put that understanding into practice. This course suits you if you're curious about cinema as both art and industry, and if you want structured space to develop critical judgment and creative confidence alongside peers with similar interests.
Careers & job market
Across Media and Communications degrees nationally, 90% of graduates were in work or further study within 15 months of graduating. Among those working, 60% were in highly skilled roles or undertaking further study. Starting salaries (15 months post-graduation) typically ranged from £22,000 to £28,000 nationally. After five years, the range widened to £22,525–£31,800. These are national figures from Graduate Outcomes and the Department for Education's Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset; individual outcomes vary considerably depending on role, sector, and career choices.
University & format
This BA (Hons) is delivered part-time by UWE Bristol, a public university founded in 1970 and located in the University of the West of England. Teaching is in English. The university is a recognised UK degree-awarding body and holds Silver for teaching quality in the Office for Students' TEF 2023.
Applicant information
The next application dates for this course, followed by facts the provider publishes.
Published entry112 UCAS points typical offer
Provider-published requirement; check the linked course page before applying.
2027 entry deadlineApply directly to the provider
Part-time application dates vary by provider. UCAS dates
Contextual offersPublished by this provider
The provider publishes contextual-offer information. Eligibility and any reduced offer are applicant-specific.
PlacementPublished placement option
Placement year. Availability, selection and pay can vary.
2026 entryLive availability check
Opened 2 July 2026; last choice 19 October 2026. Check vacancies now. A cached page never claims a place is still available.
Entry & how to get in
Typical offer (from the provider)The university’s course page lists a typical A-level offer of 112 UCAS points. Always check the provider for the current offer and subject requirements.
Entry requirements are set by the universityGrades, subjects and contextual offers vary. Check UWE Bristol's official course page for the current offer.
Entry & your chances
An honest read from the official entry data, plus your personal match.
Offer-based entry
Entry is set by the university and based on your offer. Use your predicted grades to see how you compare, then check the university's stated requirements.
How to apply
Undergraduate applications go through UCAS. Here’s what matters for this course, the right deadline, the grades to aim for, and the steps in order.
Apply byApply directly to the providerfor this course
- 1Register on UCAS Hub
Create your UCAS application and add this course. One application covers up to five choices.
- 2Write your personal statement
A single statement covers all your choices, so keep it broad enough for similar courses while showing genuine interest in this subject.
- 3Submit by Apply directly to the provider
Part-time application dates vary by provider. Source: UCAS 2027 dates.
- 4Reply to your offers
When decisions are in, pick a firm (first) choice and an insurance (back-up) choice with slightly lower grades.
- 5Results day & confirmation
On results day (mid-August) your place is confirmed if you meet the offer. Just missed? Talk to the university, or find a place through Clearing.
💡 Many universities make a contextual (reduced-grade) offer, for example based on your school’s results, time in care, or where you live. Ask UWE Bristol whether you’re eligible before you apply; it can lower the grades you need.
Fees & funding
What this course costs and how UK student finance covers it.
Tuition per year
Homeup to £9,790 / yr
Internationalset by the university
Standard capped home fee at English providers (2026/27); Scotland, Wales & NI differ.
Check fees at UWE Bristol →For students who normally live in England
illustrative Maintenance Loan per year
Check providertuition used per year, no published course home fee, total not estimated
total borrowing, course length not published
2026/27 Student Finance England figures. Maintenance support is means-tested and this two-point view is not an entitlement calculator. The course total uses its published length and home fee where both are available; a missing full-time fee uses the clearly labelled England-cap scenario, while part-time fees and unknown lengths are never guessed. Use the official calculator. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use separate systems: SAAS, Student Finance Wales, and Student Finance NI.
Starting on or after 1 January 2027?
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement is a separate system. A new learner’s tuition entitlement is currently stated as £39,160 (about 480 credits at 2026/27 fee levels), subject to prior study and eligibility. Check the official LLE guide.
Paying for it
- Tuition Fee Loan: can cover eligible tuition up to the applicable limit and is paid straight to the provider.
- Maintenance Loan: up to £10,830/yr away from home outside London (England, 2026/27), means-tested on household income.
- Repayment: 9% of income above £25,000, nothing below it; written off after 40 years.
- Earn alongside: most students work part-time in term, part-time roles on the StudySmarter job board.
England figures shown; Scotland, Wales & NI run their own schemes, check gov.uk.
Funding matched to this course
All UWE Bristol funding →Scholarships & bursaries you could qualify for
Named awards published by the university. Compare the eligibility and application route before budgeting for one.
Amounts, exclusions and deadlines can change. An award is not guaranteed unless the university confirms it.
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Career quizApplication walkthroughSalary & CV check
Careers & earnings
What Media & Communications graduates actually earn, from real outcome data, 15 months, 3 years and 5 years after graduating.
- 1Graduate roleFirst role after the degree · 0–2 yrs
- 2Specialist / PractitionerWorking in media & communications · 2–5 yrs
- 3Senior / LeadLeading work and people · 5–10 yrs
- 4Head of / ExpertSenior leadership or deep expertise · 10+ yrs
How pay grows: this course vs Media & Communications nationally
Starting (15 months) HESA GO
£22,000 – £28,000
After 3 years LEO
£18,275 – £25,800
After 5 years LEO
£22,525 – £31,800
national rangeaxis £17,000 – £33,000
National figures for Media & Communications graduates, HESA Graduate Outcomes (15 months) and the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset (3 & 5 years). These are national, not university-specific; actual pay varies by employer, region, role and experience. Different cohorts, so the bars are not one group over time.
Work out your pay
Headline figures hide a lot. Calculate realistic take-home pay for this field by role, region and experience, then check your CV before you apply.
Job market & outlook
How Media & Communications graduates fare in the labour market, and how AI is reshaping the work.
90%
in work or further study 15 months after graduating, across Media & Communications courses nationally.
Graduate Outcomes60%
of working graduates are in highly skilled work or further study.
highly skilled85%
of students continue past their first year (still enrolled or completed).
continuationHow AI is changing the work
AI doesn't replace the profession, it shifts it: routine tasks get automated, while judgement, working with people and using AI well become more valuable.
What AI takes off your plate
- Routine information gathering
- First-draft writing and summaries
- Standard analysis and admin
- Repetitive processing tasks
More human than ever
- Judgement and original thinking
- Working with and leading people
- Owning and sense-checking AI output
- Ethics and accountability
The strongest graduates pair subject depth with the ability to use AI tools critically.
Roles & employers
Where Media & Communications graduates typically go, indicative destinations from graduate career data. Each role links to live openings on the StudySmarter job board.
Roles graduates go into
Where they work
- Media companies
- Agencies
- In-house comms teams
- Broadcasters & charities
Jobs after this course
Current roles from the StudySmarter job board that suit Media & Communications graduates.
Media Operations, VP (Parental Leave Cover)WPP MediaMedia Relations ManagerCommonwealth War Graves CommissionMedia ManagerUS Tech SolutionsMedia Planning and Buying CoordinatorBurberryMedia Sales ExecutiveService ServiceMedia Planner/BuyerDifferent Technologies Pty Ltd.Live from the StudySmarter job board · as of 2026-08-01.See all matching jobs
Who studies here and in this subject?
Provider- and UK subject-level context.
University of the West of England, Bristol
All students36,380
International24.8%
Aged 25+34.8%
Media, journalism and communications across the UK
Students47,255
Aged 25+18.5%
HESA student record 2024/25. Counts are rounded.
Local crime-data context
A neutral snapshot around the published teaching location.
Around University of the West of England
547 street-level reports returned within roughly one mile across 2026-04 to 2026-06.
Violent Crime 188Anti Social Behaviour 89Shoplifting 50Other Theft 43Criminal Damage Arson 37
Police.uk street-level API. Approximate locations, not confined to campus. England, Wales and Northern Ireland; not Scotland.
Is Media & Communications right for you?
Tick what applies to you and see how good a fit it is.
International students
What applying to UWE Bristol from outside the UK involves: fees, English, visa, funding and living costs.
Tuition fees
International tuition is set per course by UWE Bristol; international fees are typically £12,000–£30,000/year for classroom subjects and higher for lab/clinical ones. You’re not eligible for UK Tuition Fee or Maintenance Loans, so plan for fees plus living costs upfront.
English language
Most UK undergraduate courses ask for around IELTS 6.0–6.5 (no band below 5.5–6.0), or an accepted equivalent. If you’re just short, most universities run a pre-sessional English course that counts towards the requirement.
Student visa
You’ll usually need a Student visa (Student Route). After you accept an offer the university issues a CAS; you then show funds for fees plus about £1,023–£1,334/month living costs and pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for NHS access.
Scholarships & funding
Many universities offer international/global scholarships (often £2,000–£6,000/yr), check UWE Bristol’s funding pages.
Living costs
Budget roughly £1,100–£1,400/month outside London and £1,400–£1,800/month in London for rent, food and travel; the figure also matters for your visa.
Working while you study
A Student visa usually allows up to 20 hours/week in term time and full-time in holidays, useful alongside study, though not something to rely on for fees.
Visa rules and fees change. Always confirm the current requirements with UWE Bristol and gov.uk before you apply.
Related courses
More at UWE Bristol
Common questions
What are the entry requirements?
Set by UWE Bristol. Check the university's course page for the exact offer.
What do graduates earn?
See the career and earnings data for Media & Communications below (national Graduate Outcomes / LEO figures).
What will it cost me?
For comparison, the standard full-time England tuition cap is up to £9,790 per year in 2026/27; the actual fee varies by course and provider. If you normally live in England, eligible students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan, plus a Maintenance Loan for living costs. Under Plan 5 you repay 9% of income above £25,000, nothing below that, and the balance is written off after 40 years. See Fees & funding on this page to work out your numbers.
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