On our Media and Communication degree you’ll develop an in-depth understanding of our data-driven society and contemporary media environment. You’ll explore issues such as digital media theory, identity and representation, politics and popular culture. You’ll learn to analyse and debate the latest theories and discover the impact of media on all our lives such as the role of ‘Fake News’ and the ethical responsibility of journalism in a 'post-truth' age.

Working in our specialist facilities, you’ll also get hands-on and engage with media production including documentary filmmaking, photography, and digital publishing; creating apps, podcasts or new online platforms.

Choose to study abroad for one semester and get funding to cover the cost, and hone your skills through work placements. You can also choose to take an optional placement year.

Industry-standard equipment

As a student at ARU you’ll have use of facilities and equipment including:

• a fully-equipped HD multi-camera TV studio includes multi-purpose scenic backdrops, suitable for current affairs, drama and magazine programmes
• a film studio featuring overhead lighting, tracks, dollies, green screens, and flats
• a full range of HD cameras, as well as Super 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film cameras
• sound-recording equipment for location filming
• for editing and post-production, the complete Adobe Creative Cloud software suite, including Premiere Pro, Photoshop and After Effects.

Learn outside the classroom

Throughout the course you’ll benefit from extra-curricular events such as:

• Cambridge Film Festival and our Campus Cinema events
• regular field trips, such as to the BFI and Tate Modern
• guest lectures, with recent speakers including film editor and sound designer Larry Sider, and filmmaker William Raban
• events offered through our student-led film societies
• Support to apply for external grant film projects with resent successes including Random Acts CH4, New Creatives BBC Arts.
• the chance to join Cam FM, a student-run radio station with studios on our campus and at Cambridge’s famous Fitzwilliam Museum.

Take a closer look

Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.

Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.

You’ll graduate from our BA (Hons) Media and Communication ready for many media-related roles, including broadcasting, film, photography or television production, media consultancy, journalism, public relations and advertising. You’ll also pick up skills for other professions that require an understanding of the media, including web design and publishing.

Whichever path you follow, you can be sure you’ll graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities that employers need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements.

Our links with local and national organisations will help you make contacts and find work placements in the industry. These placements could form part of your assessed work and, for many previous students, have led directly to employment.

We also offer dedicated employability support throughout your time here.

Graduation doesn’t need to be the end of your time with us. You might decide to stay at ARU and study for a Masters degree, such as MA Film and Television Production. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.

This year will prepare you for the rest of your course. We’ll focus on general skills such as researching and referencing, numeracy and ICT, and communication. But we’ll also start to look at different writing styles and how words, film and other media can be used to inform, persuade and entertain.