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Foundation Year in Media

Learn about the course below

Foundation Year in Media

Code
See How to apply tab
Start
October 2023
Duration
1 year full-time +
3 years full-time
Attendance
Full-time
Fees
£9,250 (UK) *
£15,100 (EU / INT) *
Course leader
Baljit Binning

The Foundation Year in Media is offered as an entry route to a media degree for those who don't yet meet the entry requirements for degree-level study.

Why study the Foundation Year in Media at Middlesex University?

You enrol on a four-year course, which includes the one-year foundation course. If you complete this year successfully you progress directly onto our three-year media degree courses listed below. The number of students who progress to degree study are very high - in fact some of these students have gone on to become some of our most successful graduates.

The Foundation Year is for you if:

  • you do not have the right qualifications for a full degree
  • you feel you are not yet ready for degree-level study
  • you have limited or no technical experience, and wish to gain confidence in technical areas of study
  • you are returning to study and feel you need some help to get up to speed with the demands of learning before embarking on a degree.

The Foundation Year in Media is taught via a blended approach by the same lecturing staff who teach on our degree courses. You'll be taught in online seminars, webinars, virtual lectures and use student interaction and co-creation to learn new material. Collaborative online tools for creative media production is at the core of our teaching and you'll learn through carefully considered online materials and specialists; essentially practice together what you have learned during synchronous and asynchronous online activities.

We actively encourage you to get involved in events to feel part of the Middlesex community. With the support of former Media Foundation Year students, we hold regular social meet ups where you can get to know each other and share your experiences. We provide opportunities for you to collaborate on projects with other students across the degree programmes and every year, we have opportunities for you to work on live briefs designed by professionals in their fields.

This course will allow you to develop transferable skills in media, communication and problem-solving. At the core of our approach to online leaning and teaching is student interaction. In all of our programmes, you'll have the opportunity to interact with each other and complete classwork using online collaborative tools.

Course highlights

  • Gain the fundamental written and oral communication skills required to study media-based subjects at undergraduate level
  • Develop confidence and competence in using academic language skills as well as your critical thinking and knowledge of a media-specific vocabulary
  • Develop essential skills in digital media production and the use of industry standard software within the Adobe Suite
  • Opportunity to experiment with your ideas, develop story worlds, write stories and/or features, prepare scripts, treatments/outlines, and/or scenes to plan your creative project work across a range of disciplines
  • Work on a final media project which relates to a particular specialism and degree progression pathway.

How to apply

If you are interested in studying the Foundation Year in Media you must apply to one of our four-year degree courses. Please have a look at the How to apply tab for further information about how to apply. Successful completion of the foundation year guarantees entry onto your chosen media degree.

We offer the following courses:

CourseUCAS Code
BA Advertising, PR and Branding with Foundation Year N56F
BA Creative Writing and Journalism with Foundation Year W8PF
BA Digital Media and Communications with Foundation Year P310
BA Film with Foundation Year W60F
BA Games and Level Design with Foundation Year W249
BSc Games Design and Development with Foundation YearW247
BA 3D for Games and Film with Foundation Year W616

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What will you study on the Foundation Year in Media?

You will study four modules over the year. You study the first three modules at the same time, and then, in the last few weeks of the year, develop your Media Portfolio Project. The year is delivered through induction workshops, demonstrations, tutorials, lectures, critique sessions and portfolio review meetings. You also benefit from the visiting speaker programmes, as well as visits to exhibitions, screenings and events.

As a student of this course you'll receive a free electronic textbook for every module.

Modules

  • Modules

    • Exploring Media (30 credits) - Compulsory

      This module explores and develops written and oral communication skills required for media subjects, through a range of media disciplines. From journalism to games design, you will acquire the basic principles of critical thinking and analysis to support your creative work and project development.

    • Digital Production Intensive (30 credits) - Compulsory

      This module is structured to cover a wide range of digital production tools and resources. Short project briefs will enable key learning to be applied in manageable projects, some individual, some in groups. With introductions into camera, sound, post-production, digital imagery, 3D modelling and scripting, you will see the possibilities of the various media disciplines at undergraduate level, and make choices as to which specialism might best suit you.

    • Media Stories (30 credits) - Compulsory

      This module allows further development of writing, presentation and organisation skills. Having begun to experience the potential of the resources at hand, in this module you experiment with your ideas, develop story worlds, write stories and/or features, prepare scripts, treatments, and/or scenes to plan your creative project work across a range of disciplines. The module is workshop based and will feed into your preparation for the portfolio projects.

    • Media Portfolio Project (30 credits) - Compulsory

      Having experienced a range of opportunities in media, you then propose and develop your portfolio projects in the final weeks of the programme. You prepare your work for progression onto undergraduate programmes in this module. The programme team will support students to identify their strengths and facilitate your progression onto the most appropriate degree programme.

More information about this course

See the course specification for more information:

Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.

  1. Standard entry requirements
  2. International (inc. EU)
  3. How to apply
  1. UK
  2. EU / International
  3. Additional costs

Baljit Binning
Programme Leader


We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.

Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.

Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.

At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.

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