Journalism with English
Journalism is part of the combined campus subject programme at Ulster, Coleraine. It is the only university degree programme in the subject in Northern Ireland and offers you the opportunity to study the theory and practice of journalism in context with determining factors such as law, economics, politics and technology. It provides you with a range of relevant practical and professional skills.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | |
| Awarding Body | Ulster University |
| NFQ Level |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 | Ulster University |
Duration
Attendance
Full-time mode: three years.
200 hours per module per semester as follows:
36 contact hours per module per semester.
164 independent study hours per module per semester.
FAQ: How many hours per week will I attend as journalism student at Ulster?
All full-time degree programmes in the Faculty of Arts require a minimum three hours contact time (e.g. lectures and seminars) per module. However, programmes with a practice component, such as Journalism, will demand, by their very nature, additional contact hours for attendance on practical workshops and may require occasional assignments off campus, e.g. to local court or council. In addition to attendance at teaching sessions, the programme will require up to 20 hours per module per semester of independent learning and study (e.g. library research and coursework preparation). In that light, the attendance requirement in part-time mode depends on how many modules taken per semester (one or two).
Entry Requirements
Irish Leaving Certificate
104 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English at H6 if studied at Higher level or O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.
Careers / Further progression
Graduate employers
Graduates from this course are now working for:
Arts Council
Local Radio
Newspapers
North West News Group
Ulster University
Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster
Job roles
With this degree you could become:
Digital Strategic Implementation Intern
Journalist
PR
Marketing and communications coordinator
Reporter
Researcher
Career options
The degree in Journalism at Ulster gives you a wide range of potential career options in the expanding field. Many graduates will go on to join a local newspaper, magazine or digital news service as trainees. Others will use their skills in information gathering, research, verification, media production software etc to go into related fields like public relations, recruitment, research or marketing communications. Others will go on to do a masters like the connected MA Journalism at Ulster University which provides both a masters degree and professional accreditation by the industry's National Council for the Training of Journalists.
For information on postgraduate research opportunities see: www.arts.ulster.ac.uk/rgs
Students completing a course with English as a minor are well equipped to undertake postgraduate work in relevant areas of study. A degree containing a significant element of English equips you for the wide variety of careers that require advanced communicative skills, both written and oral, including publishing, creative arts, marketing and retail, arts administration and many sectors of the civil service.
Further information
Start date: September 2024
Deadlines for on-time applications
2024 entry application deadlines
For courses starting in 2024 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.
16 October 2023 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.
31 January 2024 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.
Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests
Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.
Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.
All applications received after 30 June are entered into Clearing - find out more about Clearing at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearing
Overview
Journalism theory and practice: news-gathering, reporting, writing and editing for television, radio, print and online, in a changing media landscape.
Summary
Journalism is part of the combined campus subject programme at Ulster, Coleraine. It is the only university degree programme in the subject in Northern Ireland and offers you the opportunity to study the theory and practice of journalism in context with determining factors such as law, economics, politics and technology. It provides you with a range of relevant practical and professional skills.
As a major subject programme (four modules per full-time year), Journalism at Ulster is combined with another, minor subject in the Arts (two modules per full-time year) to make up a full degree programme. There is a range of subjects to choose from as your minor: Education, English and History.
Taking English as a Minor will allow you to develop a critically-informed knowledge of English literature in its historical range and depth. Through the study of literature across different genres, you will hone the ability to analyse text and form critical arguments, both in spoken and written form. A Minor in English comprises of two from the total of six modules you complete per year (three each semester). These draw on extensive staff expertise and internationally-recognised research. In addition to compulsory modules, you can pursue your own interests through a range of optional modules including 'Restoration & 18th-century Literature’ in second year, or 'Words in Freedom: Modernist Revolution in Literature’ in third year, among others. A Minor in English ensures you are well-equipped for the wide variety of careers that require advanced communicative skills, including publishing, journalism and the media, public relations, the creative arts, marketing and retail, arts administration, and many sectors of the civil service.
About
In Year 1, you will take modules that give you a good basic grounding in the academic study of the media and in practical journalism skills that you will need to underpin your more advanced modules in Years Two and Three. At this level you will take modules that introduce you to critical issues in journalism (history, sociology, economics and technology), journalism law and regulation, and journalism practice (newsgathering, report writing, sub-editing, newspaper design and production and broadcast journalism techniques).
Your commitment in time and effort will be intensive and demanding, much more so than those subjects that have no practice component. As well as on-campus activities, you will also learn about reporting from the local court and council offices. At the end of your second year, you will be encouraged to seek a placement with a local newspaper or other news based outlet.
The programme uses a range of teaching methods including lectures, small group seminars and practical workshops. These are delivered and supervised by experienced teaching staff, including former journalists with BBC and The Sunday Times.
You will have access to a wide range of learning resources, including professional standard newspaper production and design software such as Adobe InDesign, and digital sound and video software. You will also work in a simulated newsroom environment.
The programme assesses your work using a variety of different assessment methods including traditional academic essays, critical book reviews, examinations, class-tests and practical journalism assignments in reporting and writing.
Full-time students studying English as a Minor are expected to complete two modules per year (one in each semester). Most modules offer lectures and a seminar. Independent reading and study will also be guided by module co-ordinators. We endeavour to make lecture and seminar times convenient for those who have to travel far or who have part-time jobs.
Modules
Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
Year 1
Elements of Criticism
Modes of Reading
Media, Culture, Politics
Public Affairs for Journalists
Introduction to Journalism
Introduction to Multi-platform Journalism
Year 2
Media Law and Regulation
Innovation and Work Based Learning
Early Modern English Culture 1509-1659: Poetry, Prose, Drama - Optional
Tales of the Familiar and the Exotic: The Beginnings of Modern Fiction in English - Optional
Rhymes Of Passion: A Brief History Of Love Poetry - Optional
Writing and Editing - Optional
Modern Drama and Its Influences - Optional
Sex and the City of God: religion and sexuality in American literature - Optional
Beat Literature and Culture - Optional
Angels, Madwomen and Whores - Optional
Writing the North: Ulster Literature - Optional
Contemporary World Fiction in English - Optional
Samuel Beckett Studies - Optional
Adaptation and Historical Fiction - Optional
Gothic and Romantic Writing - Optional
English Exchange 1 - Optional
English Exchange 2 - Optional
English Exchange 3 - Optional
English Exchange 4 - Optional
English Exchange 5 - Optional
English Exchange 6 - Optional
Eighteenth-Century Literature - Optional
Detective Fiction - Optional
Modern North American Feminist Writing - Optional
Media: Study Internationally (2nd yr) - Optional
Advanced Multi-platform Journalism - Optional
Year 3
Media: Study Abroad (DIAS) - Optional
Year 4
Journalism Major Project (MAJOR ONLY)
Journalism Dissertation (MAJOR ONLY)
Investigative Journalism
Journalism Research in a Global Context
Romantics and Victorians - Optional
Twentieth-Century Literature - Optional
How to be Modern: Writing from the Jazz Age, 1910-1930 - Optional
Bonnets, Beards and Bastards: The Fiction of the Victorian Period - Optional
Writing and Publishing - Optional
Nineteenth-Century American Literature - Optional
Twentieth-Century American Literature - Optional
Body, Mind and Soul in Novels and Non-Fiction from Addison to Austen - Optional
The Ulster-Scots Literary Tradition 1750 - 2000 - Optional
From The Vote To The Pill: C20th And C21st Women's Writing - Optional
20th Century Irish Writers - Optional
Late Victorian And Edwardian Novel - Optional
Shakespeare - Optional
Narratives of Slavery - Optional
Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods. Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments. This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.
Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.
Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.
Associate awards
Diploma in Professional Practice DPP
Diploma in International Academic Studies DIAS
Diploma in Professional Practice International DPPI
Work placement / study abroad
There is formal work placement and optional study abroad within the course structure.
Students may consider taking part in the Erasmus Exchange programme, to European universities, usually for one semester in second year.
Students may take part in the exchange programme with universities in the USA. This would be a year long exchange and attracts an additional university academic award on graduation.
Exchanges with universities in other countries may also be possible, arranged through the International Office at the university.
Ulster University,
Cromore Rd,
Coleraine
BT52 1SA
T: 02870 123 456