A Level: Media Studies

A Level Media Studies is designed to enhance your enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation of the media and its role in your daily life. The course introduces you both to media ideas and the practice of production, which gives you the chance to develop a real understanding of media platforms, the contemporary media landscape, and the influential role of the media in today's society.

Component 1: Media Products, Industries and Audiences

Component 2: Media Forms and Products in Depth

Component 3: Cross-media Production - Non-Exam Assessment (NEA/coursework) module

Year 12:

We study 6 industries in this year from a range of theoretical frameworks (ways of understanding and analysing the media)

• Music Videos - language and representation
• Advertising - language, representation, and audience
• Newspapers - language, representation, industry and audience
• Video Games - industry and audience
• Radio - industry and audience
• Film - industry Theories we cover in this year include (but are not limited to): genre, feminism, stereotypes, binary oppositions, fandom, encoding/decoding, cultural industries.

Year 13:

We study 3 industries in this year from all 4 frameworks:

• Global TV
• Alternative and Mainstream Magazines
• Online Media (Social media and websites)
• Theories we cover in this year include (but are not limited to): postmodernism, gender performativity, identity theory, and 'end of audiences'

One x 2 hours 15 mins exam - (35%)

One x 2.5 hours - (35%)

Coursework - 30%

• All Loughborough College Sixth Form courses have minimum entry requirements of at least five GCSEs at grade C or above, including English Language and Maths.

• GCSE English Language at grade 5.

Media Studies naturally lead to careers in journalism, marketing, advertising, or public relations. However, an awareness of how the world of media works can also support other careers, such as social work, law, medicine, and education.

By knowing how the media operates, you'll be able to decode messages more skillfully and engage with topics that interest you.