MA in Journalism
- Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
- Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 20,700 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* there is no application deadline for postgraduate courses
** for international full-time | international part-time: 11,385 GBP/year | home full-time: 12,400 GBP/year | home part-time: 6,820 GBP/year
Key Summary
The only London university to offer an NCTJ diploma alongside a news journalism MA.
We also offer Broadcast Journalism and Shorthand as elective options alongside the NCTJ core modules. In the last reaccreditation report from the NCTJ, it was noted that "this course... plays a valuable role in producing industry-ready early career journalists".
The journalism department has a dedicated newsroom, fully equipped with:
- dual-booting iMacs
- professional newswires from Rex Images and the Press Association
- 24-hour news channels
Industry standard software, such as:
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere Pro
From Kingston, it's just a 30-minute train journey to central London. Here you will find the biggest concentration of press and publishing in the UK. This gives you the opportunity to undertake work experience in high-profile media environments.
You will also have access to a modern environment with the latest equipment, including the Learning Resource Centre. This offers:
- subject libraries, plus a free inter-library loan scheme to other libraries in the Greater London area – the large journalism section at Kingston features a range of specialist books, periodicals, journals, videos and DVDs
- online database subscriptions
- a growing selection of resource materials – including online archives of national newspapers going back 30 years and microfiche cuttings dating back a century
Why choose this course?
This course offers professional skills, such as news and feature writing, the latest digital and social media techniques, and media law. Alongside your core modules, you will be able to choose from a range of specialisms. These could include sports journalism, foreign correspondence, arts and culture, social affairs, fashion journalism, visual journalism or broadcast, where you will cover everything from making TV and radio packages to podcasts.
You will be taught by practising journalists and have access to a newsroom with industry-standard software. Working for a live news website, the Kingston Courier, you will produce and edit multimedia content on everything from news to sports. You will also design and produce a newspaper supplement.
The Journalism Department hosts weekly guest lectures and other events led by industry experts. Recent speakers have included:
- Samira Ahmed – award-winning journalist with 20 years' experience in print and broadcast
- Anoosh Chakelian – deputy web editor at the New Statesman
- Will Dean – commissioning editor for G2 (Guardian)
- David Jenkins – editor of Little White Lies, a bi-monthly movie magazine powered by illustration that has just reached its 60th issue
- Ben Machell – writer for The Times, columnist for ES Magazine
- Fatiman Manji – news correspondent and Presenter at Channel 4 News
- Rachel Rodriguez – social media producer, CNN International
- Radhika Sanghani – feature writer, Daily Telegraph
- Samira Shackle – deputy editor of New Humanist and freelance journalist specialising in politics, terrorism and gender
- Alex Stedman – fashion blogger for The Frugality, former style editor at Red magazine
- Farrah Storr – editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, former editor of Women's Health
- Rossalyn Warren – award-winning foreign affairs journalist, formerly of BuzzFeed News. Her reporting has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, VICE, CNN, BBC, ELLE, Newsweek, and Teen Vogue
We also hold events on current affairs. For example, the recent panel discussion ‘Truth and Terror' examined the relationship between the Islamic State and the media and a live debate on the future of press regulation between Hacked Off and the Press Complaints Commission.
Every year, the department hosts the annual Journalism Oscars to celebrate the brightest and best journalism students. Categories include news reporter, feature writer, digital journalist and postgraduate of the year.
Plus, on this course, you will benefit from the full art school experience as part of Kingston School of Art. Students on this course will join a creative community where collaborative working and critical practice are encouraged. Our workshops and studios are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Accreditation
Kingston's links with the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) open many doors for our students, including opportunities to attend networking events. Eligible students on our course have the option of applying for the NCTJ-run Journalism Diversity Fund, which provides bursaries for living and study costs to a wide range of students.
For students interested in studying Journalism PGDip/MA at Kingston, there are several opportunities to seek funding support:
- Inspire the Future Scholarship
- International scholarships
- Progression Scholarship
- Discounts for Kingston University alumni
- Bursaries from the NCTJ
Course content
You will develop a range of professional, practical skills and knowledge that will equip you for a job in journalism, including news and feature writing, public affairs, online journalism, media law and shorthand. You will have the opportunity to report and write for our news website, the Kingston Courier, which is run by our postgraduate students. Using your acquired design skills, you'll learn to produce a print supplement to our University newspaper, The River.
Once you have achieved the PgDip, which runs over two semesters from September to May, you can continue on to the MA degree by researching and writing a dissertation or carrying out an equivalent work-based practical project. This will develop your critical thinking and analytical skills, and give you the chance to carry out independent academic research.
The core module is worth 60 credits. You'll be expected to complete 180 credits altogether.
Please note: Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
Modules: Full-time study
You can choose to study for either a PgDip or MA award. If you opt for the MA, you will have the opportunity to do a work-based final project or a dissertation, which allows you to focus on an area of interest and gain valuable research skills, as a potential gateway to a PhD.
Core modules
- Journalism in Context: Law, Ethics and the Industry
- Practical Journalism Now: Multimedia Skills and Employability
Non-credit-bearing modules taken as part of the NCTJ diploma
- Journalism for a Digital Audience
- Shorthand (Postgraduate)
MA students also choose either the Journalism Dissertation or the Practical Project
- Practical Journalism Project
- MA Journalism Dissertation
Optional modules
- Broadcast Journalism
- Journalism Specialism
Modules: Part-time study
We offer a part-time study option to help you fit the course around other commitments.
Year 1 core module
- Practical Journalism Now: Multimedia Skills and Employability
Year 2 core module
- Journalism in Context: Law, Ethics and the Industry
MA students also choose either the Journalism Dissertation or the Practical Project
- MA Journalism Dissertation
- Practical Journalism Project
Optional modules
- Broadcast Journalism
- Journalism Specialism
Part-time students can opt to do shorthand in either their first or second year
- Shorthand (Postgraduate)
Optional placement year
Many postgraduate courses at Kingston University allow students to do a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The responsibility for finding the work placement is with the student; we cannot guarantee the work placement, just the opportunity to undertake it. As the work placement is an assessed part of the course, it is covered by a student's Student Route visa.
Core Module
- Professional Placement
Every year, the vast majority of our students go on to successful careers, mostly in journalism and the media, or related industries. Indeed, 100% of our Class of 2023 are now in journalism careers at employers that include the BBC, Daily Mail and LBC.
In the last few years, our graduates have also progressed to roles at CNN, the Daily Express, Wandsworth Guardian, Accountancy Age, Barcroft Media, Container Management, Metro, Grazia, Richmond and Twickenham Times and Investors Chronicle.
Graduates who choose not to go on to a career in journalism may consider working in publishing, advertising and marketing, film, television, radio, arts management, new media, business and teaching.