MA in Media and Communication
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
Build proficiency in marketing, PR and advocacy while developing a critical understanding of today's media landscape and communication practices.
Studying our MA in Media and Communication could lead to a range of careers in the media, culture, government, PR, publishing, radio and journalism and social media. You might even go on to launch your own successful start-up.
During the course, you’ll investigate new developments in analogue and digital media. You’ll explore emerging fields such VR, algorithmic governance, experience design, social media psychology and digital content creation.
You’ll even take part in specialist activities such as journalism lectures, publishing masterclasses, marketing and media industry events and educational visits to media hubs in and around London.
Through a blend of classroom teaching and vibrant extracurricular activities, you’ll cover recent developments in media technologies, industries and cultures – both locally and globally.
This mix of academic research and media practice gives you everything you need to build a wholesome professional portfolio.
Why choose this course?
While you study, you’ll benefit from top-quality teaching at Kingston University. We’re ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, and our leading academics and expert practitioners are primed to create a forward-thinking, collaborative learning environment.
As part of Kingston School of Art, you’ll benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice. Our workshops and studios are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
As an MA student, you’ll have access to our specialist film and media labs, which are equipped with iMacs running software like Final Cut Studio Pro and the Adobe Creative Suite. You’ll also be able to use our dedicated film studio, photography studios, digital video and audio editing suites, podcast rooms and animation labs.
Through a combination of modules and a written or practice-based dissertation, you’ll research chosen areas in depth, with supervision from academic mentors and personal tutors. You’ll learn in a diverse, multicultural environment, studying alongside students from a wide range of backgrounds, countries, occupations and experiences.
Outside the classroom, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to enrich your learning. In the past, we’ve welcomed feature writers for the Guardian and Time Magazine, as well as investigative journalists in global politics. Our lunchtime lectures have even featured insights from BuzzFeed UK’s special correspondent, James Ball, and undercover BBC producer and filmmaker, James Jones.
Interested in studying Media and Communication MA at Kingston? The following funding support is available:
- Inspire the Future Scholarship
- International scholarships
- Progression Scholarship
- Discounts for Kingston University alumni
Course content
This course offers a critical overview and survey of today's media landscape and media environments. The coursework is a mixture of academic research and media practice, enabling you to build a wholesome professional portfolio of media projects.
Classroom teaching is supported by extracurricular activities; these include journalism lectures, publishing masterclasses, marketing and media industries events, and organised educational visits to media hubs in and around London.
You'll take three compulsory modules, including a dissertation, worth 120 credits in total. Then, you will choose from two optional modules worth 30 credits each. In total, you'll complete 180 credits.
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
The compulsory core modules give you a comprehensive grounding in the theoretical and empirical approaches to studying media institutions, texts and communication practices.
With a broad choice of option modules, you can specialise in research areas that interest you, and examine various media industries and communication practices within their historical, economic, political and social contexts.
Core modules
- Media and Communication Dissertation
- Media and Globalisation
- From Mass Media to New Media: Theories, Approaches, Applications
Optional modules
- Freedom, Censorship and Subversion
- The Archive in Contemporary Media Cultures
- Creating Magazines: Content and Context
- Television Production
- Special Study: Art/ Media Management and Production
- Issues in Contemporary Media and Culture
Optional placement year
The Professional Placement module is a core module for those students following a masters programme that incorporates professional placement learning, following completion of 120 credits. It provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in an appropriate working environment, and to develop and enhance key employability skills and subject specific professional skills in their chosen subject.
You may wish to use the placement experience as a platform for your subsequent major project module, and you can use it to help inform your decisions about future careers.
After you graduate
You could take on an internship or progress straight to a full time role. Previous graduates have gone on to work in the media and cultural industries. Others have roles in government, PR, publishing, radio and journalism, or social media content creation.
Links with business and industry
We organise and host international conferences on a wide range of subjects. Previous events have included the E-Poetry Conference, Black Metal conference, Hegel and world history conference, and BTS: A Global Interdisciplinary Conference Project in 2020.
Research with impact
Many of our staff are active in research, which means they bring the latest thinking and best practice to your studies. Their portfolio of academic works, digital art exhibitions and practical projects covers disciplinary areas including video production, digital art, electronic literature, globalisation theories and the music industry.