MA in Journalism

Why choose this course?

Accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) for over a decade, this Journalism PgDip/MA course will equip you for a career in journalism by offering the industry's most sought-after qualification alongside your PgDip or masters degree. It combines professional training and academic study with the skills you will need to succeed in this intensely competitive industry.

As well as being the only London university to offer an NCTJ diploma alongside a news journalism MA, Kingston University was ranked No.3 in London for Journalism and Publishing in the Guardian University Guide 2022.

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".

This course offers professional skills such as news and feature writing, the latest digital techniques, broadcast journalism, media law and shorthand.

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.

Alongside your core modules, you can choose from a range of specialisms, including Sports Journalism, Data Journalism, Foreign Correspondence, Feature-writing, Fashion Journalism, Creative Non-fiction, Visual Journalism and Broadcast Journalism, where you will cover everything from making TV and radio packages to voice training.

Reasons to choose Kingston University

• Kingston is the only university in London to offer the NCTJ diploma alongside an MA news journalism degree. The diploma, highly regarded by employers, is a passport to a wide range of jobs.
• This is a fast-paced, exciting and very practical course. While you will be taught theory and context, this is above all a professional preparation master's degree, getting you ready for the workplace. You will be reporting, writing, filming, interviewing, editing and publishing your journalism right from the start, enabling you to build the wide range of skills needed to thrive in the industry.
• 93% of our Class of 2021 are in journalism and related careers, at employers including Sky News, the Daily Express and LBC.
• This is a very hands-on course with field trips* to places including the BBC and the Houses of Parliament to help prepare you to work as a journalist.

*Students may be required to cover additional costs, such as travel.

Accreditation

National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ)

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.

'Tutors clearly go the extra mile with pastoral care, and supporting students with particular needs.'

NCTJ accreditation report

What you will study

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.

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

• Practical Journalism Now: Multimedia Skills and Employability

Non-credit-bearing modules taken as part of the NCTJ diploma

• Court Reporting
• Shorthand (Postgraduate)

MA students also choose either the Journalism Dissertation or the Practical Project

• Practical Journalism Project
• MA Journalism Dissertation

Optional modules

• Feature Writing
• 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

Optional modules

• Feature Writing
• 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.

Module

• Professional Placement

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.

After you graduate

In addition to a possible career as a journalist, alternatives may include work in publishing, advertising and marketing, film, television, radio, arts management, new media, business and teaching.

Every year the vast majority of our students go on to successful careers, mostly in journalism and the media, or related industries. In the last few years, our graduates 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.