Skip to main content

Creative Media

BA (Hons)

Undergraduate degree - single honours

Award
BA (Hons) Creative Media
School/s
Bath School of Art, Film and Media
Campus or location
Newton Park and Locksbrook Campus
Course length
Three years full time, or four years full time with professional placement year. Part time available.
UCAS codes
Institution Code: B20
Course Code: WP93 or WP09
Campus Code: A,BSU

Entry requirements

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed under 'Typical offers' in the main column below. For combined courses, please check both subjects. If your qualification is not listed, please email admissions@bathspa.ac.uk with your specific details.

On our Creative Media degree, you'll experiment, gain technical skills, understand the media and collaborate with industry to kickstart your career.

  • Taught by expert practitioners, industry professionals, media theorists, artists and filmmakers, with guest lectures by visiting speakers from across the creative industries.
  • Work on live briefs, expand your skillset with new technologies, and personalise your experience by specialising in cutting-edge mediums.
  • In your final year, join Artswork Media: a professional production house where you can collaborate directly with industry partners.

Creative Media at Bath Spa University is more than a typical media studies degree. Yes, you'll learn digital techniques, media knowledge and how to excel in the industry. It's also a practical, personalised experience, where much of what you work on is led by you.

Focus on what the industry wants and on your passions. Each of our modules emphasises creating practical projects using the mediums that interest you, and that express your views of the world around you.

Whether you want to be an exhibiting video artist, a marketing and social media guru, a freelancer with your own business or are simply passionate about independent and proactive media-making, our experienced staff can guide you on the path to success.

We offer state-of-the-art equipment and will push you to engage with the most cutting-edge media practices. You'll gain experience in:

  • digital and social media
  • moving image content production
  • post-production
  • experimental media-making
  • sound design
  • podcasting
  • animation
  • graphic design
  • project management
  • pitching
  • user experience (UX) design
  • audience research
  • digital marketing. 

On successful completion of the course, you'll be able to specialise in any of these areas.

We prioritise not only what you create but also why you create, with a focus on activism and personal expression as well as opportunities to research many aspects of the media ecosphere. 

University of the Year for Social Inclusion

Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2024

UK top 20

for Satisfaction with Teaching in Media and Film Studies (Guardian University Guide, 2024)

#13 in the UK

and #2 in the South West for Teaching Quality in Communication and Media Studies (Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2023)

Join Artswork Media

We understand that you need solid professional experience before you graduate, so that you can make a smooth transition to work. That's why we arrange for you to work on live briefs, collaborate with local groups, and produce real-world projects at our Bristol-based production house, Artswork Media, in your final year. 

Past clients have included Bristol Old Vic, The Royal Photographic Society, Glastonbury Festival, the NHS, Rough Trade, The Big Issue Foundation, American Express and Boomtown Festival. 

For more information on who we are and what we do, find us on Instagram.

What you'll learn

Overview

Throughout the course, you’ll work with a range of digital and interactive media tools and platforms in our purpose-built production facilities at our Newton Park campus in Bath and at our Artswork Media site in Bristol’s creative enterprise area, Paintworks.  

You’ll nurture and extend your creative thinking and digital making skills, to learn techniques such as image manipulation, sound and video production, non-linear audiovisual editing, digital storytelling, graphic design, social media content production and interaction design.  

You’ll bring together your skills through a variety of projects, which include producing:  

  • documentary and fiction-based video and sound 
  • experimental and socially-engaged media 
  • social media content 
  • site-specific media. 

By the final year, you’ll be leaving with technical prowess, a wider understanding of why we make media, industry experience, and a bold, expressive portfolio to help you launch your career in media.  

Course structure

Year one

Develop your skills, discover ways of evolving your creative practice and build your production and problem-solving abilities individually and in teams.

You’ll be exposed to critical media practices that engage with key social, political and environmental issues. You’ll develop skills in digital storytelling, digital content production, image manipulation and moving image production.

You’ll begin to develop your industry-standard production skills by working on a series of live client briefs for multi-platform content projects. You'll also learn independent project production skills by creating personal work supported by staff and led by your medium of choice and personal passions.  

Year two
Begin to specialise. Hone your skills on larger scale creative content projects, learn post-production and animation skills, work on experimental, socially engaged and critical media making projects, and build your contextual skills.

You’ll produce a range of creative projects including:

  • multi-platform digital experiences
  • podcasts
  • animations
  • short films
  • interactive documentaries
  • remixed media and digital campaigns.

Your responsibility will also grow, as you’ll be tasked with creating real- world media works for local activist groups, allowing you to synthesise your thematic knowledge with practical enterprise.  

Year three

Join Artswork Media, a student-led production house supported by tutors, media practitioners, alumni and industry mentors.

You’ll work on a variety of live client briefs, hone your individual creative practice, and develop your professional identity and portfolio.

Artswork Media provides a unique opportunity to transition from being a Creative Media student to becoming an industry professional.

You’ll also be free to follow your passions in a personal project, allowing you to synthesise all you’ve learnt in the past three years into one “calling card” piece of work that fully expresses your style, skills and employability. 

How will I be assessed?

Creative Media assessments are all based around coursework. Throughout your time studying with us, you’ll work on a variety of independent and brief-led projects across different media.

You’ll produce digital and moving image artefacts, digital portfolios, and supporting documentation such as reflective reports and research journals which explain your process.

How will I be taught?

Your learning is supported in a variety of ways. You’ll take part in media production sessions making use of the purpose-built media facilities at Bath Spa.

You’ll plan and discuss work and reference points in seminars and workshops, and stage exhibitions and showcases of your work.

You’ll be supported by an experienced team of media professionals and technical support staff. Visiting speakers and mentors from the media industries enrich your experience and connect you with contemporary production and the landscape of the creative sector.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

"The course really allows me to flex my creative muscles in a variety of media contexts. I love the freedom it gives me to try new techniques whilst developing skills I already had."

Nathan Fowell, BA (Hons) Creative Media

Course modules

This course offers or includes the following modules. The modules you take will depend on your pathway or course combination (if applicable) as well as any optional or open modules chosen. Please check the programme document for more information.

Year one (Level 4) modules
  • Short Film Production: Drama
  • Short Film Production: Documentary
  • Digital Content Creation
  • Digital Practice
  • Storytelling for Content Creation
  • Creative Photography
Year two (Level 5) modules
  • Everyday Media Making
  • Advanced Digital Practice
  • The Independent Magazine
  • Promotional Media
  • Participatory Media
  • Creative Industry Challenge
  • Visual Effects I
  • Commissioning Content Creation
  • Visual Effects II
  • Professional Placement Year
Year three (Level 6) modules
  • Creative Media Enterprise
  • Creative Incubator
  • Professional Practice
  • Digital Innovation and Enterprise
  • Personal Project

Opportunities

Study abroad

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

Work placements, industry links and internships

Our students have worked with clients such as:

  • The Royal Photographic Society
  • Bristol Old Vic
  • St. Paul’s Carnival’s Black History Month programme
  • Somerset Wildlife Trust
  • Dickies
  • Minirigs
  • Rough Trade
  • Shangri-la
  • Somerset Football Association
  • Glastonbury Music Festival.
Careers

Bath Spa's Creative Media course is designed to help you bridge the gap and evolve from Media student to media professional.

Our graduates are employed in a range of roles including Digital Content Creator, Marketing Executive, Digital Agency Assistant, Social Media Manager, Editor, Director, Producer and Director of Photography.

Alumni have also gone to secure agents and have their work screened on broadcast channels such as Sky Arts, and on the big screen at Cannes Film Festival. They have also secured work on feature films including Guardians of the Galaxy and Stars Wars: The Force Awakens.

Creative Media graduates have gained employment in companies including Aardman Animations, BBC and Warner Bros. Some of our Creative Media graduates have gone on to further postgraduate studies in creative media, filmmaking and fine art.

Competitions, awards and prizes

We’ll encourage you to participate in media festivals and competitions. Our students have been nominated for and won awards such as the Royal Television Society Awards (RTS) West of England Student Awards.

Each year we award a prize to our students: the Artswork Media Student of the Year Prize

Global Citizenship

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

Adobe Creative Campus

Develop a wealth of indispensable digital skills that you can take into your future career. One of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, we provide all Bath Spa students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite, giving you the tools to communicate creatively, whatever your course or chosen professional field.   

Professional placement year

Overview

This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Preparation

Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.

How will I be assessed?

On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.

Facilities and resources

Resources

Creative Media Practice students can make full use of Bath Spa University's purpose-built media production and post-production facilities at Newton Park and Paintworks.

Creative Media Practice students can hire out equipment using SISO, Bath Spa University’s free equipment loan service. We provide a huge variety of equipment and resources from multi-camera TV studios through to digital cameras and field recorders.

Fees

2024 entry
Student Annual tuition fee
UK full time £9,250
UK part time £4,625
International full time £16,905

Professional Placement Year

During the placement year, the fee is reduced to 20% of the full time fee. This applies to UK and EU/International students.

  • UK: £1,850
  • International: £3,381

"Working at Artswork Media is an exhilarating experience that has inspired me and my future career." 

Sarah Orr, Creative Media

Interested in applying?

What we look for in potential students

We’re looking for motivated and passionate students who want to make their mark on the contemporary media landscape. We value creativity and imagination as well as technical skills, so the abilities to develop new projects and identify new opportunities are important traits we look for in candidates.

Typical offers

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed below:

  • A Level – grades BBC-CCC preferred.
  • BTEC – Extended Diploma grades from Distinction, Merit, Merit (DMM) to Merit, Merit, Merit (MMM) accepted in any subject.
  • T Levels – grade Merit-Pass (C+) preferred.
  • International Baccalaureate – a minimum of 32 points are required.
  • Access to HE courses – typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits,  45 of which must be Level 3, including 30 at merit or higher).

If you don’t meet the entry requirements above, we may be able to accept your prior learning or experience from outside of formal education. See our Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) page to learn more.

English Language Requirements for International and EU Applicants

IELTS 6.0 - for visa nationals, with a minimum score of IELTS 5.5 in each element.

Course enquiries

For further information about the programme or entry requirements, please email us at admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.

How do I apply?

Ready to apply? Click the "apply now" button in the centre of this page.

Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply pages.

Three year course
With placement year

Website feedback to web@bathspa.ac.uk