Media Studies is one of our Specialist subject areas, which means that we have a history of outstanding examination results in this subject! Media Studies is available from Year 9, leading to the AQA GCSE double award for some students in Year 11. Students have the opportunity to progress to the AQA ‘A’ level course as part of our compact with East Berkshire College.

The department has state of the art facilities with a dedicated media suite boasting a network of Apple iMacs. Students have the opportunity to work with iMovie and other iLife applications in addition to the industry standard software such as Adobe InDesign and Final Cut Pro.

What is Media Studies?

Media Studies is a subject that is increasingly popular and successful at our school. Several of our ex students have gone on to university to study media related courses, furthermore, others have been employed in local newspapers, radio stations and advertising companies. We are also proud of our links with media institutions such as the Guardian newspaper.

During the Media Studies course students will have the opportunity to study the following:

  • The Advertising Industry: our focus will be charity and cause adverts
  • Music Videos: our focus will be gender stereotyping and representation and the promotion of pop music
  • TV: our focus will be commercial and Public Service Broadcasters
  • Cinema: our focus is the promotion and marketing of films
  • New Media: our focus will be on games, red button technology and social networking.
  • The regulation of all media industries and the key concept of audience is also an important part of the course.

What do students do on a Media Studies Course?

During the GCSE and A level courses, all students produce a coursework portfolio, which includes some of the following; original photography and short films, adverts and radio shows. Students will spend time learning how to use semi professional cameras and editing software.

Students will also have to produce independent research for each coursework unit plus full evaluations for each project.

Our media classes work to industry standard practices; each group of students acts as a production team with each student assuming a production role. Students are also expected to evaluate the work of their peers in focus groups.

Traditional essays analysing media products also forms part of the GCSE and the A level  Media course.

For more information on our courses visit AQA website.