Content Creation BA(Hons)

Your first year has been designed to introduce you to the core skills, tools and techniques that you will need for all parts of the content creation process. 
 
You’ll be supported in putting these into practise and developing an understanding of how other creators, publishers and brands work online, as you immerse yourself in the industry. 

Along the way, you’ll also develop essential workplace attributes, like collaboration, creative problem solving, and presenting ideas with impact.

Modules

Writing Studio

You’ll explore a range of writing styles and structures, learning how they’re applied on different channels, from Substack to Instagram to TikTok to whatever comes next, to shape audience perceptions and maximise engagement with your target audience.

Creative Content Production

Learn how to operate professional equipment and software, and make best use of your phone to produce compelling and creative content. You’ll learn different visual storytelling and post-production techniques and will be introduced to AI tools that can help with technical issues.

Digital Storytelling

Discover the craft of good storytelling by learning why original, personal and relatable stories matter, how to find and fact check them, and the skills required to tell them in an engaging and sharable way on different platforms. 
 
Just as importantly, you’ll gain a good working understanding of legal and ethical issues content creators face.

Attention in the Digital Age

TBC

The Evolution of Creative Industries

You’ll gain essential insights into how key advertising, media and communication principles and techniques that worked so successfully in the 20th century are equally applicable to contemporary and emerging platforms. 
 
And you’ll critically examine the impact of social and digital media on society and democracies.

Engaging Audiences

Explore the principles of consumer psychology and how it shapes online audience behaviour. 

You’ll develop a critical understanding of different psychological theories applied in real-life scenarios, and the ethical issues around engagement-driving techniques.  

You’ll also discover how technological advances like AI and machine learning are creating a more sophisticated and tailored approach for audience-focused marketing activities. 

In your second year you will start to specialise as a content creator, further developing your practical and theoretical knowledge and skills, and applying them to real-world situations. 

Modules

Building, Developing and Protecting a Brand Online

You’ll learn what it takes for brands to maintain a successful online presence – and to restore their reputation in times of crisis.

Delving deeper, you’ll explore how brands create coherent and impactful social content strategies that appeals to customers, staff and stakeholders and how they protect their intellectual property (IP). 

Livestreaming and Podcasting

You’ll examine the rise in popularity of these two content genres and what makes them so successful from an editorial, technical and entertainment perspective.

Having learnt the skills, techniques and tools, you’ll be setting up, presenting and producing engaging livestreams and podcasts, both in a studio and remotely. 

You’ll also explore how clipping and posting content from these shows can help boost their visibility and popularity across different digital channels – and how to deal with challenges like copyright and controversial comments. 

Making a Content Format

Working in a team, you'll put your editorial, production and marketing skills to the test.  

You’ll research and successfully pitch an idea for a short content series, aimed at a particular target audience.  

You’ll embrace the challenge of creating and presenting a business plan to prove its viability in a competitive and content-congested environment, before making that series and promoting it. 

Going Live

Develop the ability to produce content under pressure, whether supporting a newsroom, TV show or cultural event. 

Applying your editorial decision-making and channel selection in real time, you will hone your instincts for how content can stand out in a sea of competing media. 

Making a Career in Content Creation

You’ll hear directly from a diverse range of people who work in the content creation industry about the vast career opportunities, and what you need to do to secure a particular role. You’ll also get support from our Employability team.

Optional Modules

Running Your Own Content Creation Business

Discover the critical elements needed to launch your own business, including identifying a niche in the market, and the skills and knowledge to run it.

Screenwriting

Study the craft and creativity of writing for the screen (cinema, television, online). You will form a Script Development Team responsible for the development of individual writing projects.  

You will work individually and in a ‘Writers' Room’-style model. You will act as script editors as well as writers in order to see projects through to completion. 

Esports Event

Working in a team, you’ll plan and produce an esports event while considering wider questions surrounding audience engagement and effective working practice.  

Through this project, you’ll address the challenges of mediating a specific game to a defined audience and what makes for exciting highlights. You’ll also explore how different games naturally affect the form of the broadcast, as well as how the audience engages with both promotional and livestreamed content.

On this course, you’ll be encouraged to engage with industry. Between your second and final year of study, you have the opportunity to study a professional placement year within industry.  

Professional placement year (optional) 

You can choose to take an optional professional placement year after your second year on a three-year programme, or after your third year if you’re studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year.   

You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the Employability team.   

Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying.   

How you’ll study during your professional placement year 

You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks.   

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation. 

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth. 

Your final year is about reinforcing and deepening the skills, knowledge and experiences you have gained, preparing a portfolio with a wide range of content for potential employers.  

You’ll work collaboratively and independently in simulated work situations and on live briefs to sharpen your professional and business development skills.

Modules

Responding to Briefs as an Industry Professional

You’ll respond to a commercial brief for a business or other organisation with their digital or social media content challenges, either individually or as a team, mirroring how you would approach briefs in your future content career.

Showcase

Produce a showcase of your work that best demonstrates your capabilities, learnings and critical thinking.

Showcasing your wide range of creative, technical and editorial skills, and experiences of different formats, channels and audiences, your showcase will form the basis of your portfolio as you step into industry.

Major Project: Content Creation

Applying your research, planning and storytelling craft, you will create a long-form YouTube video or another substantial piece of content (or mini-series of short videos) on a successfully-pitched topic, and will implement your social media skills through multi-channel promotion of your work.

Optional Modules

Major Project: Brand Audit of a Digital Content Approach

Apply expert knowledge and critical thinking to investigate how a chosen brand or organisation develops and manages its digital content strategy over time.

Content Creation Business Plan

Build a detailed business and marketing plan for your own content creation business, demonstrating your market research and brand-building skills.