BA Cultural and Media Studies
About this course
BA in Cultural and Media Studies, a cultural studies and media studies degree focused on the examination of media, arts, and societal structures. Core topics include Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning and Social & Cultural Analysis. Students may choose to undertake an optional placement year or spend a year abroad. The first year covers foundational ideas through compulsory modules such as Introduction to Cultural Analysis I, Networks, Environments and Cultures, Introduction to Cultural Analysis II, Cultural History, and Studying Media, alongside options like Race Matters. The second year progresses with compulsory studies in Keywords, Advanced Cultural Analysis, Visual Communication, and Digital Cultures, while offering optional modules such as Thinking the Culture Wars and Journalism. The final year allows students to explore advanced themes through various optional topics including Documentary, Audience studies, and Politics and Cultures of artificial intelligence.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
A level: ABB EPQ: BBB plus grade A in the EPQ BTEC: DDM IB: 34 points overall including 16 at Higher Level with 4 in English
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What students say
Based on about 16 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 95%
- Learning opportunities: 88%
- Assessment and feedback: 92%
- Academic support: 92%
- Organisation and management: 95%
- Learning resources: 94%
- Student voice: 93%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 65 students who started
- Continued on course: 92%
- Left higher education: 8%
What graduates do next
Based on about 40 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 85%
- Working and studying: 5%
- Further study: 4%
- Unemployed: 4%
Most common jobs
- Business and public service associate professionals: 40%
- Media Professionals: 12%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 8%
- Administrative occupations: 7%
- Elementary occupations: 6%
- Find their work meaningful: 70%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 65%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 55%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 145 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 3%
- North West: 12%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 27%
- East Midlands: 6%
- West Midlands: 5%
- East of England: 8%
- London: 30%
- South East: 3%
- South West: 4%
- Scotland: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 50 students who started
- A levels: 95%
- Other HE qualification: 5%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Bronze for student experience, Silver for student outcomes.
Modules
- Industrialisation, revolution and globalisation
- War and Colonisation
- Cultural and political movements
- Networks, algorithms, and artificial intelligence
- Introduction to Cultural Analysis I
- Networks, Environments and Cultures
- Introduction to Cultural Analysis II
- Cultural History
- Studying Media
- Race Matters
- The History of Communication
- Introduction to Media and Communication Theory
- Visual culture in Asia
- Cinema and culture
- The politics of utopia
- Gender and issues of the (augmented) body
- Semiotics
- Power and social justice
- Journalism
- Employability and career preparation
- Keywords
- Advanced Cultural Analysis
- Visual Communication
- Digital Cultures
- Thinking the Culture Wars
- Absence, Representation, Violence
- Cinema/Post-Cinema
- Essaying Feminisms
- The State of Utopia
- Seeing in Asia
- Image, Music, Text: Reading Roland Barthes
- Bodies of Difference: Gender, Power and the Visual Arts
- Cultural and postcolonial theory
- Sexual difference, feminisms, and fasculinities
- Posthumanism
- Representation of migration and diaspora
- Documentary
- Audience studies
- Politics and Cultures of artificial intelligence
- Deconstruction Reading Politics
- Postcolonial Feminisms
- Humanity, Animality and Globality
- The Cultural Politics of Artificial Intelligence
- Cultural Diversity in Museum and Material Culture - Case Study
- Reading Sexual Difference
- Movies, Migrants and Diasporas
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA Cultural and Media Studies at University of Leeds earn?
The median salary is £28,000 after 15 months, £25,000 after 3 years, £30,500 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £25,000 and £40,000.
What do graduates of BA Cultural and Media Studies at University of Leeds do next?
94% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA Cultural and Media Studies at University of Leeds?
95% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA Cultural and Media Studies at University of Leeds?
The typical offer is ABB at A level, or 34 points in the IB. The average entrant had 135 UCAS points.
Does BA Cultural and Media Studies at University of Leeds include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on BA Cultural and Media Studies at University of Leeds?
92% of students continued into their second year, and 8% left higher education.