BA (Hons) Communication, PR and Advertising degree • City St George's, University of London

Name: Communication, PR and Advertising BA (Hons)
Price: 9535 GBP

This course is for 2025/26 entry. Details for 2026/27 entry are also available.

Key information

This unique course combines cutting-edge theory with the commercial knowledge and practical skills necessary to communicate effectively and persuade and influence consumers and audiences. This degree will help you gain a foothold in the exciting worlds of public relations, advertising and an array of related fields.

Start date

September 2025

UCAS code

P4N5

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years with placement or study abroad year

Institution

City St George's, University of London

Location

Clerkenwell campus

Entry requirements

Below is a list of countries with information on each about which qualifications we accept. If your country is not listed please email international@city.ac.uk.

English language requirements

If your first language is not English, we will require evidence of English language proficiency. Minimum requirements are:

IELTS:

6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component

Cambridge ESOL: CPE grade C or above
PTE Academic: 59 overall with a minimum of 59 in each component.

English language programmes

Don’t meet the English language requirements? INTO City, University of London offers English language programmes to help prepare you for study at university. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for entry to degree courses.

Apply now

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Prospectus

Communication, PR and Advertising BA (Hons) degree Course overview

If you are interested in a career in PR, advertising or any of the many professions that require precise and targeted communication, this could be the right course for you.

This course will teach you how to compose effective communication and understand how businesses and other organisations seek to influence and persuade consumers and audiences using media technologies.

You will learn the vital roles of communication in a global digital society and continually evolving industry. You will examine effective messaging and apply this knowledge to your own practical work. You will take modules in strategic business elements of communication: from public relations, media regulation and marketing communications to political or health communication, copywriting, corporate blogging, creative advertising and user analytics.

You will learn key practical and transferable skills necessary for employment in business and the creative industries and also examine the intersections of communication and media forms, both practically and commercially.

The assessments and creative work you produce throughout the program will become part of your portfolio upon graduation. This portfolio will enhance your employability and also offer a strong foundation for postgraduate study.

Learn how to communicate professionally for a variety of audiences and platforms: from advertising and public relations to social media marketing
Understand commercial communications operations, challenges and environments
Take advantage of excellent internship opportunities thanks to our central London location.

Accreditation

Chartered Institute of Marketing

Our programme is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Level 6. A CIM qualification at Level 6 develops your strategic marketing skills enabling you to progress your marketing career and perform professionally at a management level.

The Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM)

This course is accredited by The Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM). The IDM has over 30 years of experience helping marketers reach the next level in their careers by offering a portfolio of qualifications and training courses, all informed by industry and underpinned by core principles and best practice. Students taking an IDM-accredited course are eligible to sit a 2-hour online assessment to achieve the IDM Certificate in Digital and Data-Driven Marketing.

Structure

Course content

In the first year, you will study a broad range of modules from across Media and Communications. This combines practical modules with theory to provide you with a solid grounding before you concentrate more deeply on your chosen focus and electives in your second and third years.

In the second and third years, core modules acquaint you with key communication disciplines, such as Public Relations, Advertising, Social Media Marketing, in order to gain critical knowledge for understanding communication forms and distribution channels, how to reach and influence publics and how media and communication industries operate. Practical modules instruct you in how to design strategic communication plans, through compelling campaigns, make creative media (including digital / visual works, such as adverts, short films, podcasts) and effective communication, for example how to make stylistic decisions based on a client’s brief or an organisation’s strategic goals.

The third year places greater emphasis on your career interests and specialist application. The final year project allows you to create an individual project relating to your interests. Alongside this, you can specialise your studies through electives.’

Through all core modules you will develop the Graduate Attributes, five core skillsets that will help you launch a successful, fulfilling career. Find out more about the Graduate Attributes.

Year 1
Year 2
Year 3

Year 1

Understanding Media and Communication (15 credits)

This module develops your understanding in the impact of different media and communication forms, from radio, television, advertising and political speeches to streaming, podcasts, social media and user-generated blogs. You will learn key concepts that you will use later on in your studies.
Researching Media and Communication (15 credits)

This module introduces you to key sources and means of researching and analysing media and communication in an applied context. You will learn how to analyse written and visual communication, using methods such as Critical Discourse Analysis. You will also receive an introduction to some applied methods in social research, such as social listening, surveys and/or interviews.
Working with Words (15 credits)

This module will provide an introduction to the academic and employability skills you will need for success on your degree course and in your subsequent professional career. It aims to help you to develop you as an individual through lecture, discussion and practical exercises.
Creativity and Social Justice (15 credits)

This module introduces you to key ways in which people working in the creative industries engage with social justice and questions of equality, diversity and inclusion in our global society. Using case studies that may include literature, film, media, music, theatre, fashion and other cultural forms, you will learn key concepts and frameworks to discuss different inequalities.
Media and Communication Audiences (15 credits)

This module examines how key theorists and businesses conceive of and address media and communication audiences. You will consider how audiences have been conceived as users, consumers, fans, passive victims and even producers in the digital age.
Introduction to Marketing and Advertising (15 credits)

This module introduces you to the key principles of marketing, with special attention paid to the needs and goals of students in media, culture and creative industries. You will acquire knowledge of concepts such as branding, targeting, positioning, pricing and segmentation. You will learn the fundamentals of how to conduct basic market research and develop marketing plans.
Digital Content Creation (30 credits)

Develop your skills to create engaging and innovative digital content. You will explore a wide range of content creation activities and tools alongside contextual case studies. You will learn how to master and innovate the ‘rules’ of media genres, communicating effectively with style, and apply your knowledge across a number of practical exercises.

Year 2

Public Relations* (15 credits)

This module introduces you to Public Relations and aims to highlight the importance of the planning process in PR. You will learn how to think strategically and how to act creatively. Innovative approaches on diversity and inclusivity in the process of planning and their applications to PR campaigns will be introduced during the module.
Working and Managing in the Creative Industries* (15 credits)

This module helps you become more employable by critically investigating the world of work in the contemporary media and creative industries. It aims to demystify creative careers and inform you about the pleasures, issues and challenges that characterise modern, knowledge-based labour.
Digital Distribution and Platforms* (15 credits)

This module aims to illuminate perhaps the most vital ‘hidden’ institution, distribution, which is much more than a neutral ‘pipeline’ for delivering media to audiences. You will examine a range of cases studies around the traditional role of distribution in the film and television industries and how media consolidation and the rise of new media tech have created a consolidation and ‘platformisation’ of distribution in the streaming era.
Media Economics and Regulation* (15 credits)

This module introduces you to the economic characteristics and regulatory frameworks of media markets. This includes market monopolies, network effects, content classification and censorship amongst other aspects that will be investigated in the context of media and communication industries.
Advertising and Consumer Culture* (15 credits)

This module aims to help you think critically about the purposes and forms of advertising within consumer culture and human beings’ media repertoires. It also allows you to practice making adverts as a way to apply these insights.
Strategic and Marketing Communication* (15 credits)

This module aims to provide you with a clear understanding of integrated marketing communication, from marketing analysis and planning, to marketing specifics of communicating a brand through different media and engaging with various consumers.
Media, Theory and Society (15 credits)

This module familiarises you with the key theories in media studies and their relevance for today’s contemporary communication landscape. It also introduces you into the application of social and media theory to communication practice through issues of mediation, power and discourses and into the representational work of the media, with reference to meaning, linguistics, ideology and discourse.
Writing for Media and Communication (15 credits)

This practical module develops your skills in writing effectively and targeted to your audience across a range of media and communication formats, from taglines, press releases and short advertising copy to corporate websites and promotional blogs. The formats of writing will differ from year to year, but at stake in the case studies you examine and the creative techniques you practice, will be deploying, with precision, styles of writing that are targeted to a specific format and the appropriate audience.
Podcasting (15 credits)

This module enables you to plan, develop and produce a high-quality podcast, working in groups. You will learn about podcasts relate to other audio/visual media (such as radio) and gain an understanding of the critical and practical approaches and processes that apply to this medium.
Digital Storytelling (15 credits)

This module helps you understand the narrative and stylistic formats, trends and genres you need to know to be able to craft effective stories for a wide range of audiences in the digital age.
Micro-placements (15 credits)

The module seeks to enhance career exploration and will provide you with professional level experience in the form of a self-contained project with one of City’s external employer partners.

Year 3

Final Year Project* (45 credits)

This module provides you with the opportunity to utilise the knowledge, analytical and/or practical skills you acquired on the course in relation your own independent creative project or applied research project in media production, media and communication, business communication, public relations or advertising.
Freelancing and Entrepreneurialism in Culture and Creative Industries* (15 credits)

This module seeks to provide the practical skills, reflective tools and critical insights required to build a freelance entrepreneurial career in the creative industries. You will develop specialised enterprising knowledge and critical understanding of business opportunities within the cultural and creative industries.
Creative Advertising* (15 credits)

This practical module further develops your creative advertising design skills as well as your strategic abilities to conceptualise and sustain a larger marketing campaign. You will respond to a brief and develop your skills in idea generation, creative proposal, pitching and public presentation, design, groupwork, communicating with clients and executing a creative project from start to finish.
Specialist Public Relations* (15 credits)

This module provides an opportunity for you to engage directly with the practice of public relations in the workplace, or in a wider work-related context. You are encouraged to put theory into practice by utilising the knowledge and skills you have developed on the course to date in a simulated work-based setting.
Social Media Marketing* (15 credits)

This module acquaints students with more advanced knowledge, strategies and applications of social media and wider digital marketing and management. It explores digital channels and technologies to support overall marketing strategies and campaigns. It places special emphasis on designing digital solutions and campaigns for creative media marketing.
Analytics and User Experience (15 credits)

This module introduces the art and science of examining data to support media makers and organisations in their decision making. It covers key tools that companies and entrepreneurs deploy to understand their audiences’ engagement and (re)acquaints you with the statistical principles you need to apply to describe, understand and interpret data.
Stardom and Influencer Culture (15 credits)

This module examines historical concepts of ‘stardom’ and ‘celebrity’, as they originally applied to the Hollywood ‘star system’ and other media industries. It continues to delve into more contemporary examples and concepts of human publicity and attention-seeking such as lifestyle branding and influencers as media personalities and marketing vehicles. Special emphasis is paid to the role of media and communication technologies in creating and sustaining stars, celebrities and influencers.
Fashion and Lifestyle Journalism (15 credits)

This module gives you an introduction to writing about fashion and lifestyle, from news, magazine features and business to blogs and e-commerce websites. You will learn where to find stories, how to make sense of trends, how to ask relevant questions and how to make the subject accessible to a wider, general audience.
Media Law (15 credits)

This module helps you to understand the legal requirements with which a media and communication specialist works on a constant basis. You will develop an informed understanding of UK law and how it affects journalists.
Micro-Placement (15 credits)

The module seeks to enhance career exploration and will provide you with professional level experience in the form of a self-contained project with one of City’s external employer partners.
Industry Project (15 credits)

Using knowledge and skills gained through your degree, you will work in small multi-disciplinary groups on real-life professional level practical projects for employers, choosing between 5 sector streams, such as policy, finance, community, business and arts and culture.

Download course specification:

MCUMEC - BA Media & Communications (Suite)

Study abroad

We have partnerships with many international institutions and you will have the opportunity to spend your third year studying abroad.

We have strong links with Universities such as:

Asia

Seoul National University
RMIT (Vietnam)

Australia

Curtin University
University of Queensland
Queensland University of Technology
RMIT Melbourne
University of Technology, Sydney

North America

University of British Columbia
Concordia University
Northeastern University
Toronto Metropolitan University

Europe

Danish School of Media and Journalism
HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht
Koç University.

Teaching and assessment

Your modules will be delivered using a combination of:

Lectures
Practical workshops: here you will hone your skills in areas such as copywriting, press releases, corporate blogging, camerawork, social media content, posters, social media reels etc.
Interactive sessions
Small seminars
Personal tutorials

Lectures will provide you with commentary and explanation of key content areas.

Most modules also offer small seminars and workshops, where you can develop your understanding of key texts and ideas through discussion and debate as well as hone your practical and professional skills.

This versatility of approach will not only facilitate discussion but allow you to generate your own content, with different audiences, forms and functions in mind.

Assessment methods

The programme assesses your knowledge of key concepts and creative practice via a mix of coursework assignments as well as individual and group assignments.

In advertising and other creative projects, you will develop your skills in providing and receiving peer review. Individual and group project reports and presentations will assess both creative and professional content and your presentation skills.

Fees and funding

Fees for year 2025/26

Home/UK

£9,535

International

£19,300

City's undergraduate fee for UK students joining us in 2025/26 is £9,535 for the first year of study, in line with the Government’s announcement on the fee cap increase (subject to the passing of secondary legislation). The fee for each subsequent year of study may also increase in line with government policy and we will confirm any such increase with you directly as and when the fee is confirmed.

Funding options

Explore up-to-date information about funding options, available financial support and typical living costs.

Fee waivers are available for this course.
Means tested support is available for 2025/26 entry.

20% off your study

We are offering a Graduate Loyalty Discount of 20% on tuition fees to all our alumni when applying to any of our degree courses.

To be eligible for the discount you must have successfully completed an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at legacy City, University of London or legacy St George's, University of London.

To apply you will need to be accepted onto your intended course of study and to meet all the normal academic admissions criteria for the relevant course at City St George's, University of London.

Additional expenses

Some of our degrees may involve additional expenses which are not covered by your tuition fees. Find out more about additional expenses.

Career

Upon graduation, students can enter a broad range of roles including:

Communications officer
Marketing and advertising
Public relations specialist
Social and digital media manager
Events planning
Writing and publishing roles
Internal communication
Broadcast and news media
Market researcher
Research (incl. think tanks, NGOs, government)
Politics, community organising, fundraising
Sales roles

Internships

You are encouraged to take advantage of the excellent internship opportunities that City's central London location provides.

Students have secured placements with a diversity of organisations, large and small, international and local.

How to apply

Applications for degree courses must be made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

Apply now

You can apply through your school or college using the Apply system, which enables you to submit your application directly to the UCAS website.

You can apply to up to five universities or institutions on the form. The UCAS code for City, University of London is C60.

Please take care to enter the correct course code when applying, particularly for subjects with a Foundation year or with BEng (Hons) and MEng (Hons) or BSc (Hons) and MSci (Hons) options.

UCAS has implemented an 'invisibility of choices' policy so that, on the initial application and while you are receiving decisions, each institution can see only their entry and not those of other institutions you have chosen. This ensures that your application for a course at City is considered solely on your academic and personal qualities.

There is an application fee for some students when submitting their application form, please see the UCAS website for more details.

For enquiries about the admissions process at City, please contact our Admissions Office

Complete the Admissions enquiry form

Call: +44 (0)20 7040 8716.

If your enquiry is about admission to a particular course, please use the contact details provided on the course page.

When to apply

Your application for entry in September 2025 should arrive at UCAS between September 2024 and 31 January 2025. Applications that arrive after 31 January 2025 will be considered only at City's discretion.

Contacting UCAS

Website: www.ucas.com

Address: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), Rosehill, New Barn Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 3LZ

Telephone:

from inside the UK 0871 468 0468
from outside the UK +44 (0)871 468 0468

For callers with hearing difficulties:

from inside the UK use the Text Relay service on 18001 0871 468 0468
from outside the UK dial +44 151 494 1260 (text phone) and then ask the operator to dial 0871 468 0468.

Facilities

World class facilities in the School of Communication and Creativity.

Journalism, media and communications facilities tour at City St George's. 3 minutes

Our students

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Find out what attracted Shruti to study Media and Communications at City. 2 minutes

Hear from Yurii and his experience on the Communication, PR and Advertising BA. 2 minutes

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Academics

Your studies are supported by a team of committed and enthusiastic teachers and researchers, experts in their chosen field. On occasion we also work with external professionals to enhance your learning and appreciation of the wider subject.