Everything you need to know...
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How long will I study?
6 Years
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Where will I study?
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What are the entry requirements?
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When do I start?
September 2025
Course summary
- Research, plan and produce journalistic content in audio, video and written formats.
- Use the latest recording and editing technologies to create online content.
- Develop and manage successful PR campaigns and events.
- Gain insights through connections like This Morning, Rise at Seven and Disney.
- Debate the relationship between journalism, PR, media and wider society.
Learn from industry experts in top class facilities, gaining a wide range of knowledge to help you succeed in these dynamic professions. You’ll examine key theories and issues relating to journalism and PR while working with communications professionals, journalists and influencers. You’ll learn essential practical skills relevant to these industries, the media in general and the workplace beyond.
Top 10 in the UK
This course is ranked 10th in its subject area in the Guardian University Guide 2024.
View our students' work
Find out more about the Media Arts and Communications department and view the work of some of our students.
How you learn
At Sheffield Hallam, all our courses are designed to engage you with the world and challenge you to think in new ways. You’ll get to collaborate with others, and you’ll be taught in a supportive environment where you can thrive.
On this course your studies are led by a team that includes award-winning journalism, PR and media practitioners, alongside internationally recognised theorists with experience across a range of industries. These include TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and digital expertise across a range of sectors, from health and charity to finance and politics.
We’ll draw on the creative industries in Sheffield as well as broader national and international connections. Throughout the course you’ll respond to live PR briefs and/or engage with real-life journalistic stories. The course is outward looking and engages with real-life scenarios, with a special focus on underrepresented communities.
We’ll introduce key topics and concepts through a mix of tutor-directed learning and discussions, as well as student-led exercises and tasks. You’ll engage in collaborative activities both in person and online, supported by digitally enhanced teaching.
You learn through:
- lectures
- workshops
- seminars
- essays
- practical work
- case studies
- reports
- group work
- research projects
- presentations and pitches
- portfolios
Key themes
Your course begins with the basics of journalism and PR. You’ll learn how to manage a PR campaign and how to write and broadcast as a journalist, gaining vital recording and editing skills along the way.
During your second year, you’ll build on these skills with a firm grounding in the legal and regulatory requirements of industry, while also improving your research and investigation skills. The ‘content creation’ module gives you the cutting-edge industry-based skills to create PR or journalistic-based audio, video and written material.
Your final year is about preparing you for the workplace, whether that’s a traditional office, freelancing or being your own boss. You’ll also create a final piece of detailed work in your research project, with the support of a personal tutor. Previous students have researched the health impacts of social media, the representation of women’s cricket in the media, and investigations into whether young people are still interested in politics and voting.
Course support
We’ll support you every step of the way to help you fulfil your potential and personal ambitions. This might be through working with others in small groups, or by developing your own independent learning style. As this is a practical course, we’ll assess you through coursework rather than exams.
You’ll be supported in your learning journey towards highly skilled, graduate-level employment through a number of key areas. These include:
- access to specialist services to help with your personal, academic and career development
- access to our Skills Centre with one-to-ones, webinars and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments
- industry-specific employability activities such as live projects, learning in simulated environments and networking opportunities
Applied learning
Work Placement
You’ll be encouraged and supported to undertake a full-time work placement between your second and third year of the course. This valuable experience can have a transformative impact on your personal and professional development, which you can enhance further by completing Sheffield Hallam’s Applied Professional Diploma.
Your course is designed to give you the knowledge, confidence and readiness to secure and succeed in your placement. To complement this, you’ll have access to various support activities, resources, employer events and opportunities from our careers & employability team, helping you make the most of your work experience opportunities during your degree.
Recent students have worked with a wide range of organisations, from regional newspapers to the voluntary sector. These include the BBC, Disney, the Purple PR music agency, Mattel, Douwe Egberts, Dentsu Aegis, Top Cashback, South Yorkshire Police, Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Sheffield Showroom.
Live projects
During the course you’ll have opportunities to engage in real client-based projects. Previous students have undertaken projects for festivals and events such as Sensoria and Doc/Fest, as well as local and national PR agencies and organisations.
Networking opportunities
We often invite guests from across the journalism and PR sectors to speak to our students. In previous years, our visiting speakers have lectured on topics ranging from regional and national journalism to digital and social skills, search engine optimisation, crisis management, charity, sports and music PR.
Every year we hold industry events to link you with regional and national PR experts. Graduates return to share their experiences and top tips for finding jobs, and selected students are offered a chance to be mentored by PR professionals for a year.
You’ll also have the opportunity to join our award-winning PR and Journalism Society. The society has contacts in the industry and regularly organises networking events.
Field trips
You’ll have the opportunity to attend journalism and PR events where you can meet industry experts. Previous students have visited the Berlin Film Festival and Media City, The Branding Museum in London, and CIPR conferences. You’ll also have the chance to visit PR and media agencies to get an insight into what it’s like to work for one.
You can even apply for our Go Global student initiative – which has taken our students to destinations such as Malaysia and Paris – gaining new skills and a broader cultural insight into how journalism and PR are applied internationally.
There’s also an opportunity to study abroad, with the possibility of funding through the Turing Scheme.
Teaching Quality
Sheffield Hallam University is ranked 8th amongst UK providers for journalism in the Guardian University Guide 2023 league table.
Future careers
This course prepares you for a career in:
- journalism
- music and entertainment management
- in-house and agency PR
- media relations
- digital PR
- event management
- corporate communications
- lobbying and political communications
- radio
- film and TV production
- blogging
- social media
content creation
Previous journalism and PR graduates have gone on to work in social media campaigning and environmental lobbying positions, as well as for:
- BBC World Service
- BBC local radio
- Channel 4
- Sky
- TalkSport
- Oxford University
- Diva Creative
- Edelman
- Nelson Bostock
- Liverpool FC TV
- TUI’s head office PR tea
Where will I study?
You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
City Campus
City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.
City Campus map | City Campus tour
Adsetts library
Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn moreLearn more about your department
Media, Arts and Communications Facilities Tour
Take a look around the media, arts and communication facilities at Sheffield Hallam University with lecturer Saskia Wilson.
Equipment and facilities
On this course you work with:
- our PR Hub, a custom-designed flexible teaching and learning space
- our TV studio to broadcast news bulletins and learn about production
- our radio studios to gain skills for audio broadcast
- editing software and video/audio hardware
- our Creative Media Centre’s skilled support team
Media Gallery
Entry requirements
All students
UCAS points
- 112-120
This must include at least 64 points from two A levels or equivalent BTEC National qualifications, including at least 32 points in a relevant* subject. For example:
- BBC-BBB at A Level
- DDM in BTEC Extended Diploma.
- Merit overall from a T level Qualification
- A combination of qualifications, which must include 64 points from two A levels and may include AS Levels, EPQ and general studies. Where an applicant has not taken AS Level qualifications we may make a lower offer.
* Relevant subjects are: media studies, communication studies, film studies, English, creative writing, a foreign language, sociology, politics, history, psychology, accountancy, finance, business, economics, hospitality, events management, dance, performing arts, drama, theatre studies, geography, art and design, graphic design, IT/computing, music, sciences, sport, world development.
You can find information on making sense of UCAS tariff points here and use the UCAS tariff calculator to work out your points.
GCSE
- English Language at grade C or 4
- Maths at grade C or 4
Access - an Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 15 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above, from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.
If English is not your first language you must have an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills or equivalent.
Additional information for EU/International students
This course is not open to international students who require a Tier 4 (General) student visa to study in the UK. If you are an international applicant but do not require a Tier 4 (General) student visa, email our Admissions Team to find out whether you’re eligible to apply.
Modules
Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.
Year 1
Compulsory modules
Introduction To Pr
Making Media
Media Law And Democracy
Year 2
Compulsory modules
Digital Skills And Client Management
History Of Communication
Pr And Persuasion
Year 3
Compulsory modules
Brand Management And Entrepreneurship
Reputations, Issues And Crisis Management
Researching And Reporting
Year 4
Compulsory modules
Research Skills
Elective modules
Celebrity Culture
Digital Communications In Practice
Feature Writing
Foreign Language (French, Spanish, Italian)
Global Communications Strategy And Critique
Life And Style Journalism
Radio And Sound Production
Tv And Video News Skills
Year 5
Compulsory modules
Contemporary And Professional Issues In Public Relations
Pr Specialisms
Elective modules
Corporate Communications: Strategy And Critique
Foreign Language (French, Spanish, Italian)
Magazine Publishing
Pr And Power
Final year
Compulsory modules
Dissertation/Applied Project
Elective modules
Foreign Language (French, Spanish, Italian)
Magazine Creation
Magazine Publishing
Moral Panics
Tv2: Tv Journalism And Production
Fees and funding
Financial support for home/EU students
How tuition fees work, student loans and other financial support available.
Additional course costs
The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
General course additional costs
Additional costs for Sheffield Creative Industries Institute (PDF, 153.7KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.
