Media
About us
Our courses are taught by internationally renowned academics and expert professional practitioners who have made an impact in the world of film, television, writing and reporting, We have superb industry connections, from top news organisations to film production companies.
Our students have had work placements at newspapers such as the Daily Mail and The Times, while others have had the chance to work at Pride magazine, Time Warner, The Voice and the Financial Times, as well as television, postproduction and PR agencies.
Our courses
We offer a broad range of undergraduate and postgraduate media degrees.
Fuel your creativity in advertising at the UEL. Explore dynamic courses in digital advertising, earn your degree, and master the art of creative advertising.
Bring imagination to life with an Animation degree at the University of East London. Unlock creativity and skills for a vibrant career in the world of animation.
Work towards specialism within the 3D game art field by learning about 3D modelling fundamentals; choose your speciality from our optional modules.
Excel in game programming at the University of East London. Specialised courses, internships, and a degree for game programming careers. Start your journey now!
Reach your potential in game design at the University of East London. Explore our cutting-edge game design course and become a sought-after game designer. Enrol now!
Unleash your cinematic passion with a Film degree at the University of East London. Dive into BA Film Studies and explore diverse courses on your creative journey.
Unlock top-notch journalism careers at UEL. Explore our renowned journalism courses in London, your gateway to success in the journalism field.
BA (Hons) Media and Communication
Shape your future in media and communications with a degree at the University of East London. Explore top-notch courses for dynamic careers in media and communication.
Shape your future with a BA Hons in media production at the University of East London. Explore secure media production jobs and excel in digital media.
Immerse yourself in the world of music journalism at the UEL. Elevate your career with specialised courses in music journalism. Unleash your rhythm!
Elevate your online presence with a Social Media degree at the University of East London. Cultivate skills for a career in the evolving world of social media.
Chart your path to sports journalism success at UEL. Earn your sports journalism degree, and secure sports journalism jobs with our specialised programme.
Master the art of filmmaking at the University of East London. Elevate your skills with our specialised master's programme in filmmaking.
MA Media and Communication Industries
Explore media and marketing communications industries from political-economic aspects to the creation of media practitioners and users.
Our dynamic, multi-disciplinary MA Creative Enterprise course has been tailored for individuals looking to apply their creative specialism within a freelance environment or start their own business
Master the art of storytelling with data. Explore a Data Journalism degree at the University of East London for a career at the intersection of data and journalism.
Elevate your sports journalism career with a Global Sports Journalism degree at the University of East London. Unleash your passion for sport in a global context.
Why choose us?
Take advantage of our excellent opportunities for placements and work experience and make the best of our close links with major companies such as the BBC.
Join the long list of our media students who have gone on to make an impact in the world of media and screen, like journalism graduate Sam Wostear, who works for Britain's best-selling daily newspaper The Sun.
Learn from leading figures in the creative industries, from film makers to media executives, supported by exceptional facilities such as our moving image studio and Emotion UX Lab.
What we're researching
92% of UEL's overall research was recognised as world-leading, internationally excellent or internationally recognised in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework - the last national evaluation of higher education research, which takes place every seven years.
Cultural Engines Research Group (CERG)
Among our highly respected researchers is Dr Andrew Branch, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication who, together with Mr Giles Tofield (The Cultural Engine) and Dr Tony Sampson, Reader in Critical Marketing at Essex University, founded the successful Cultural Engine Research Group.
Through community-focused outreach events, they have brought different sectors together to bring about change and address local issues such as regeneration and local community wealth building, food cultures, heritage and youth safety.
Our Moving Image Studio
Our flagship Moving Image Studio is a platform for developing, presenting and discussing the work of UK-based artists, film-makers, scholars and organisations working with the moving image.
Through research funded by the British Academy, Professor Valentina Vitali, Director of the Moving Image Studio, has published one of the first academic publications to document the Hindi film industry, a hitherto neglected area of film scholarship.
Our staff
Find out more about our staff by visiting our School of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI) page.
Career coach
Our online Career Coach shows you the different career paths that your chosen subject area can lead you to.
It gives you information on specific careers, job roles, potential wages and available jobs in the sector.
You can also take a quick quiz to find a career to match your personality type!
Film for the people with Dr Alexander Thomas
Hear from BA Media Production Course Leader and Film Lecturer, Dr Alexander Thomas, on studying media at the University of East London.
I don't think I've ever been made to feel more welcome. Being surrounded by people who are friendly, social, and share your interests has to be one of the best things I can say about my university experience."
Ben Nizan
BA (Hons) Computer Games Design graduate
Our facilities
Take advantage of UEL's enviable facilities, such as film, video and games production studios, Mac labs and edit suites. You'll be given a complete grounding in your specialist areas thanks to our on-site production resources that give you excellent exposure to the equipment that will be part of your day-to-day life once you start your career.
In addition to the three campus libraries open 24/7, with over 1500 networked PCs and free wi-fi internet access, our students also have access to the following:
- Digital Output Lab (DOL) - enabling you to scan, proof and finalise your work for output onto DVD or a range of printers up to A0 format
- PC and Mac Labs - which allow dual platform computing with structured training sessions alongside individual research, scanning and printing
- Immersive Environment - which allows students to explore adaptable computer controlled and monitored spaces.
The Equipment Store facilitates the booking of rooms and facilities as well as hiring of equipment for ACI students and staff free of charge. Students can hire advanced video equipment (camcorders, tripods, lighting kits, steady cams, rifle microphones and SQN mixers), photographic equipment (DSLR cameras, full-frame film cameras, tripods, lighting kits and a variety of lenses), music equipment (PA kits, guitar and bass amplifiers, electric and acoustic guitars, basses, professional microphones, advanced synthesizers). For games, students can hire gaming laptops, usability equipment, heart rate monitors, eye tracking hardware and cameras.
AV edit suites
Eleven AV Edit Suites are set up for video editing. The Suites can accommodate between three to six users. They are all similarly kitted out with an 8-core MacPro computer running the same suite of software as the Mac Labs, however they are supplemented by a full complement of professional AV hardware: M-Audio ProjectMix I/O - 8 channel audio interface and control surface, Native Instruments Maschine 1.8, Rode NT1-A large-diaphragm condenser microphone with pop-filter, Tascam CDRW750/900SL CD recorder deck, Tascam MD-350 MiniDisc recorder deck, active monitors, Novation Impulse 25 USB/MIDI controller keyboard and a DV tape deck - Playback for DVCAM and DV formats or a HDV tape deck - Playback for HDV, DVCAM and DV formats.
Game Studios
Our game studios are used by our students across all years and are equipped with the latest games industry standard software, allowing our students to learn within a simulated studio environment. Our students have access to software such as:
- Visual Studio
- Unity
- Unreal
- Autodesk - 3D Studio Max, Mudbox
- Adobe Creative Suite - Photoshop
- Final Draft
- Twine
This software is running on powerful gaming machines with RTX graphic cards thus allowing our students to go from rapid prototyping to fully polished games. The space is also equipped with dual monitors. Within this space we also facilitate analogue gaming, we have a wide range of board games that allow our students to explore different design approaches that could be applied to their digital games.
Radio studio
In the West Building in the Docklands Campus, MPS has a modern Radio Studio with a separate talks room. The control room is fully equipped with: Soniflex S2 Broadcast Desk fully loaded with PPM metering and Telephone Hybrid, Cortex Dual MP3 Player with Play List editor, Twin CD Players, 2 Tascam Mini Disc Player/Recorders, 1 Presenters position Microphone and 4 Guest position with Talkback in the talks area, Monitoring by Tannoy Reveal and Apple iMac for programme streaming.
Recording studios
In addition to the studios below, students also enjoy access to seven practice rooms and an equipment store with a large array of musical instruments and recording equipment for hire.
The spacious Live Rooms contain a Boston GP-218 concert grand piano, Yamaha Motif 8 synthesiser workstation, Yamaha Stage Custom drum kit and various percussion instruments. Control Room A is kitted out with Apple Mac Pro with Logic Studio 2, Avid Pro Tools 10, Ableton Suite 8 and Waves Diamond plugins, Native Instruments Maschine 1.8, Novation Impulse 25 USB/MIDI keyboard controller, Euphonix MC Mix and MC Control v2 control surfaces giving a total of 12 available faders, 2 x Focusrite Octopre MkII 8 channel microphone preamplifiers with a total of 16 mic/line inputs, MOTU 2408 MK3 24 channel digital audio interface and PMC TB2 transmission-line monitor loudspeakers.
Control Room B houses our advanced Pro Tools Suite: Apple Mac Pro with Avid Pro Tools|HDX 10, Logic Studio 2, Ableton Suite 8 and Waves Diamond Plugins, Native Instruments Machine 1.8, Novation Impulse 25 USB/MIDI keyboard controller, Avid HD I/O audio interface, Avid C|24 24 fader control surface with 16 microphone pre-amplifiers, Universal Audio 6176 valve channel strip (microphone pre-amplifier, EQ and compressor/limiter) and Genelec 8040A active monitor loudspeakers.
Multi-purpose studios
The School of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI) Dance, Music and Theatre facilities are located in the University Square Stratford building. The multi-purpose studios have fully sprung professional grade dance floors, mirrors, ballet bars and high quality lighting, HD video and sound infrastructure. These two spaces are dedicated to teaching Dance and Movement performance as well as being spaces for professional performance production. All of our studios are available for rehearsal use by our student body outside of lectures as well as on our graduate rehearsal support programme.
Black Box Studio
The Black Box studio is a professional theatre production space. Equipped beyond industry standards with high quality lighting, sound and HD video infrastructure. The Black Box studio is acoustically treated and has a fully sprung dance floor. This is a space designed for full technical, performance and teaching flexibility, devoted to producing high quality performance work.
The Writing Centre is a place for ACI students to work on their academic writing and improve their study skills. Our experienced staff are trained to help you at every stage of the writing process, from finding a topic to drafting an essay or dissertation to making final revisions. We want to help you become the best writer you can be. Hundreds of students visit us every year for free and confidential one-to-one sessions.
We can help you:
- Plan and structure an essay or dissertation
- Improve your editing and proofreading skills
- Practise using correct punctuation and grammar
- Organise your ideas
- Improve your note taking and critical thinking strategies
- Discover your own unique writing style
Fashion and textiles
These workshops provide materials and facilities for textile printing and pressing, including an exposure unit and a transfer press. There are workshops for pattern cutting, machining, and fabricating garments. There is a textile print workshop with large screen tables for fabric printing. Fabric can also be printed using the large format digital printer in the Fabric Print and Design Bureau. Machine workrooms provide a full machining workshop, producing garments with a variety of construction techniques.
Photography, film and video
We provide developing and printing facilities for 35mm and medium format processes. There is a photographic darkroom with enlargers and facilities for developing and printing black and white photos. There are several printers for printing digital images, as well as the large scale facility afforded by the Fabric Print and Design Bureau. There are cameras and projectors for 35mm and digital work, as well as for 16mm film. Unusually at UEL we have a 16mm processor and printer, allowing students to process their work on site. There are full and extensive facilities for digital video work within the school.
Printmaking
The Printmaking workshop provides facilities for traditional printing and etching including acid processes, exposure units, hot plates, lithography presses, block printing and screen printing. There is an extensive studio for traditional forms of printmaking including silkscreen, etching, relief printing and lithography. There is also a workshop for printing textiles, which has large screen beds for printing fabric. The Fabric Print and Design Bureau offer opportunities for printing digital or photographic images onto paper and fabrics on a large scale.
Sculpture and woodwork
The Sculpture and Woodwork workshops provide a range of professional and hand tools including bench saws, pillar drills, sanding wheels and band saws. There is a woodwork shop with facilities for making stretchers for paintings as well as other woodworking jobs.
There is a well equipped sculpture workshop which allows the use of all common sculptural processes with facilities for working in plaster, clay, wax, steel and wood providing mixing and working areas for plaster and clay work.
Metal working facilities including welding, cutting, bending and casting. We also maintain a bronze casting foundry and a kiln for firing clay.
Careers
Media and journalism are, of course, competitive worlds to enter. You'll have a head start at UEL, thanks to teachers with exceptional contacts who know exactly what newspapers, radio stations and other media outlets are looking for. They will support you with activities such as skills workshops and industry visits that focus on entrepreneurship and employability.
Our students have gone on to jobs in television, film, journalism, publishing, advertising and public relations as well as careers in game design and production. The skills and knowledge we build have enabled some students to become successful freelancers or set up their own businesses.
One of our media graduates went on to become an editor of The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper. Another of our alumni became the editor of The Irish Post within three years of graduating. Other graduates have gone on to pursue work at ITN, and to write for major TV soap operas - including EastEnders. Others have chosen to continue their studies, taking an MA in Filmmaking or a PhD in Games Design.
At UEL, you'll have access to:
- Employability skills training such as interview techniques and CV writing.
- Career Assessment, giving you the opportunity to learn about yourself and Career Coach will help you to discover career suggestions based on your interests.
- UEL Skills Academy, where external professionals deliver sessions on the competencies most prized by graduate employers.
- Internships, placements and volunteering opportunities from our work placements team.
- Professional mentoring scheme, matching students with staff from major companies.
- Networking opportunities and annual careers fair.
- Support with setting up your own business.
Our location in one of Europe's largest regeneration areas and our extensive links to local employers will also give you access to fantastic internships and placements. From heavy industry to high-tech, health and social care to the arts, there are so many opportunities right on our doorstep.
Work placements
We always keep your future career in mind. We're affiliated with the Association of Illustrators and the Associations of Photographers, while our photography department also has industry links with Ilford, Canon, Calumet, Metro and Manfrotto.
You can follow our media students who have gone on to succeed in the arts world in diverse roles such as choreographers, actors, dancers, composers, sound artists, songwriters, arts education officers, event organisers, teachers and community artists.
Current partner links
is working to change the face of the creative industries with the single purpose of providing young BAME people with paid training opportunities in creative companies and supporting them in full-time employment.
Brolly Productions
As a BAME-led company, we aim to engage new and diverse audiences; especially among those who may not have attended an arts event before. We believe that both the stage and the company should reflect the diversity of our audience.
Blue Skies
Blue Sky Actors is Stratford Circus Art Centre's resident theatre company for actors with learning disabilities and difficulties.
Speech Bubbles: London Bubble
Supporting children to develop communication, confidence and wellbeing
Clean Break
A women's theatre company changing lives and changing minds - on stage, in prison and in the community.
School 21
We are a new, state-funded, mixed, 4 to 18 school set up to prepare all our children for success in the 21st century.
Haringey Shed
Haringey Shed is an inclusive theatre and performing arts company for children and young people. We provide a range of term-time after-school activities and holiday programmes as well as outreach work in the community, working in local schools, nurseries and community centres.
Hackney Children's Theatre
Hackney Children's Theatre is East London's newest project presenting theatre for children.
Tricycle Theatre
The Tricycle views the world through a variety of lenses, bringing unheard voices into the mainstream. It presents high-quality and innovative work, which provokes debate and emotionally engages. Located in Brent, the most diverse borough in London, the Tricycle is a local venue with an international vision.
LADA (Live Arts Dev Agency)
Established in 1999, the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) is the world's leading organisation for live art, producing specialised projects, opportunities, resources and publications for those who make, watch, research, study, teach, produce, present, write about and archive live art, and creating conditions in which diversity, innovation and risk in contemporary culture can thrive.
LIFT
Since 1981 LIFT has been pioneering new forms of theatre, presenting spectacular performances and moments of magic in every corner of the capital. A year-round programme culminates in the world-renowned biennial festival that transforms the city into a stage.
Bobby Baker & Daily Life Ltd.
Daily Life Ltd creates powerful art that changes the way people think about mental health.
Lewisham Youth Theatre
Lewisham Youth Theatre delivers participatory drama and performance projects with young people aged 3-24 who live or learn in Lewisham, with the aim that everyone who takes part will gain increased wellbeing and life chances. We believe that participation in theatre leads to the development and empowerment of young people. We commit to ensuring that this opportunity is available to all young people in Lewisham and that no one should be excluded because of economic or social background.
Access All Areas
Award-winning, urban, disruptive performance by artists with learning disabilities and/or autism
Half Moon Young People's Theatre
Celebrating the very best of children's theatre and work for young audiences at our Limehouse venue.
Croydonites Festival of New Theatre
Croydonites is a festival of contemporary theatre and performance from artists based in Croydon and around the UK.
Boundless Theatre
Boundless Theatre Company is a designer-led organisation that believes that theatre needs to be inquisitive and innovative. We represent the diversity of our community by collaborating with multi-ethnic and multilingual artists from all over the world. We are committed to creating productions of new and existing work that pushes the boundaries of cultural conception by reinventing stories and by the creation of imaginative, visually mesmerising theatre.
Magic Me
Magic Me is an arts charity that brings the generations together to build a stronger, safer community. Our projects often link unlikely partners. Young people aged 8+ and adults aged 60+ team up through shared, creative activity. Intergenerational groups meet on a weekly basis in schools, museums, older people's clubs, care homes, and community and cultural organisations. Projects are led by our team of freelance creative artists: musicians, dancers, photographers, printmakers, writers and drama specialists. They design activities to stimulate conversation and an exchange of ideas. Participants are often diverse in culture and faith as well as age groups.
M-Set
Our multi-sensory process of working creatively should be of value in itself. Using a full range of technical resources including lighting, sound and special effects the children will be encouraged to get involved with all aspects of the workshop. They will touch, move, listen, play and create, gradually converting their workspace into an imaginary environment.
The Challenge
We design and deliver programmes that bring different people together to develop their confidence and skills in understanding and connecting with others.
Unicorn Theatre
The Unicorn is the UK's leading professional theatre for young audiences, dedicated to inspiring and invigorating young people of all ages, perspectives and abilities, and empowering them to explore the world – on their own terms - through theatre.
Young Vic
At the Young Vic, we tell stories that change the way people look at the world. Our shows are created by some of the world's great artists - of this generation and the next. With roots deep in our neighbourhoods, we reach out to theatre makers across the globe. We have the most diverse and engaged audience in London, enjoying work of the highest quality at low prices. In our award-winning super-flexible theatre, you'll never feel you're in the same place twice.
PAL
PAL (Participatory Arts London): a collective voice for people that design, produce and facilitate participatory arts in London. Reflecting on our practice; pursuing peer-to-peer learning.
Mousetrap Theatre Projects
Mousetrap Theatre Projects is a theatre education charity dedicated to bringing the magic of theatre into the lives of young people.
Gendered Intelligence
Our mission is to increase understanding of gender diversity through creative ways.
Our vision is of a world where people are no longer constrained by narrow perceptions and expectations of gender, and where diverse gender expressions are visible and valued.
We work predominantly with the trans community and those who impact trans lives; we particularly specialise in supporting young trans people aged 8-25.