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If you are applying for this course from within the UK click apply now.
Course starts: 20 September 2021Apply now
If you are applying for this course from outside the UK click apply now.
Course starts: 20 September 2021Apply now
To apply for the part time course, click apply now.
Course starts: 20 September 2021Apply now
Create great content from video to graphics. Understand analytics and develop tactics, social campaigns and strategies to reach and engage audiences, and build brand reputation. Get the skills and experience for your social media career.
Register your interestAlmost every employer, from Nike to Netflix, has a social media presence. Develop the skills and experience you need to meet the growing demand for social media managers across a wide range of industries.
Learn about content creation, social strategy and tactics, analytics and attribution, public relations, media law, data analysis and visualisation and digital and social media theory.
Get time to experiment with your own social media channels, build your own digital communities, and develop your own social media project in the final year. Explore optional modules in marketing, podcasting, journalism, fashion styling, radio and TV production and more.
Work with real clients to develop social media and PR campaigns and strategies and get work experience placements during your degree.
Graduate with an extra qualification in Media Law accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ); and the skills, knowledge and experience employers are looking for across a range of social media, content and communications roles. Or apply your new found skills and experience to launch and build your own social media channels or business.
Get to know Spark, Fashion North, Northern Lights, SR News, and Sportsbyte, our students' award-winning websites for local news, local sport, fashion and arts and entertainment.
Over the three-year degree you will develop the skills, knowledge and personal attributes that employers are looking for, as you work both individually and as part of a community to develop your experience and confidence. You’ll take part in lectures, workshops, practical projects, client-briefs and presentations, and you’ll also write essays, case studies and critical reflections.
In your first year, you will realign your understanding of social media as a professional business tool. You’ll learn introductory content creation and analytics skills and use them to create content and analyse performance across a wide range of social and community platforms. You will also learn introductory public relations skills, study media law to ensure you are safe to publish, take a module in journalism to understand essential written communication skills, and take a module in media theory to understand the current debates around digital media.
In your second year, you will continue to build on your existing skills, creating social media strategies and campaigns for real clients, taking your public relations skills to the next level, learning about data analysis and visualisation for both content creation and social media reporting, and taking a module in short-form video production. You’ll also go on a work placement and take an optional module of your choice.
In the final year, you’ll draw on all of your theoretical and practical social media knowledge and skills to create a social media management project of your choice, which you’ll complete over the course of the academic year. You’ll also consolidate your existing PR skills, complete your training in online community engagement, and take a module in e-commerce video production to complete your degree. By the end of your degree, you’ll have a wide range of skills across social media, content creation and public relations, and will have a body of existing work and work experience to support your transition into your social media career.
Assessments include practical projects, critical reflections, case studies, essays and¿presentations. There is also a Media Law exam as part of the NCTJ certificate.
Part-time study
If you study this course on a part-time basis, you will typically complete 40-80 credits in a year, rather than the 120 credits of full-time students. All modules are taught during the daytime and you will be studying alongside full-time students.
In February 2019, the UK Government announced that it will make social media companies sign a legally-binding code of conduct that imposes on them a duty of care towards young users. This is a welcome change following the case of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017.
Find out how and why social media should be regulated
There are many key skills that journalism students need to learn, from interviewing, writing, shooting video, shorthand and digital story telling on social media. But did you know that another essential skill for any accomplished reporter is learning the law? Senior lecturer and National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Media Law board member Carole Watson explains why.
Learn why learning the law is so essential for any accomplished reporter
A few years ago, the idea of being a ‘Social Media Manager’ would have been almost laughable – how hard can it be to ‘manage’ your notifications!? Social media is so much more than taking selfies, instagramming your breakfast or sharing memes on Facebook though, it’s a powerful business tool that has resulted in an explosion of exciting jobs and careers.
Find out where a degree in social media can take you
Our typical offer is:
| Qualification | Minimum grade |
|---|---|
| High School Diploma along with one of the following at the required grade: SAT I and SAT II, ACT or Advanced Placement | GPA 3.0 or above and: Sat score of 1100/1600 from SATs AP (Grades 3+ in at least 2 subjects) ACT (score of 26+) |
If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk for further advice.
If you don't meet our standard entry requirements, we also offer this course with an Integrated Foundation Year.
If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.
Full-time fees
The annual fee for this course is:
Part-time fees
Tuition fees for part-time students are £6,935 per 120 credits.
Please note that part-time courses are not available to international students who require a Student visa to study in the UK.
Learn more about settled status, pre-settled status, special discounts, visa requirements and Common Travel Area (CTA) agreements for the Republic of Ireland applicants in our Help and Advice article.
Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.
This information was correct at the time of publication.
This degree will equip you with the skills you need to be a social media manager across a wide range of businesses and organisations – working in social media means you can work in almost any sector that you’re interested in, or you can choose to work for yourself.
You’ll also have the skills and qualities to pursue a career in other social media, content creation, community management and public relations roles, and you’ll have work experience and a media law qualification to help set you apart.
Graduates working in social media and PR have been employed by companies including Ubisoft, Tombola, Sunderland City Council, SAFC, Rangers TV, What Culture, Stylist, MTV, Elle and more.
During the course, you’ll be working on live briefs for real clients, developing social media campaigns and strategies, PR campaigns and branded video marketing campaigns.
In our mediaHUB you can create social content and develop strategies for our public-facing fashion, sport, news and culture websites and award-winning community radio station Spark.
You also have the opportunity to get involved in the Marketing Hub which matches students with marketing clients. You can get support from The Enterprise Place to develop your own social media business ideas with office space and funding.
The academics teaching you on this course are RTS and CIPR award-winning content creators, media law experts, public relations practitioners, tv producers, journalists and industry researchers, and have excellent relationships across a broad range of social media, fashion, sport, PR and media industries.
We have links with Rich Keith from Yogscast who also runs influencer marketing company Fourth Floor. Our faculty’s visiting professors also include video and e-commerce entrepreneur Dr Alex Connock and Good Morning Britain news editor Neil Thompson.
You will complete a week-long placement in the second year but you can get support from our dedicated careers team Sunderland Futures to set up work experience, get an industry mentor and even find relevant paid work at any time during your degree. We regularly get offers for our students to take on placements and internships and work on CV-boosting projects. We’ve had opportunities to work with travel bloggers, create social media campaigns for stately homes, create videos for food companies and much more.
During the degree, you'll work on creating content and strategies for your own social media channels and communities, as well as projects for real clients. Have a look at North East brunch Insta channel BrunchNE1 which was featured in Living North's "one-to-follow" section, Twitch stream ImpliedLies, and online community What the Flix which helps viewers find the best shows on Netflix – all created by our current students as part of their studies.
The University has so many connections to huge brands and businesses across the UK and worldwide.
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