Start with the course you are actually taking
A useful match starts with your qualification, exam board and assessment year. These examples show how the work changes across courses. If you are studying in Northern Ireland or following another qualification, give its full title when you enquire.
- GCSE Media Studies in England
- AQA 8572 covers media language, representation, industries and audiences: how products create meaning, portray people, reach audiences and operate as media businesses. Its assessment combines two written exams with an independent media product and statement of intent. Tuition priorities might be explaining a precise detail from a product or developing a reasoned response to an exam question.
- A-level Media Studies in England
- AQA 7572 requires sustained critical writing and the application and evaluation of media theories. Its practical assessment is an individual cross-media production responding to the board’s brief. A useful lesson connects a theory to evidence, then considers how far it explains the product or audience response.
- GCSE courses in Wales
- For first teaching from September 2026, GCSE Digital Media and Film replaces GCSE Media Studies and Film Studies in Wales. The new WJEC course includes meaning and representation, distribution and exhibition in Wales, and creating and evaluating content. Continuing legacy Media Studies students follow their existing course; WJEC’s final full assessment opportunity is summer 2027. State which course and cohort you belong to.
- National 5 and Higher Media in Scotland
- Higher Media connects analysis and creation with audiences, institutions, society and the role of media. Under the 2026–27 specifications, National 5 can accept storyboards, detailed plans or sketches at the agreed level of finish; Higher requires finished content. The centre’s brief therefore matters when choosing practical support.