Bachelor of Arts with Journalism

at National University of Ireland Galway

The BA Journalism degree is designed to give you high-level digital skills in media production and editorial practice, and introduce you to key debates and ideas from the world of media and communication. You will gain skills across four years in news writing and reporting, writing for features and magazines, radio reporting, multimedia, social media and television. There are optional modules in data journalism and sports reporting. You’ll also be guided through modules in media and communication that examine key issues and debates in the media such as ethics, regulation, ownership, bias, privacy, and the role of the media in democratic society.
 

In your first year, you’ll take four modules in journalism, media and communication and you can choose to take two Arts subjects from English, History, Economics, Philosophy, Law, Politics and Sociology, Modern European languages (French, Italian or Spanish), Gaeilge or IT. At the end of first year you can choose to continue with one Arts subject along with journalism in a joint honours format to degree level.
 

In your third year you have the option to undertake an international study exchange and/or a work placement in a media company. Students taking a language will spend at least part of their year studying their language in a European country.
 

By the end of the four-year degree programme you’ll have an excellent understanding of the media and leave with in-demand communications skills that will set you up for careers in media production, journalism and the wider field of communication. You’ll also have strong interpersonal, critical thinking, judgement and decision making, and teamworking attributes, as well as understanding of innovation, making you ideally suited for employment. You’ll have the opportunity to pursue specialist training via Masters programmes on offer at NUI Galway. 
 

Year one

• Introduction to Media and Communication – 5 Credits
• History of Media – 5 Credits
• This is the News – 5 Credits
• Radio Fundamentals – 5 Credits
• Choose two Arts subjects (20 credits x 2) 
   

Year Two

• Interviewing and Reporting – 5 credits
• Power without responsibility – 5 credits
• Social media: theory and practice – 5 credits
• Broadcasting – 5 credits
• MICEE - Media innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship and employability – 5 credits
• Choose either Sports Journalism (5 credits) Or Feature writing and magazines (5 credits)
• Continue with your chosen Arts major
   

 Year three

• Work internship or International study exchange: Full year

(or you can choose to do a split year, one semester internship and one semester of study abroad) 
 

Year Four

• Multimedia newsdays (10 credits)
• Global Political Economy of the Mass Media (5 credits)
• The contemporary Irish media: Ethics, rules and regulation (5 credits)
   

Choose from:

• Final project (documentary; investigative project; or long-form feature) (5 credits)
• We need to talk about sex, gender and the media (5 credits)
• Data journalism (5 credits)
• The revolution will be televised (5 credits)
• Social media audience development (5 credits)
• Television journalism (10 credits)

Undergraduate and mature students can satisfy matriculation registration requirements for NUI Galway by achieving certain grades in the following examinations. 
 

Leaving certificate (for EU and non-EU)

You need a pass in at least six subjects in the Leaving Certificate in accordance with College requirements with:

• Minimum Grade H5 (Higher Level) in two subjects 

• Passes in the remaining four subjects at O6/ H7 
   

You should pick your subjects based on the requirements for entry to your desired course.
 

All subjects of the Leaving Certificate are accepted for matriculation registration purposes, with the exception of Gaeilge Bonnleibhéal (Irish Foundation Level), Mathematics (Ordinary Alternative/Foundation Level and; Home Economics (General), which is recognised only for St. Angela's College, Sligo.
 

GCE and GSCE
 

You need a pass in at least six subjects in accordance with College requirements with at least:

• GCE Advanced Level: Grade C in two recognised subjects and

• GCSE Level: Grade C in four recognised subjects.
   

You should pick your subjects based on the requirements for entry to your desired course.

English Language Requirement:

IELTS :- 6.5

TOEFL :- 88

Fees: EU
€5,738 p.a. 2022/23

Fees: Tuition
€2,598 p.a. 2022/23

Fees: Student Contribution
€3,000 p.a. 2022/23

Fees: Student levy
€140 p.a. 2022/23

Fees: Non EU
€18,140 p.a. 2022/23
 

EU Fees are comprised of Tuition + Student Contribution Charge + Student Levy** €140.  **Payable by all students and is not covered by SUSI.  Further detail here.

Career Opportunities
 

Exciting career opportunities: The new BA Journalism programme is an exciting, four-year programme with a built-in internship in third year. We have excellent relationships with a range of media companies including RTE, national and local newspapers and radio, and all of our students get the opportunity to undertake a work placement as part of their studies. This, alongside the excellent range of modules on offer, gives our graduates a distinct advantage when it comes to securing employment after graduation. Students may also decide to specialise with one of our exciting Professional Masters programmes.
 

Great Facilities: We have a world-class digital broadcast centre that you will get to use as a student. Our student-friendly radio studio is equipped with a ‘Studer’ digital radio console, where our students learn to edit audio and put together news packages and programmes using Adobe Audition and the ‘Burli’ playout system. NUI Galway has its own FM radio station on campus - Flirt FM - where you can sign up to broadcast your own show.
Our brand-new television studio is the first of its kind in Ireland. The 4k, fully-robotic digital studio is built on a ‘Newtek’ mainframe, and includes state-of-the-art cameras and editing facilities, a news studio equipped with ‘Autoscript’ news reading software and ‘chromakey (greenscreen). It can take up to 16 simultaneous inputs and 8 outputs, allowing our students to broadcast live news and current affairs and other topics programmes to our website, as well as Facebook Live and YouTube. Our students learn to shoot and edit television and ‘mojo’ from the field; are trained in Adobe Premiere Pro, live studio production; and get the chance to create their own television shows in small teams.   
 

Challenging and engaging learning environment: Students on the BA Journalism programme are challenged across four years with a range of modules that help them develop their understanding of the media, as well as training in cutting-edge professional practice including writing for print and online, social media, radio and television. Students can choose specialisms in their second year such as sports journalism or features and magazines; and can further specialise in fourth year in an area of interest.