When I did my GCSE in Media, 13 years ago, the exam consisted of watching and critiquing some video clips and a couple of examples of printed stuff.
It was the Welsh exam board (despite being in England) which had been chosen because it was 75% coursework, 25% exam. And none of the clips were from Newyddion!
There are some courses that are well regarded in the industry - City for journalism, Bournemouth and Ravensbourne for more practical production (including broadcast graphic design) - but until relatively recently most journalists, producers, directors and crew didn't have school and university degrees with a particularly media focus.
None of my direct colleagues have media related degrees - in fact quite a few are only educated formally to A-level standard. If people do have degrees they could be History, English, Politics, Physics, Chemistry, Astrophysics or Engineering.
In particular, if you want to go into production and become an assistant producer and producer, it is important to be interested in stuff other than TV. After all you make programmes about a wide range of subjects - seldom about TV itself. Having a degree in a science or arts subject can be just as relevant to working in TV as a media degree.
This is going to sound completely bizarre but if you have a media qualification, then the less likely you are to get a job in the media with it. Media is seen as an easy subject and A Levels in Media are laughed at by most universities and degrees in Media are practically discounted by employers.
Its a really worthless subject and I wouldn't recommend anybody to do it especially at degree level, although as a filler A Level because theres no other subjects ... well theres no harm in that. That said, I have a B at GCSE in Media and I got an A at A Level. But it was a joke, it really was. The GCSE course and the A Level course were practically identical. Both had an exam based on textual analysis of a film and both had magazine covers as coursework. In fact the only thing that differed was that in the GCSE course a CD cover had to be analysed and I had to create one but in the A Level course I had to analyse digital TV which was absolutely boring but extremely easy.
I never went on to go to university but overall I feel I could have taken something more worthwhile and challenging than Media. It was just too easy and I like to have a challenge. The subject is a joke and is an insult to intelligence. No wonder employers don't acknowledge it.
This is going to sound completely bizarre but if you have a media qualification, then the less likely you are to get a job in the media with it. Media is seen as an easy subject and A Levels in Media are laughed at by most universities and degrees in Media are practically discounted by employers.
Its a really worthless subject and I wouldn't recommend anybody to do it especially at degree level, although as a filler A Level because theres no other subjects ... well theres no harm in that. That said, I have a B at GCSE in Media and I got an A at A Level. But it was a joke, it really was. The GCSE course and the A Level course were practically identical. Both had an exam based on textual analysis of a film and both had magazine covers as coursework. In fact the only thing that differed was that in the GCSE course a CD cover had to be analysed and I had to create one but in the A Level course I had to analyse digital TV which was absolutely boring but extremely easy.
I never went on to go to university but overall I feel I could have taken something more worthwhile and challenging than Media. It was just too easy and I like to have a challenge. The subject is a joke and is an insult to intelligence. No wonder employers don't acknowledge it.
I have no experience of Media Studies at GCSE or A/AS Level - it wasn't ever an option during my education. My school was very traditional - with a very academic focus on the core sciences, languages and humanities - and I took my GCSEs in the first year they were introduced nationally - so many of the courses now available didn't exist. In fact many of the courses I did we ended up following the O level syllabus for the first year - because they were late finalising the GCSE ones.
When it comes to University degrees - there are media courses and media courses. 15 years ago - with very few exceptions - they were widely regarded as a joke - and in fact were likely to hinder you getting a job at a broadcaster, as they were seen as an "easy ride" (particularly those offered by Polys - now rebranded as "New universities") - whereas traditional degrees were more rigorous and taxing. This perception has changed in some quarters - and in respect of some degree courses. However I would still advise caution - there are good media courses - as I mentioned earlier Ravensbourne and Bournemouth are quite well regarded in the industry (Bournemoth particularly for design and Ravensbourne for practical production) - but equally many are not.
Journalism is slightly different - a sign of a good broadcast journalism couse is whether it is affiliated to a reputable broadcaster. The good ones include work placements with the major news broadcasters - ITN, BBC etc. - whereas the weaker ones don't.
A lot of journalists still recommend doing a regular degree and then doing a post grad journalism course.