Eduqas A-level Media Studies: Curriculum Pathway (2026-2027)

The two year learning journey cover components 1, 2 and 3. NEA is in the summer of Year 1 and newspapers are held back of beginning of Year 2 when students are more experienced.

Media Studies A-Level equips students with critical analytical skills to deconstruct and understand the pervasive influence of media in contemporary society. The course fosters an understanding of media language, representation, industries, audiences, and regulation. Students learn to evaluate media products across various platforms, considering their ideological underpinnings and cultural impact. Emphasis is placed on developing independent thought, research abilities, and the capacity to articulate well-reasoned arguments about the complexities of media production and consumption

Eduqas A-level Media Studies: Curriculum Pathway

Year 1

Autumn 1:

Autumn 1 of Media A-Level introduces core concepts: media language, representation, audience theory, and the media industry. Key theorists like Barthes and Mulvey are explored alongside various mediums including music videos, advertising, and film, examining conventions and cultural impact.

• Introduction to Media Studies: Media Language, Representation, Industry, and Audience – establishing a theoretical framework for analysis. Roland Barthes Semiotics, Line of Duty.

• Music Video: History of Music Video, Conventions of Music Video, MTV and New Pop, Vance Joy, Beyonce, Bell Hooks, Laura Mulvey.

• Explorations: Black Lives Matters, Slave Trade, Western Genre, Wes Anderson, Intertextuality, Eisenstein and Montage, French New Wave.

• Advertising: History of Advertising, Postmodernism, Kiss of the Vampire, Tide, Super.Human, Van Zoonen, Gauntlett.

• Explorations: Arrival, Paralympics, Hammer Horror, The Fifties and Sixties, Andy Warhol.

  
  

  Autumn 2:

Autumn 2 of Media A-Level examines film marketing and cinema, alongside video games and radio. Concepts explored include social realism, Afrofuturism, and the impact of institutions like the BFI and BBC, drawing on theorists like Hesmondhalgh and Butler.

• Film Marketing: Black American Cinema. Marvel Universe, Black Panther, Social Realism, I Daniel Blake, David Hesmondhalgh, Curran and Seaton

• Explorations: Afrofuturism, Harlem Renaissance and Black Panthers, Oscars So White, Universal Credit, The BFI.

• Video Games: Assassins Creed, Henry Jenkins, Clay Shirky, Bandura.

• Explorations: History of Video Games, The Rise of eSports.

• Radio: History of Radio, Woman's Hour, Judith Butler, LNWH

• Explorations: The BBC, Public Service Broadcasting, Middle England,

  
  

  Spring 1:

  Autumn 2 of Media A-Level focuses on television drama and magazines, analyzing historical contexts and conventions. Key theorists like Neale, Levi-Strauss, and Todorov are explored alongside concepts like uses and gratifications and cultural institutions.

• Television Drama: History of Television Drama, The Bridge, Peaky Blinders, Steve Neale, Levi Strauss, Todorov, Propp.

• Explorations: Nordic Noir, Scandinavian Culture, Film Noir, World War One, Period Drama

• Magazines: History of Magazine, Magazine Conventions, Vogue, Big Issue, Uses and Gratifications

• Explorations: The 1960s, Quadrophenia, Fonts and Lettering, A Street Cat Named Bob, Grayson Perry, Cultural Institutions.

Spring 2:

Autumn 2 of Media A-Level explores online media, including the rise of influencers and platforms like YouTube. Topics include LGBTQ+ history and the AIDS crisis, alongside NEA project preparation focusing on research and planning.

• Online Media: The Rise of Celebrity Bloggers, Internet and YouTube, Zoella and Attitude

• Expolorations: AIDS Crisis in 1980s, LGBTQ+ History, Pride.

• NEA: Statement of Aims, Research and Planning

  
  

  Summer 1:

  The NEA Production element requires students to create a media product, demonstrating practical skills. This encompasses filming, editing, photo shoots, and web design, allowing for creative exploration and application of theoretical knowledge learned throughout the course.

  
  

• NEA: Production: Filming, editing, photo shoots, and web design.

Summer 2:

• Post-production for the NEA involves refining the created media product. This includes meticulous editing, audience testing to gauge reception, and final tweaking to ensure optimal impact and alignment with project goals

  
  

• NEA: Postproduction, audience testing and final tweaking

  
  

Year 2

Autumn 1:

Autumn 2 of Media A-Level examines newspapers, tracing their history and analysing The Mirror and The Times. Key explorations include the Leveson Inquiry, IPSO, Partygate, and the role of political satire.

• Newspapers: History of Newspapers, The Mirror, The Times,

• Explorations: The Leveson Inquiry, IPSO, Partygate, Political Satire.

  
  

  Autumn 2:

  Revision and Exam Technique: Component One -

This unit explores effective revision techniques for media projects. We'll examine strategies like blurting – a rapid free-writing exercise – and the Pomodoro Technique for focused work. Other methods include peer review, reverse outlining, and targeted feedback incorporation to refine work.

• Vance Joy, Beyonce,  Kiss of the Vampire, Tide, Super.Human, Black Panther,  I Daniel Blake,  Assassins Creed, The Mirror, The Times,

• Spring 1:

• Revision and Exam Technique: Component Two

• The Bridge, Peaky Blinders, Vogue, Big Issue, Zoella and Attitude

  
  

• Spring 2:

• Revision and Exam Technique: Component One and Two - past papers, exam question analysis, key concept mapping and theory sorting.

  
  

• Summer 1:

• Exams

  
  

• Summer 2:

• Exams