Course units
UAL is committed to ensuring that its students’ knowledge and skills are set within a contemporary personal and professional ethical framework so that they may make a positive impact in practice, particularly in relation to UAL’s Principles for Climate, Racial and Social Justice. The UAL Principles help inform the course’s approach to ethical awareness and application within the curriculum, leading to advocacy, mitigation, and urgency in developed practice. Ethical behaviours and values are embedded in course aims and are assessed throughout. Aligned with this is our expectation that students will be ready to apply these to their careers and to respond and adapt to societal change and emerging technologies, including AI.
In common with all courses at University of the Arts London, this course is credit rated. The course is 3 years, levels 4-6. Each year requires you to achieve 120 credits. To be awarded the BA (Hons) Marketing Communications qualification, you need to accumulate a total of 360 credits.
Year 1
Your first year will build the foundations for your degree and future career by exploring the marketing and related communications industries and their practices.
Introduction to Marketing Communications (20 credits)
This unit acts as an introduction to the course and to your subject specialism. Topics covered include effective learning and studentship at undergraduate level as well as introducing basic technical skills.
Content for Creative Communication (20 credits)
Through a series of creative and technical workshops, this unit will provide a foundation for understanding and engaging with the creative process, from the early stages of creative thinking and skills development to realising and finalising creative outputs.
Applied Marketing and Campaign Planning (20 credits)
The unit equips you with the skills to design, implement, and evaluate integrated campaigns across multiple channels, drawing on insights into audience behaviour, brand positioning, and market dynamics. You will focus on the practical development and execution of effective marketing strategies in real-world contexts. Through hands-on project work, you will learn how to set clear objectives, develop compelling messaging, select appropriate media, and measure campaign performance. The unit develops collaboration, creativity, and agility, preparing you to respond to changing market conditions while delivering coherent and impactful marketing communications.
Data Insight and Consumer Behaviour (20 credits)
This unit explores how data can be used to understand, predict, and influence the ways people make decisions as consumers. It introduces you to key concepts in behavioural science, marketing analytics, and data interpretation, equipping you to uncover patterns in consumer attitudes and actions in digital and physical environments. You’ll learn how to collect, analyse, and translate data into meaningful insights that inform strategy, enhance customer experience, and support ethical decision-making, regulatory compliance and the responsible use of data.
Marketing, Advertising and PR (20 credits)
This unit will introduce you to the concepts used in the marketing, advertising and PR industries and how these can be applied to deliver effective results. You’ll explore ways of thinking about the industries, their practices and the current debates that surround them.
Platforms and Social Media (20 credits)
Providing an important foundation for understanding different platforms and social media from a range of socio-cultural perspectives, this unit applies project-based learning to not only examine their complexity, but also to consider how they can be used for promotional and creative communication. The unit considers the rapid deployment of AI across platforms and social media.
Year 2
Your second year builds out to support you in developing an enterprising mindset to consider both the global nature of marketing and media and your place within these industries. You will develop your employability skills and choose areas of interest for further exploration. You will start to apply a research-driven mindset to support your studies in year three and beyond.
Building Brands (20 credits)
You will learn how to build a brand through three stages. Firstly, through understanding key concepts such as identity, image and reputation, then through a familiarisation with the process of building a brand and the brand management process, and finally by developing specific skills to build an online brand persona.
Professional Industry Practice (20 credits)
Supporting you to prepare for a career in advertising and creative communications, within the creative media industries, this unit will introduce different modes of working in the professional landscape. You'll be encouraged to reflect on your own interests and skills in relation to employability, and to explore industry-based experiences such as placements, internships, live briefs, and freelance working.
Global Media Businesses, Practices and Cultures (20 credits)
You’ll examine the changing ways in which global communications are organised, the connections between business and cultural aspects of the media and creative communications industries, and their relationship to wider processes of economic, political, social and cultural change. You’ll also consider different work practices in the creative and cultural industries, and identify the competencies and behaviours required to work successfully within them.
Digital Strategy (20 credits)
In this unit, you’ll explore integrated approaches to social media, multimedia and interactive media by planning, executing and evaluating a complete digital campaign. You’ll also have the option to study for an additional industry-accredited qualification with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM).
Researching Marketing and Communications (20 credits)
You’ll be introduced to the research process by learning methods for data gathering and data analysis. With a focus on research outcomes, you’ll be supported to then apply these techniques to your written work as well as your creative practice, and to propose a research project in your final year.
Level 5 Option Unit (20 credits)
This unit will enable you to choose an option that supports the further development of your creative production and professional skills. Recent units offered have included:
- Content Creation: Digital and Web
- Content Creation: Film and Video
- Content Creation: Podcasting and Audio
- Professional Skills: Data and Social Media Analysis
- Professional Skills: Influencer Marketing Communications
Year 3
This is the year where it all comes together, and you work on realising both your research interests by working on an industry research project and the skills you have developed that can be applied to a marketing communications portfolio. There is time to study another specialist area of interest, and we will also support your transition from undergraduate study as you launch into the next phase of your life with a 12-18 month action plan.
Industry Research Project (40 credits)
In this unit, you’ll undertake an independent research project based on a question relating to the contemporary marketing communications industry. Your final output could be a written research project or an industry report and may be accompanied by a creative content portfolio.
Level 6 Option Unit (20 credits)
You’ll have the opportunity to choose from a range of research-based options and specialist topics to develop your interests across media and communications. The following units may be offered:
- Critical Sound Cultures
- Futures Thinking
- Information Warfares: Misinformation, Conspiracy and Extremism
- Love in a Digital Age
- Special Topics*
*Your selection of special topics may potentially include:
- Comedy and Satire in Media and Communications
- Community Management
- Digital Humanitarianism
- Food Cultures
- Global and Indigenous Media
- Rhetoric, Media and Political Communication
Final Major Project (40 credits)
You’ll develop several solutions to marketing communications briefs by creating campaigns for brands using the skills learnt throughout your course. This will form the content for a portfolio that you can use for employment opportunities. Briefs will be supplied by our industry partners.
Creative Futures (20 credits)
In this unit, you‘ll explore potential career options and postgraduate opportunities to prepare for life after graduation. Reflecting on your journey throughout the course, you’ll identify your skills, strengths and aptitudes alongside your aims and ambitions for the future before producing a 12- to 18- month action plan to help you consider your next steps.
Optional Diploma between Years 2 and 3
Between Years 2 and 3 of your course, you’ll also have the opportunity to undertake one of the following qualifications:
Diploma in Professional Studies (DPS) (Optional)
This optional diploma can be taken between years 2 and 3. With support from your tutors, you’ll undertake a series of industry placements for a minimum of 100 days/20 weeks. As well as developing industry skills, you’ll gain an additional qualification upon successful completion.
Diploma in Creative Computing (Optional)
Between Years 2 and 3, you can undertake the year-long Diploma in Creative Computing. This will develop your skills in creative computing alongside your degree. After successfully completing the diploma and your undergraduate degree, you’ll graduate with an enhanced degree: BA (Hons) Marketing Communications (with Creative Computing).
Diploma in Storytelling (Optional)
Between years 2 and 3, you can undertake the year-long Diploma in Storytelling. Enhance your creative voice and discover how to engage audiences and enact change through compelling storytelling - a skill that's in demand across a range of creative industries. After successfully completing the diploma and your undergraduate course, you’ll graduate with an enhanced degree: BA (Hons) Marketing Communications (with Storytelling).
