School
Digital and Screen Media
UCAS tariff points
112-136
Years of Entry
2024
Location
Main Campus (Horsforth)
Study abroad
Yes
Study Mode
Full time (3 years)

Course overview

Our Television Production degree will enable you to develop the skills you need to devise exciting stories and ideas – and to transform them into eye-catching visual content for a range of TV channels, genres and platforms.

Our award-winning media professionals – many of whom are active in the industry – will help you unlock the secrets of making memorable, audience-friendly TV.

We are part of Connected Campus - Screen Yorkshire and you’ll benefit from our established employer networks and industry links. You’ll also have the opportunity to get involved in our annual Journalism and Media Week, where top broadcasters, programme-makers and media experts give talks and run masterclasses.

Previous graduates have gone on to work in production roles such as Researcher – Hollyoaks, Production Assistant – Netflix, Production Co-ordinator – Premier League Productions, Schedule Executive – ITV, Casting Researcher – BBC and Assistant Producer – Air TV.

The Student Contract

About this course

You’ll get practical, hands-on experience in camera operating, producing, directing, script-writing, editing and presenting. In our fully-equipped TV studios, you’ll learn how to work as a vision mixer, floor manager and autocue operator. And you’ll also learn the challenging art of location filming.

Towards the end of your first year, you’ll use your newly-acquired skills – and test your ability to work within a team – in a challenging month-long project culminating in a live TV broadcast.

Whether you’re a fan of Love Island, Sex Education or The Yorkshire Vet, you’ll discover the importance of story-telling – so vital in today’s competitive TV industry.

Our focus on employability – and our outstanding contacts with skilled professionals – will help prepare you for today’s TV industry. And you can also choose to spend a life-changing semester studying abroad, with our partner universities in countries like Australia, Germany, Pakistan and the USA.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have a wealth of experience, a host of industry connections and a portfolio of TV content to impress future employers, so often the key to securing that all-important first foot on the career ladder.

Why study with us?

  • Develop practical skills in television production.
  • Learn your trade using the latest industry-standard equipment in our fully equipped and purpose-built Media Centre.
  • Make professional contacts when you complete work placements in the TV industry.

Specialist facilities

You’ll have access to industry-standard spaces and equipment including production rooms, Mac and PC editing suites and TV, radio and photography studios. These specialist facilities will enable you to develop your practical and technical skills, produce a portfolio of professional work across different media platforms and prepare you for your graduate career in the industry.

Explore our facilities

Television Production at Leeds Trinity University

Course Modules

You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Year 1

During your first year, you'll study four core modules.

Professional Development (Core)

You'll develop teamworking skills through creative challenges, taught sessions, profiling and self-understanding.

You'll work on team presentation and develop a professional persona through attitude, commitment and effective communication.

In the second semester, you'll look at enterprise and sector analysis.

You'll develop your solo presentation and pitching skills.

We'll cover the creativity and skills needed to start, maintain and grow your production streams as independent creators.

We'll help you develop the skills valued by the creative industries to help you become a professional with an industry-relevant work ethic.

Introduction to TV Research (Core)

Get an introduction to the essential skills of TV research, development and production.

You'll have a series of lectures and interactive workshops using presentations and programme clips covering various aspects of the TV researcher's job.

You'll work in groups and individually to demonstrate a clear understanding of each aspect of the job.

You'll research a basic TV studio programme idea and present it as a pitch to a producer, and complete a critical evaluation of the processes undertaken.

Core Production Skills (Core)

You'll be introduced to the process of professional film and audio production.

Get a practical understanding of basic videography, lighting, audio production and post-production.

You'll use film production equipment appropriate for relevant distribution platforms.

Develop your production and creative skills while getting to know specialist equipment, techniques and practices.

Television Industries (Core)

Explore the development of television from a predominantly UK historical position.

You'll get an introduction to the development of the principles of public service broadcasting, including key individuals and government committees.

You'll learn about the theoretical models applied to the study of the television industry and its products, placing these in their appropriate social, cultural and economic contexts.

You'll examine and analyse texts and other sources of information, analysis and opinion about television.

Year 2

During your second year, you'll study three core modules and will be required to choose one option module.

Professional Placement (Core)

Develop your professional skills to help with your CV, interviews, networking, self-marketing, and industry-specific employability skills.

You'll have talks from external speakers and industry contacts as well as internal expertise, preparing you for your first external placement.

Develop your skills in creative problem-solving, idea generation, project management and enterprise through creative productions.

This will also develop freelancing skills and equip you to be flexible and professional in the creative industry, whether self-employed or as an employee or employer.

Creative Development Studio and Location (Core)

Develop your basic production skills and grasp the creative potential of location and studio-based programmes.

You'll have all the creative and practical skills - and the versatility - needed to become a production or development researcher in a wide range of TV genres.

In Semester 1, you'll examine all aspects of filming on location, from pre-production research and 'recces' to the actual filming.

Through lectures, workshops and exercises, you'll learn about the potential problems of location filming, ranging from dealing with the public to coping with thunderstorms.

You'll learn how to use equipment on location effectively and safely and how to make the most of the natural environment.

You'll work in groups to devise, film, edit and submit a five-minute television programme based entirely on location.

In Semester 2, you'll learn how to make the most of the studio environment and equipment.

This includes studio cameras, lighting, sound, autocue and vision mixing.

You'll devise and produce your own studio-based programmes from scratch and see how the different roles within a production team work together.

You'll have the opportunity to take on different roles in the studio and control gallery.

Television Platforms (Core)

Explore the development and distinctiveness of television genres, audience targeting, codes and conventions, representation and structure.

You'll examine the context of the contemporary US and UK broadcasting industry and consider the significance of streaming services and the relationship between film and television in the evolution of genres.

We'll cover specific forms such as food programming, reality television, true crime and contemporary drama, and consider ethical issues concerning representation.

In semester two, you'll build your knowledge of development and production skills for TV and other creative content, with a mixture of lectures, workshops and practical exercises and challenges.

This will enhance your increasingly sophisticated editorial and technical expertise in the run-up to your first external placements.

Digital Visualisation: Concept to Practice (Option)

Get a history of special visual effects production for film and television.

Examine the visual use of practical and physical effects, motion graphics, visualisation and computer-generated digital effects.

You'll explore technical production using visual, digital or studio activities.

We'll discuss creative possibilities within film, TV and associated media, along with the constraints of budget, skills, production time, facilities and location.

You'll apply theory to practical production and use software packages to create a visual effect/sequence using motion graphics.

Interactive Storytelling (Option)

Explore ways of creating and interacting with digital narratives.

You'll evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different formats and publishing platforms, and how they can be used for fiction and non-fiction storytelling.

You'll create digital narratives that could be game-based or interactive scenarios.

Documentary: Concept to Practice (Option)

Develop your production and story-telling skills, working as a team to produce a seven-minute short film.

You'll learn the process of development, research, production, post-production, and the crucial role of narrative structure.

We'll explore the ethics behind the creative treatment of actuality, and provide a theoretical understanding of the role of non-fiction media products and their historical development.

Drama: Concept to Practice (Option)

You'll get an introduction to professional film and audio production.

You'll get a practical understanding of basic videography, lighting, audio production, post-production and using film production equipment.

You'll find out how to light a set, shoot on location and work with scripted materials.

Year 3

During your final year, you'll study two core modules and will be required to choose at least two option modules.

Professional Project (Core)

You'll take on a work-based project or intervention, or an alternative professional development project.

You'll negotiate a project with your employer or placement provider that meets their needs as well as the university.

You'll have a series of seminars to outline the challenge, followed by tutorial support to chart progress and help you towards your assessment.

As a negotiated, self-managed module, you'll receive initial support to establish the learning outcomes and appropriate assessment methods.

You'll engage in online support and arrange tutorials with your academic supervisor.

Creating TV Content (Core)

You'll develop a professional understanding of the processes required to create high-quality content for TV, online and any other platform.

You'll give a live five-minute pitch for your programme idea and create a professional pitch deck in the first semester.

In the second semester, you'll create your own project in any genre or platform.

It can be a factual documentary, drama, comedy, studio-based TV show, or content for an online platform.

Transmedia Production (Option)

Find out about writing, pitching and producing media for multi-platform transmedia story-telling.

We'll cover audience interaction, gated content, gamification, multiple points of view and entry points and world-building.

Using examples from brand narratives and entertainment, you'll explore the main transmedia formats and understand the difference between canon and fan-generated content.

Explore examples of experiential marketing and how real-life elements let audiences cross the fourth wall into the narrative.

Find out how this can create a deeper emotional connection with the story, and how this ties in with using alternate reality games to raise awareness of societal, political and environmental issues.

Digital Studio (Option)

Get a collaborative digital studio experience of the creative production workflow for film, TV and creative visual effects production.

In a studio environment, you'll produce a digital visual effects sequence using practical effects, motion graphics, visualisation and computer-generated digital effects.

You'll have weekly technical production meetings to direct and delegate the development and progress of the digital studio activities.

You'll produce media artefacts within the available workflow, budgets, skillsets, production time, facilities and location.

Advanced Documentary Production (Option)

You'll devise, research and produce a ten-minute documentary film.

In sessions, you'll get a theoretical understanding of the nature, impact and role of contemporary documentaries as well as practical aspects of production.

This includes devising and researching programme ideas, finding key contributors, preparing and executing single-camera location filming and story-telling in the editing process.

In an intensive period of self-directed team-based production, you'll create a professional-quality documentary and a legal binder of industry-standard production documents.

You'll also supply an individual critical analysis of the finished film, your role, what you learned and how you would do better in the future.

Advanced Short Film (Option)

You'll put your knowledge and technical skills into practice to produce work for your portfolio.

Thinking about briefs, treatments, scripts, storyboards, logistics of location recording, camera crew roles, single camera techniques and editing, you'll produce work in small groups.

This'll culminate in a presentation of completed films, followed by critical peer appraisal in preparation for your final submission.

Creative Project (Option)

Pursue your own area of interest to produce work in an appropriate format to reflect broad engagement and understanding of your chosen field of study.

For example, if you are producing a film in another module, you could use this module to research, outline and produce a PR campaign for it.

You'll work with a tutor to come up with a project agreement.

Sexuality Studies (Option)

Get an introduction to the field of ethics and critical sexuality studies.

You'll conduct a critical inquiry into the historical precedents and theoretical frameworks necessary to understand the role of sexuality in shaping personal, social, economic, and political life.

Focus on patterns of subordination and exclusion based on individuals' sexual practices and identities, their origins, and ways to challenge them.

We'll explore sexuality through text, film, media discourse, the medical humanities, and theology.

We'll give special attention to the intersections of sexuality with gender, race, ethnicity, media, religion, class and disability.

Writing for TV (Option)

Get an introduction to scriptwriting through a mixture of theoretical and practical work.

We'll cover ideas generation and development, narrative structure, character development, writing dialogue, synopses, treatments and One Pages.

You'll also be introduced to the various formats required by the industry such as film, TV, drama, documentary and radio.

You'll have a blend of lectures, workshops and practical exercises to develop your skills and knowledge as you produce your final script.

Franchising Intertextuality (Option)

Explore and interrogate contemporary forms of intertextuality - the relationship between texts.

Drawing upon theories of adaptation, transmedia, remakes, series, franchises, intertextuality and paratextuality, you'll analyse ways intertextuality functions in relation to presold media products.

You'll consider intertextuality in production, including adaptation, updating, recontextualisation, rebooting, extension and expansion through spin-off content and transmedia storytelling.

You'll contextualise creative choices in individual texts, and broader cross-media storytelling including the prevalence of franchising as a strategy in film, television and video game industries.

Cult Fandom (Option)

Explore contemporary cult film and television drama productions made in the UK, USA, and Europe, but marketed, distributed, and screened globally.

We'll discuss issues related to production, such as industrial, technical, and aesthetics.

You'll look at cultural, political, and societal themes related to the contemporary nature of textual content.

You'll also explore critical and theoretical concepts related to scholarly definitions of cult film, television drama, narrative, storytelling, and cult audiences/fandom.

We'll consider the reception and interactive use of cult film and TV texts in a "post-television" convergence age.

Fantasy and Gender (Option)

Use texts, films and graphic novels to explore the genres of medieval fantasy and utopian/dystopian literature.

You'll analyse fantasy texts alongside psychoanalytic and cultural theories.

You'll look at ideological, cultural, and historical contexts such as Romanticism, realism and war, and sociocultural and political debates such as education, disability, race and gender,

We'll draw on theories of the gaze, the uncanny, abjection and identification.

Note: You'll study some modern horror films. You may find some of the images from these films upsetting and should be aware of the course content in advance.

Professional work placements

Experience matters. That's why we embed professional work placements within our standard undergraduate degrees.

How does it work?

Careers and Placements will work with you to find your perfect placement or help you arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.

During your placement, you will have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.

Your professional work placements will give you the chance to work in some of the top media companies across the UK. Our students have recently made an impact during placements, helping to make successful shows such as Come Dine With MeThe Yorkshire VetHelicopter ERA New Life in the Sun and Emmerdale.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Professional Work Placements


Adam at Sticks & Glass Placement Story


Learning and Teaching

At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.

Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:

  • high quality teaching
  • an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
  • a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.

We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.

We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:

  • Student Involvement and Engagement
  • Inclusion
  • Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
  • Digital Literacy and Skills
  • Employability and Enterprise

To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.

We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:

  • Personalised support
  • Expert lecturers
  • Strong connections with employers
  • An international outlook
  • Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development

Programme delivery

Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.

Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:

  1. Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
  2.  Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
  3. Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.

Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.

For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.

Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.

Entry requirements for this course:
QualificationGrade
UCAS tariff112-136
GCSE requirementsGCSE English Language or English Literature at grade C or 4 (or higher) will be required

Fees and finance

Funding

UK Home Students:

Tuition fees cost £9,250 a year for this course in 2024/2025.

Part-time tuition fees will be prorated accordingly to the number of credits you're studying.

Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.

Tuition fees for 2025/26 entry will be set in summer 2024.

Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.

Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.

International Students, including EU Students:

Visit our webpage for international students.

Part-time study is not available for international students on a Student Route Visa. 

Additional costs

We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees:

  • Recommended and required reading lists will be provided at the start of your course. All the books and e-books are available from our Library to borrow but you may choose to purchase your own.
  • On some courses there may be additional costs, such as field trips, equipment, accreditations, that may be part-funded by the University. More details will be provided at the start of the course.
  • You'll need to include placement/s travel and associated costs too, however the University will contribute a standard amount towards your total expenditure.
  • The University provides students with a £6 printing credit each academic year which can be topped up either on campus or online.

How to apply

For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.

On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.

You'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.

Although the equal consideration deadline has passed for 2024 entry there are still ways to apply now.

If you included five choices on your application, have received decisions from all five, and weren’t accepted, or if you declined the offers you received, you will be able to use Extra which opens on 28 February. If you use Extra to add another choice you cannot reverse this to go back to your original five choices.

If you did not use all your choices in your initial application, you don't need to use Extra, you can just sign in to your application and add another choice, as long as it’s before 30 June, and you’ve not accepted or declined any offers.

If you don’t hold any offers after 5 July, you will be able to add an additional choice using Clearing.

If you require a Student Route Visa in order to study in the UK, then you must meet all the conditions of your offer and present all supporting documentation required for the visa application no later than Friday 26 July 2024.

Applications are not yet open for courses starting in September 2025. You can register and start your application for 2025 from 14 May 2024, although you cannot submit it until later in the year. The UCAS application deadline for courses starting in September 2025 is 29 January 2025.

There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our admissions team who will be happy to help:

Graduate opportunities

Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.

We work closely with many leading independent production companies as well as major broadcasters. Recent graduates from this course are already working in exciting roles such as:

  • Researcher, Hollyoaks
  • Production Runner, Emmerdale
  • Production Assistant, IMG Premier League Productions
  • Production Assistant, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Netflix
  • Content Delivery Co-ordinator, ITV Content
  • Casting Researcher, BBC
  • Assistant Producer, Air TV

After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Careers

Chat with our students

Do you want to find out more about studying at Leeds Trinity University?

Ask our Student Ambassadors about what it’s like to be part of the Leeds Trinity University community, chat to them about your course(s) of interest and hear more about their Leeds Trinity University student experience.

Chat with our students

What is Discover Uni?

Discover Uni is the official, authoritative source of information and guidance on higher education in the UK. The website allows you to search for and compare data and information on university and college programmes from across the UK.

It helps you make sense of all the information out there by linking to other quality resources and explaining what can be found where. It also allows you to search for and compare information and data for individual undergraduate courses across the UK.

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