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Digital Media: Critical Studies MA

London, Bloomsbury

The Digital Media: Critical Studies MA is for students who wish to develop an advanced critical and analytical understanding of the current, rapidly changing digital media landscape. Students explore media and cultural studies theories and methods relevant to the analysis of digital media texts, audiences, users, technologies, infrastructures, and cultures. Optional modules offer students the opportunity to focus on specific topics, such as digital games, gender in digital media, and mobile media in more depth. During their final term, students undertake independent research on a relevant topic of their choice with the support of a supervisor.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2026/27)
£14,200
£7,100
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)
£39,200
£19,600
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
5 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2026
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 26 Jun 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 28 Aug 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Applicants with a 2:1 from a UK university, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, in Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Games Studies, Digital / Interactive Media Arts or English Literature will be considered. Applicants with a 2:2 in a relevant subject, plus at least 2 year's work experience within the fields of education, media and/or the cultural industries may be considered. Applicants with a non-relevant subject will not be considered.

The English language level for this course is: Level 3

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

This course is suitable for international students on a Student visa – study must be full-time, face-to-face, starting September.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

Our students cultivate their own critical voice to analyse various aspects of digital media culture, underpinned by intellectual curiosity, autonomy, and integrity. They engage with current key theories and debates in media and cultural studies, particularly in relation to digital media, and apply qualitative research methods to critically and ethically analyse how media constructs, represents, and shapes social practices, cultural norms, identities, and power relations. 

Our core modules give a shared, in-depth foundation on key concepts in today’s digital media theory and key considerations in designing digital media research. Our optional modules offer a range of critical perspectives on digital media, including how gender takes shape through media contents, technologies, and practices; how to make sense of digital games, game industry, and player cultures; and how mobile media participate in shaping our ways of being, feeling and moving in the world from intimate everyday interactions to large-scale political changes. 

Finally, by conducting their own independent research with the support of a supervisor, our students are able to focus on their own areas of interest, underscored by a nuanced understanding of digital media phenomena in their complex sociocultural contexts.

Who this course is for

The Digital Media: Critical Studies MA is for students who wish to investigate the social, textual and cultural aspects of digital media. It will be suitable for those interested in the fields of Media Studies and Cultural Studies, and in a professional or academic career in culture, the arts, communication or media.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

The Digital Media: Critical Studies MA route is one of three Digital Media MAs at UCL Institute of Education (IOE). For the twelfth year in succession IOE has been ranked as the world's leading university for Education (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025). Together, the Digital Media MA routes form one of the longest-established Media MA courses in the UK. The course is based at the UCL Knowledge Lab, a leading interdisciplinary centre whose mission includes researching digital media and developing digital technologies. Student will have an opportunity to attend a variety of academic events and meet internationally known scholars and guests at the Lab and beyond.

The Digital Media course team belongs to the ReMAP research centre (Research in Media Arts and Play), and all team members are active researchers. The team's research expertise directly informs the design, module selection and teaching of the MA. Students will learn from research-active academics who are leaders in their field, ensuring access to new and emergent research, knowledge and insights.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Many of our recent graduates are critical professionals in digital media companies or educational and cultural institutions, while others work in areas such as research (for example as a PhD candidate). 

Employability

The Digital Media: Critical Studies MA equips students with critical thinking and research skills, incorporating problem-solving, analysis, collaboration and communicative skills, and self-reflection. The course does not provide practical skills in content production, marketing, or artistic practice, but it does provide an excellent base for further postgraduate research or a broad range of careers in media and cultural sectors.

Graduates of this course acquire critical insights into digital media and digital cultures, including digital platforms, mobile media and digital games. They gain experience of researching media texts, media audiences/users, mediated power relations, and media technologies using reflexive, qualitative, and in-depth Media Studies and Cultural Studies approaches.

Networking

Students can make use of our team of experienced career professionals at UCL Careers to find the right path to ensure success in their future career. Students have also set up a career network at the Department of Culture, Communication and Media. We encourage students to participate in the rich variety of relevant events, exhibitions, and guest lectures across our research centres, UCL, and London including the BFI.

Teaching and learning

The course is delivered through a blend of online and face-to-face lectures, seminars, meetings, and workshops. The lectures often lay the theoretical foundation for further in-depth reflection and application in seminar discussions and digital media related tasks as well as for online engagement with classmates and tutors. Students are expected to work independently by completing tasks and reading or viewing assigned materials in advance to classes or meetings. Our goal is to encourage independent, critical thinking and an inquisitive attitude towards digital media, its users, its various phenomena, and the world. Our teaching methods are designed to support this goal.

Our summative assessments range from written submissions in multiple genres (e.g., essays, research designs, research ethical reflections, autoethnographic diaries, gameplay diaries, reflexive learning diaries) to oral group presentations and independent research. In some cases, there is the option to submit an assessment in audio or audiovisual format. We also incorporate opportunities for formative (not marked) feedback, inviting students to submit drafts, engage in class discussions, reflect on issues in small groups and with tutors, and conduct small reflexive digital media tasks and experiments. 

For full-time students, typical contact hours are around 6 - 8 hours per week in terms 1 and 2. Teaching is a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, feedback, visits to relevant cultural institutions, digital media tasks, and engagement in virtual learning environments. In addition to this, full-time students typically spend a minimum 8 hours per week, per module, in self-directed study. Students should expect to commit additional time to preparing and completing coursework assignments.

In term 3, students will complete their drafts and final assignments for both of their term 2 modules and continue their dissertation research, begun in term 2. They will work with their dissertation supervisors into early July (until dissertation draft submission and feedback) and then complete the research, analysis and final writing up of their dissertation independently during late summer.

Modules

The degree includes two compulsory modules (30 credits each); two optional modules (30 credits each); and a Dissertation (60 credits). 

You will follow one module per term over 2 years.

This includes:

  • two compulsory modules (30 credits each, one of these taken in each Autumn term)
  • two optional modules (30 credits each, one of these taken in each Spring term)
  • and in year 2, a Dissertation (60 credits) starting in the Spring term.

There is also an option for students to complete the MA over a period of time, between 2 years (part-time) and 5 years (flexible mode). 

Compulsory modules





Optional modules





Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits including compulsory and optional modules and write a dissertation (15,000 words). Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MA in Digital Media: Critical Studies.

Accessibility

The department will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities, including those with long-term health conditions, neurodivergence, learning differences and mental health conditions. This list is not exhaustive. If you're unsure of your eligibility for reasonable adjustments at UCL, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

Reasonable adjustments are implemented on a case-by-case basis. With the student's consent, reasonable adjustments are considered by UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services, and where required, in collaboration with the respective department.

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information about support available can be obtained from UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

For more information about the department and accessibility arrangements for your course, please contact the department.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2026/27) £14,200 £7,100
Tuition fees (2026/27) £39,200 £19,600

Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.

Postgraduate Taught students benefit from a cohort guarantee, meaning that their tuition fees will not increase during the course of the programme, but UCL reserves the right to increase tuition fees to reflect any sums (including levies, taxes, or similar financial charges) that UCL is required to pay any governmental authority in connection with tuition fees.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Where the course is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a fee deposit will be charged at 2.5% of the first year fee.

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a £350 deposit will be charged.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a £500 deposit will be charged.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

Students are responsible for covering any travel, accommodation, and other expenses involved in conducting research for their dissertation, and should account for these costs when planning their finances.

For in-person teaching, UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £119.90. This price was published by TfL in 2025. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

IOE - Aziz Foundation Scholarships

Value: Full tuition fees (1 year)
Criteria Based on academic merit
Eligibility: UK

IOE-Clarke Scholarships

Deadline: 5 May 2025
Value: Tuition fees, return flights and stipend (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

IOE-ISH Centenary Masters Scholarships

Deadline: 5 May 2025
Value: Tuition fees and accommodation at International Students House (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: Overseas

Next steps

There is an application processing fee for this course of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

The personal statement is your chance to tell us why you are a good match for this MA, and why this MA is the right course for you. Explain what attracts you to this course. Tell us something about your expectations and interests. Your statement should cover the following points in a maximum of 600 words:

  • why do you want to study Digital Media: Critical Studies at postgraduate level?
  • what modules interest you and why?
  • what issues, topics or problems do you look forward to exploring?
  • why are you particularly interested in Media Studies and Cultural Studies approaches to these issues?
  • how has your academic and/or professional background prepared you to meet the demands of this course?
  • what will this MA help you to achieve or explore?

Tips:

  • When answering these questions, use your own words and avoid making general statements.
  • Try to describe your personal motivation for applying for this course, giving examples.
  • Do not simply repeat information from your CV or copy text from the UCL website.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate courses (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2026-2027

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Culture, Communication and Media
Culture, Communication and Media

ma.dm.info@ucl.ac.uk

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