Bachelor of Arts - Film Studies (Honours) (with placement year)

The sandwich Film Studies route adds a salaried year in the film industry between the taught levels, with academic content matching the standard degree across film theory, history, national cinemas and the industrial study of the medium.

Placement destinations reflect where film studies graduates genuinely build careers: distributors, sales agents, festivals, cinema chains, archives and film marketing agencies, plus development roles at production companies where reading and assessing scripts is the daily work.

Applicants should treat the placement year as the practical component this otherwise analytical degree lacks, and choose it accordingly: a year inside distribution, exhibition or development supplies the industry literacy that classroom study cannot, and it is where most film-studies graduates ultimately build careers. The source records a four-year structure including the placement, at the £16,800 taught-year fee across three recorded September cycles, with the reduced placement-year charge to be confirmed in the offer paperwork, and applications running through the autumn of the second year with faculty support on approach, CV and covering-letter preparation for a sector that rarely advertises openly.

The year converts analytical training into commercial judgement — understanding why films get funded, how audiences are found, what a release strategy costs — and gives students the industry vocabulary and contacts that graduate applications in this small, networked sector require.

Placement salaries cover much of the additional year, and host retention is common in distribution and exhibition. The four-year completion sits inside the 18-month Graduate Route allowance for post-2026 applications, with dependants excluded on taught routes throughout.