Higher Education Options

 Higher Education Options

1) University of Sunderland

University of Sunderland is my first choice of a higher education because the course that I'm taking (Sports Journalism), students gain their experiences through training while studying at Sports Journalism in Sunderland and that is something that I want because I want to improve my skills such as writing and communication skills in order to succeed in the Sports Journalism field. Another reason why I want to study Sports Journalism in University of Sunderland is because students will build both practical experience and a portfolio of published work by taking reports and editing works to SportsByte, to cover all sort of sports. The course also has strong links with Durham County Cricket Club, Newcastle Falcons rugby club and Sunderland AFC where you can print articles of any kind of sport of your choice. The university really attracted me because course has strong links to well known names such as Sunderland AFC so I can get experience working with a actual football club and write articles so I can show my knowledge about the football club or giving my opinions of a match that Sunderland AFC played in like if Sunderland played well or not etc.

In University of Sunderland, you study sports journalism for three years, the first year is about developing the essentials skills for sports journalism like finding a story, doing an interview and producing content that will get people interested and talking about it. The second year you will learn how to thrive and survive in the pressured world of live broadcasting and develop skills for editing and filming sports videos, producing audio and info graphics. The final year you have to produce content from a sports news list provided by JPI media and it will be published in the Sunderland Echo and lastly you will be making a broadcast sports package and how to present a bulletin or commentate on the action and also, you will be working with your tutor to plan and produce a sports magazine, website or series of investigative articles.

2) Teesside University 

The second option is Teesside University because they value the progression of their students by improving their skills in order for them to become successful in their future careers. Journalism courses on Teesside University begins with the basics, like how to expand interests and knowledge, how to find a story etc. I actually like the steps of this particular University on improving the skills of students as I want to improve my skills such as writing and communication etc, but I don't think I will apply for this university because it is very far away and I would have to move to the south which I don't want to as I'm really close to my family.

Student finance for undergraduate student is about £27,295 per year if a student applies for tuition fee loan and full time students can apply for financial support for help with living costs such as food. As for repayments, start repaying your tuition fee and maintenance one you left your course and the amount you pay is based on income and how much you owe. The only time where repayments stop is when you stop working and your income goes below the threshold.

3) Northumbria University Newcastle

My final higher education option is in Northumbria University in Newcastle. Just like the previous examples, the university will help the development of students in order to achieve the higher education that they need. In the uni's website, the students will either work individually or in groups to gain necessary skills in journalism such as research, storytelling, presentation and production skills for a high quality journalism. As for the facilities, students will be trained extensively on necessary equipment to get them prepared for the industry of journalism and it is proven to be future-proof which means that the replicated equipment that it is used in the university are similar to the ones that the industry uses and the students will get all the experience that they need to achieve all the qualifications that they need to pass the course. I really like the university as they use replica equipment so I as a student, it is really important for me to know the skills and equipment that is used in the industry so I like how the university has the equipment.

I like Newcastle University because I like how they care about student's progression when they start uni, for example they if anyone wants to do sports journalism, they will help you to improve on your writing skills, communication skills, language etc. These are the skills that I personally want to improve in order to look professional when writing an article or post and posting in either social media or for the company that I work with. The other reason why I like about the university is that the uni is considered one of the best universities in the UK. According to their own website, Newcastle University is ranked 28th in the Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020, 23rd in the Complete University Guide 2021, 51st in the Guardian University league tables 2020 and 12th and awarded First Class in the People and Planet University League 2019. These are the reason why I want to join Newcastle University, due to being a highly rated uni and you will have a higher chance of getting a decent job if you went into Newcastle University. 

In Newcastle University, living expenses are really expensive and according to their website, the average costs for a student is £770 per month and if anyone wants to study in the university, patterns as a student may differ if they are living away from home. The university include estimate prices of studying in Newcastle and the prices can go up to £700, for example the accommodation including utilities are about £335 - £715 and food is about £140 - £200. So I need to take this to considerations about joining the Newcastle University, even though I do like how they focus on improvement of skills during their courses.