Media Studies · Course Map
Media Studies · the whole two-year course at a glance
An overview of the entire two-year course. Weekly rhythm throughout: L1–2 new content, L3 close-analysis workshop, L4 applied task, L5 writing/production lab with ESL sentence frames.
| Semester | When | Focus | Exam anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | autumn 2026 (G11) | Media language → textual analysis → C1 produced & completed | — |
| S2 | spring 2027 (G11) | C1 submission; film-industry case study; revision | Paper 2 ≈ Thu 2027-05-06 |
| S3 | autumn 2027 (G12) | Media debates (Postmodern + Power); C3 launch + production | — |
| S4 | spring 2028 (G12) | C3 submission; Changing media environments; digital-exam training | Paper 4, June 2028 |
Exam dates for 2027 and 2028 are projected and may shift when the school publishes the calendar for those periods.
S1 — autumn 2026 · media language + C1 (G11)
| Assessment | Date | Task |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Wed 2026-10-14 | Timed media-language analysis, unseen extract, 60 min |
| A2 | Mon 2026-10-26 | C1 blog mid-point: posts 1–7 |
| A3 | Fri 2026-11-27 | C1 complete — product + CCR + blog; no edits after |
| A4 | Wed 2026-12-16 | C2 Section A, authentic format |
| EoT | window 2027-01-11 → 01-18 | Full Component 2 paper, 2 hours |
Full detail: Semester 1 Plan · S1 Assessments.
S2 — spring 2027 · C1 out the door, C2 in (G11)
| Week | Milestone |
|---|---|
| wks 1–4 | Post-production sprints → CCR → full blog audit |
| wk 5 | Internal assessment + standardization |
| wk 6 | C1 submission ≈ 30 April 2027 + C2 Section B launch |
| wks 7–10 | Film-industry case study: production/ownership → distribution/marketing → technology → audiences (one major studio + one independent, contemporary, Chinese-market examples); first full Section B essay wk 10 |
| wks 11–13 | Revision; full 2-hour mock wk 12; clinics |
| exam window | Paper 2, May/June 2027 — projected Thu 2027-05-06 · AS complete |
Summer: light case-study collection for the two A2 debate topics.
S3 — autumn 2027 · debates + C3 production (G12)
| Week | Milestone |
|---|---|
| wk 1 | AS→A2 bridge: syllabus-change briefing (blog → slide portfolio; CCR → 2000-word essay; digital exams); C1 carried forward |
| wks 2–7 | Postmodern media; first timed 15-mark essay wk 6; case bank locked wk 7 (majority ≤ ~5 years old) |
| wk 8 | Power and the media begins + C3 launch — portfolio set up correctly from day one (dated, chronological) |
| wks 9–13 | Power topic in parallel with weekly C3 research posts; second timed 15-marker wk 12; C3 pitch wk 13 |
| wks 14–15 | Full planning suite; the AI-image rule taught explicitly |
| wks 16–18 | Production windows; semester exam = two 15-mark essays |
Over winter: all major-task footage shot, assembly edit complete, both minor-task image sets photographed.
S4 — spring 2028 · C3 out the door, C4 in (G12)
| Week | Milestone |
|---|---|
| wks 1–2 | Post-production sprints; package-coherence pass; portfolio audit |
| wks 3–4 | ~2000-word evaluative essay + final polish |
| wk 5 | C3 submission ≈ 30 April 2028 (ICRCs incl. group collaborators) |
| wks 6–9 | Changing media environments: audience behavior → economics/ethics (the AS film case study returns) → technological convergence; first full 30-mark Section B wk 9 |
| wks 10–11 | Digital-exam platform training (specimen walkthrough, on-screen strategies for ESL); full C4 mock wk 11 |
| wk 12 | Final revision; contemporaneity check on case banks |
| exam window | Paper 4, May/June 2028 · A Level complete: C1 (carried forward) + C2 + C3 + C4 |
Your AS media area is Film, and your C1 is a film opening. The A2 debate topics are Postmodern + Power. The C3 brief is open by design. Any point still open will be confirmed in class.