Develop core fashion journalism skills such as catwalk reporting, styling, red carpet verdicts, street style photography, social media, beauty and video journalism.
Learn from industry experts, publishing opportunities and fashion trips. Earn your National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Diploma in Journalism, the industry-recognised qualification. Get hands-on reporting, editing and managerial experience at Fashion North and Spark magazine, based in our innovative mediaHUB. Previous student placements include Grazia, Elle, ASOS or Glamour.
Why us?
- Work with brands on styling challenges, experience fashion trips and exciting masterclasses
- Help run the Fashion North website in our innovative mediaHUB alongside BBC Newcastle journalists
- Graduates working at Victoria Beckham, Vogue, Mail on Sunday’s You magazine and Asos
- Led by former Grazia deputy editor Carole Watson whose fashion industry contacts keep the course at the cutting edge
- The only NCTJ-accredited fashion journalism course. The course is also accredited by the Professional Publishers Association
Course structure
Teaching methods include lectures, demonstrations, seminars, workshops, group projects and practical skills work. All our teaching staff have worked as journalists and have strong links with regional employers and industry organisations. We also invite experienced industry professionals to carry out regular guest lectures and classes.
Assessment is split between portfolios of practical work, essays, examinations, reports and presentations.
Download examples of our students’ work:
Decorum, a luxury magazine for the style-conscious man by Alysha Stirling
Margot, a quarterly fashion magazine for creative women by Rosanne Bradley
Your Prom, a fashion and beauty magazine by Megan Goodwin
Part-time study
If you study this course on a part-time basis you will typically complete 40-80 credits in a year, rather than the 120 credits of full-time students. All modules are taught during the day time and you will be studying alongside full-time students.
Employment
This degree prepares you for writing and talking about fashion in magazines, radio, TV and online media, as well as for retailers or brands. The industry qualifications also equip you to work as a general magazine or newspaper journalist.
The degree is also highly relevant to many positions in industry, commerce and the Civil Service, as well as to jobs in PR and the arts and voluntary sectors.
Recent journalism graduates from Sunderland have gained jobs with employers such as Sky, MTV, The Guardian, Grazia, Elle, regional newspapers and PR companies.
Real-world experience – right on campus
Rub shoulders with BBC Newcastle journalists, get advice from former Sky News journalists and see a Newsroom in action in our innovative mediaHUB.
You’ll be actively involved in the Fashion North website and have the opportunity to get involved in Spark Sunderland, the 24/7 community radio station based in the Media Centre. Spark has won many awards and holds the Nations and Regions Award for Best Radio Station in the North East. Students are responsible for all news-gathering, programme production and advertising.
Sunderland’s daily newspaper, The Sunderland Echo, has a weekly page called ‚On Campus’ that is written entirely by students at the University. It’s an opportunity to find and research your own stories, take photographs, meet deadlines and see your name in print.
Other opportunities for real-world experience include Spark online magazine, SR-News website, Northern Lights website and SportsByte, which are all linked to our Journalism and Media courses.
Superb industry links
Our academics are industry experts and have excellent relationships across the fashion industry including Vogue, Grazia, ITV and BBC.
Broaden your horizons with inspiring trips – recently students have enjoyed visits to the Clothes Show in Birmingham and Fashion Masterclasses in London with speakers from across the industry. The Student Style challenge with John Lewis Retail, inspired students with an industry talk with stylist Josta Wood, followed by a styling challenge in-store.
Professional Publishers Association
The Professional Publishers Association (PPA) represents the consumer publishing sector and helps students with access to world-famous media brands. Their endorsement is a great badge of honour for our students.
During their 2018 reaccreditation visit the PPA said:
- An already excellent course has improved from two years ago thanks to the passion and drive of staff
- The recent revalidation introduced logical, simple but significant changes that will really strengthen student employability
- The Hub facilities are second to none – we need to promote, protect and develop that. The continuous publishing model is also a source of great pride for students
- The course is moving with the times, keeping up with the fast-moving needs of the publishing industry
- The skills being taught are seen by PPA members as essential to modern journalism and to a broader range of companies, not just media companies but brands publishing content
- Use of real-life deadlines and insistence on sources is excellent – don’t see that a lot in other undergraduate courses
Work placements
You will undertake a work placement module in your final year, though many of our students arrange placements for all three years. Recent student placements at fashion publications include Elle, Grazia, Asos, More! and Fabulous – the Sun on Sunday’s magazine.
Here, Candice Farrow shares her experience of her two-week placement at the Sun newspaper in London in the autumn of 2018, working on their Fabulous fashion pages.
In the past, our students have commissioned and styled fashion shoots for magazines and newspapers, worked on catwalk shows and fashion weeks and provided fashion reports for the websites of major retailers in the North East.
All students studying on-campus undergraduate Fashion Journalism courses can take up a CV-enhancing work placement, a University-led industry initiative, or a professional and business development boot camp. By the term placement, we mean we are offering you a taste of the industry which might last anything from two days to four weeks on a part-time basis.
Join award winners
Our students and graduates have been making a splash, winning awards and prizes across the board.
- Ben Holden won the NCTJ Sports Journalism award 2016, winning a space in the NFL press box at Wembley match to see the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals
- Eve Conlon, took Bronze at The Charles Parker Prize 2016 for her piece Student Gamblers. and featured in a special programme on BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Alice Winney, won the Royal Television Society North East Student Award for News 2017 for her story about flooding in Corbridge
- Bethany Elsey, shortlisted for Royal Television Society North East Student Award for Best Documentary
- Amy Stark, won NCTJ Best Student Project 2016 for her project Weird and Wonderful Subcultures
- Luke Bidwell, highly commended NCTJ Student Sports Journalism Award 2016
- Sophie Dishman, highly commended for Best Reporter in the National Student Publication Association (SPA) Awards 2017
- Ryan Lim, shortlisted for Best Photographer in the National Student Publication Association (SPA) Awards 2017
- Emily Parker, highly commended in the 2017 NCTJ awards for excellence for her fashion magazine Bold
