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Division of Media, Communication and Performing Arts

In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022, we are ranked in the top 20 UK universities for Communication and Media (20th out of 88) 

Welcome to the Division of Media, Communication and Performing Arts where we have been delivering courses in culture, creativity and communication for over forty years. Our aim is to provide a stimulating and challenging environment where students combine academic study, creative practical work and opportunities for reflective, work-based learning. Our students benefit from the division’s links with businesses, professional practitioners, as well as Edinburgh’s unique artistic and cultural organisations, festivals, and events.

We deliver undergraduate and postgraduate courses that are relevant, stimulating, challenging and practical. They aim to provide students with the specialist knowledge, working practices, and high level communication skills that employers look for in graduates. Students are encouraged to challenge conventional assumptions, develop collaborative partnerships, explore their creativity, cultivate resilience and ultimately become ready to engage with their chosen professional careers. Our graduates go on to work in the creative industries, marketing, public relations, events, arts management, and beyond.

Within the division, learning is not limited to the classroom. Opportunities for work-based experiences exist across all of our courses, while students also have access to a range of specialist facilities and resources to support their studies. In addition to a range of production equipment, digital editing suites and post-production facilities, we also have a fully equipped and licensed studio theatre, five rehearsal studios and a costume design workshop. We also have international partnerships in Australia, Sweden, Canada, and the USA and every year a number of our undergraduate students take the opportunity to embark on an overseas exchange.

Our staff team is made up of many dedicated professionals and practitioners, all of whom have strong, current industry connections. Many are actively engaged in research and knowledge exchange, meaning that the content of our courses is up-to-date, thought-provoking and engages with contemporary questions and debates. In 2014, our submission to the Research Excellence Framework, in the field of Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, was ranked 1^st in Scotland for world leading and internationally excellent publications and 12^th in the UK on the same measures.

Film, Media and Communications

Undergraduate Study

Drama and Performing Arts

Undergraduate Study

Creativity and Culture

Postgraduate Study

Media, Communications and Public Relations

Postgraduate Study

QMU is in the top 2 in Scotland for student satisfaction in Tourism, Transport and Travel (includes International Hospitality and Tourism Management, Events Management, and Public Relations, Marketing and Events courses) (Source: NSS 2020)