Public Relations with Foundation Year BA (Hons)

The course starts with an introduction to public relations, after which you will learn how to research, plan, implement and manage successful PR campaigns. You will learn how essential it is to engage with the political, social and cultural environment to appreciate the needs and demands of the industry.

Your teaching will include a mixture of tutor-directed learning and student-led exercises and activities. Assessment is both formative and summative, and is supported through timely and meaningful feedback which can be oral or written. For each assessment you receive written feedback from tutors whilst less formal feedback may be given by your peers, and self-evaluation is also encouraged.

You learn through

• lectures including PR industry experts
• workshops
• seminars
• collaborative activities on team projects
• research tasks and projects
• attendance at PR industry events•oral presentations
• portfolios of work
• practical tasksIn the foundation year, you'll study wide-ranging media arts and communication topics, while also focussing on your particular subject area and completing assignments in that field.

Work placements

You will have the opportunity to arrange a year-long work placement in between your third and fourth years. This gives you a real-world experience to prepare you for your future career.Recent students have worked with Sheffield United Football Club, Disney, local authorities such as Derbyshire County Council and Wakefield Council, leading local and national PR agencies, charities such as Breast Cancer Care, St Luke's and Bluebell Wood Children's hospices, Sheffield Children's Hospital and Whirlow Hall Farm.

Networking opportunities

Your lecturers are actively involved in PR consultancy work and academic research, giving them access to key contacts and a current understanding of industry practice, which feeds into the teaching on the course. Some tutors are award-winning PR industry experts, and the course features guest speakers from the national and international PR industry.You also have the opportunity to attend conferences and PR events designed to offer you valuable additional professional insight and the chance to network with experts in the industry (there may be an additional charge for these) including a number of industry events (Grad Talk, Pathways) held on campus throughout the course.