Automotive Journalism MA

Postgraduate

Female reporter interviewing a male race driver

If you have a passion for cars and communication, the Automotive Journalism MA course can help you turn that passion into a career.

Year of entry

2024-25

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time

Duration

1 year full-time
Up to 2 years full-time (with professional experience)

Course code

AHT015

Start date

September 2024
January 2025

How to apply

Book an Open Day

Download a prospectus

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Course overview

The course provides a focused route into jobs with brands in automotive media, immersing you in the world of automotive journalism and equipping you with the skills needed to stand out for sought-after jobs in automotive media and the motor industry.

The course team is led by an award-winning motoring journalist, author and editor, and includes specialist tutors with practical journalism experience in fields ranging from news and feature writing to video production to virtual reality (staff may be subject to change).
You will have the opportunity² to write, design and produce your own automotive magazine, Automotive, which is published online and in print form.

Joint Top Modern University for Career Prospects

Guardian University Guide 2021 and 2022

5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

Top 5 UK Student City in England (Coventry)

QS Best Student Cities Index 2024

Why you should study this course

We help you to acquire the essential knowledge and practical skills needed for a successful automotive journalism career.

You will get used to working with multiple forms of media – generating traditional print, audio and video content, all the while embracing new technologies and creating parallel digital content, including social media, blogs and web-based content.
You will have access to our newsrooms equipped with industry-standard media production software, and professional equipment from our dedicated Media Loan Shop. Our media facilities include professional-standard radio studios and a state-of-the-art specialist TV studio, The Tank⁴.
Our links with the automotive media and motor industries have helped students to secure work placements and internships for students with Autocar, Top Gear, Ferrari, EVO, Autosport and many more. One student worked at Ferrari’s UK press office to support a prestigious annual event held at Silverstone, including the production of the event programme. Others have worked with automotive websites on coverage of motor shows or helped out on cover photo shoots for car magazines.
Graduates have secured jobs with Autocar, Autocar India, Auto Express, BBC Top Gear, Pistonheads, CAR Magazine, Car Throttle, What Car? and many other automotive media. Others have gone into automotive PR with brands like Honda, Hyundai, Volkswagen and SEAT, and with specialist automotive PR agencies.

Accreditation and professional recognition

This course is recognised by the following bodies¹:

Guild of Motoring Writers

This course is supported by the Guild of Motoring Writers body.

Midland Group of Motoring Writers

This course is supported by the Midland Group of Motoring Writers body.

We had the opportunity to visit the Motoring Literary and Arts Festival at Silverstone. It was an excellent opportunity to network and enhance one's resume. Talented racing drivers, skilled car designers, and creative writers all coming together to discuss their crafts.
Bhavik Sreenath, Student, quoted 2024 on potential events students may attend throughout the year

Lecturer at a table chatting to two students

What you'll study

You will learn how to write automotive news and feature stories for print, digital and broadcast media using professional facilities, equipment and software⁴. You will be taught key techniques including how to work with press offices to obtain vehicles for testing, and then how to evaluate and describe vehicles for specific audiences. You will also gain an insight into automotive history, culture, design, technology and production, developing your knowledge of the automotive industry and the challenges and opportunities it faces.

In the final stage of your course, you will explore issues in automotive media that interest you further through an extensive individual research project, with support and guidance from specialist tutors. Past students, for instance, have created their own automotive websites, analysed in depth the content of the Top Gear TV show, looked into media coverage of electric vehicles and explored the viability of long-form automotive journalism in the digital age.

We aim to provide opportunities to involve you in organising photo shoots, interviews and video/audio recordings² working to a series of tight deadlines, as you would expect in professional employment. You should also expect to develop a portfolio of journalistic work in anything from writing ‘news in brief’ stories for websites, to full-length features, video material and audio podcasts.

Modules

Journalism Practice, Law and Ethics - 30 credits

Focuses on the fundamentals of journalistic practice concentrating on practical, creative and technical skills. Topics addressed include ideas, markets and sources, interviewing, notetaking and record keeping, news and feature writing, industry history and structure, conventions and techniques of specialist forms and genres. You will acquire practical skills through the production of journalistic pieces, with the support of the module team.

Compulsory

Public Relations - 10 credits

Covers the principles and practice of public relations (PR). It aims to provide you with the necessary transferable skills to construct, execute and apply public relations strategies to meet the objectives of an organisation, often in the absence of complete data. You will be introduced to the code of ethics for public relations and critically engage with debates around ethics and law as it is applied to PR.

Compulsory

Automotive Industry in Context - 20 credits

This module aims to enable you to develop a critically informed understanding of the automotive industry as a specific set of technical, economic, cultural and aesthetic practices. Topics include the business of the automotive industry, the marketplace, socio-political issues, automotive cultures, automotive futures, automotive design and automotive technologies.

Compulsory

Specialist Practice in Journalism and PR - 30 credits

Provides you with the opportunity to acquire and develop specialist knowledge and skills in your chosen field. It builds on practical journalism skills and techniques learned in earlier modules, making it possible for you to expand the depth of the content you create. This professional practice module also aims to provide you with the opportunity to develop professional, ethical and reflective skills at an advanced level within your chosen discipline and experience the working practices of your intended profession.

Compulsory

Advanced Journalism: Digital, Social, Mobile - 20 credits

You'll focus on key skills of emerging forms of journalism including new digital storytelling platforms, social media and mobile journalism. The key themes include the importance of a more advanced understanding of the need to tailor the product to a specific target audience, including specialist outlets, developing the story, analysing source material, applying conventions and understanding techniques of production.

Compulsory

Specialist Research and Analysis - 10 credits

Introduces a range of research tools and associated methods you'll need in order to undertake independent research on identified themes and issues in specialist journalism and PR – relating to texts, audiences and industry. It provides a grounding in a range of analytical techniques and ways of interpreting materials; you'll examine how these can be used to explore contemporary themes and issues which concern journalists and journalism, as well as PR in the UK and around the world. Concentrating mainly on textual analysis, the module helps to prepare you for research-led inquiry relating to journalism and PR, including your major research project and investigative journalism.

Compulsory

Major Project - 50 credits

The major project provides you with an opportunity to create an original and intellectually critical extended piece of writing. You will produce either (1) a dissertation of 10,000 words or (2) an appropriate practice project/portfolio in any media format together with a reflection of up to 3,000 words, on a theme, topic or issue which is relevant to your specialist journalism and/or PR interest and worthy of a sustained in-depth inquiry.

Compulsory

Creative Futures and Social Change - 10 credits

This module explores the changing world of work which Arts and Humanities students enter after study. New technology and the changing global economy mean that jobs and skills are changing and evolving quickly and will continue to do so. This is an exciting and new world, and this module is designed to empower you to realise your potential in it.

This module provides tools for you to develop into changemakers, thrive in a changing world of work and participate in creating a better future for society. You’ll be guided through a process of reflection that explores four possible futures for the world of work and how to situate your own professional identity as the future of work changes through your careers. This module is designed in collaboration with The RSA (Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), and upon successful completion students will receive RSA digital badging.

Compulsory

With professional experience option

The professional experience opportunity² enables you the opportunity to apply for optional professional experience in semester 1, which, upon successfully securing an opportunity, will extend the duration of your master’s to either 16, 20 or 24 months. The professional experience provides an opportunity for you to develop expertise and experience in your chosen field with the aim of enhancing your employability.

Please note that the optional professional experience modules incur an additional tuition fee, which for 1 semester of professional experience is £1,333.33, for 2 semesters of professional experience is £2,666.67, and for 3 semesters of professional experience is £4,000.

Professional experience may also be subject to additional costs, visa requirements being met, subject to availability and/or competitive application. Professional experience opportunities are not guaranteed but you will benefit from the support of our Talent Team in trying to find and secure an opportunity. Find out more about the professional experience option.

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

Each module is taught over approximately 11 weeks with formal teaching typically taking place over two full working days per week.

Andrew Noakes, our specialist automotive tutor, has more than 25 years of experience as a motoring journalist. An award-winning former car magazine editor, he remains a working freelance automotive writer with numerous articles for car magazines and websites to his credit, as well as more than 20 books on automotive topics. He has served as chairman of the Guild of Motoring Writers and a committee member of the Midland Group of Motoring Writers. Other tutors include specialists in digital media and emerging platforms, and a former news and features writer with wide experience of global news reporting and academic research (teaching staff are subject to change).

Teaching contact hours

The number of full-time contact hours will vary from semester to semester, however on average, it is likely to be around 12 contact hours per week in the first year. The contact hours may be made up of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study of approximately 25 hours each week, depending on the demands of individual modules.

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.

Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module.

Assessment methods include:

Essays
Presentations
Reports
Projects
Coursework
Individual assignments

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

International experience opportunities

Students have reported from the Geneva Motor Show, the Shanghai Motor Show, the Chinese Grand Prix and many other international events. Opportunities vary depending on the timing of events, availability and meeting applicable visa and travel requirements, and are therefore not guaranteed².

Coventry is the perfect place for the world’s only automotive journalism master's degree. This city was the birthplace of British car manufacturing and it’s still a vibrant automotive centre today. Jaguar Land Rover, Polestar, Stellantis, Geely and the London Electric Vehicle Company all have a presence here and there are facilities nearby for Aston Martin, BMW, Toyota, JCB and Triumph. There’s growing expertise in electric vehicle battery technology and hydrogen fuel cells.
Andrew Noakes, Course Director Automotive Journalism MA, 2022

Andrew Noakes driving a car looking through the windscreen

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2024/25 entry.

A good honours degree in any subject and/or equivalent professional experience.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

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Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

Russia and Central Asia

You can view our full list of country-specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

Typical entry requirements

A good honours degree in any subject and/or equivalent professional experience.

English language requirements

IELTS: 7.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each component.

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

2024/25 tuition fees.

Student	Full-time	Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man	£11,200 \| £15,200 (with prof. experience)	Not available
EU	£11,200 \| £15,200 (with prof. experience) per year with EU Support Bursary £18,600 \| £22,600 (with prof. experience) per year without EU Support Bursary	Not available
International	£18,600 \| £22,600 (with prof. experience)	Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees³ and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.

We offer a range of international scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees³ cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

Any optional overseas ﬁeld trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.

How do you know if you need to pay UK or international tuition fees?

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the government's Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

Our aim is to offer you sector-leading facilities⁴.

Two male students presenting in a TV studio to a camera in the foreground.

Television Studio

You’ll have access to our on-site television studio The Tank, offering specialist equipment such as large cameras, mixing facilities and fibre-optic wiring throughout.

Male student setting up a photography light in a studio.

Photography Suite

This specialist facility is available to media students to take and process photos in a professional environment. There is also support for printing, high-end scanning and film processing.

Exterior front of the Ellen Terry building.

Media Loan Shop

Our media loan shop provides you with access to the equipment and support you need to excel in your studies – from basic audio recorders to professional cameras and expert advice from our technicians.

Careers and opportunities

The Automotive Journalism MA prepares you for work as an automotive journalist with consumer or business-to-business media or as a content creator for automotive marketing, social media and public relations. Coursework assignments and deadlines are designed to mirror industry practice as far as possible to equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to work in a professional multi-platform environment.

This course is designed to prepare you for specialist automotive journalism roles with consumer and business-to-business automotive websites, or as a content creator in automotive marketing and PR.

The course gives you the skills and knowledge needed for success in these roles to help you stand out from a large number of applicants for these sought-after jobs.

Upon successful completion of this course, you should know how to:

create automotive content to professional standards, for digital, broadcast, print or social media
understand how automotive journalism works and how it relates to the automotive industry
apply a wide range of journalism and communication skills and knowledge to the production of automotive content to professional standards
work creatively, sustainably and independently within professional situations, employing a range of journalism strategies and techniques
critically evaluate and analyse the broad range of factors that impinge upon professional and creative activities within automotive journalism and the broader communications industry
demonstrate the ability to identify and successfully engage with a range of audiences, genres and media platforms within automotive journalism
feel prepared when applying for job roles within automotive media.

Where our graduates work

Graduates of the Automotive Journalism MA have secured roles with the biggest brands in automotive media including:

Autocar
BBC Top Gear
Car
Classic Cars
Car Throttle

And we have graduates who have gone into roles in social media, PR and marketing for automotive companies such as:

Honda
Volkswagen
SEAT
Polestar
Hyundai

For anyone who loves both writing and cars, enrolling on the Automotive Journalism MA is a complete no-brainer. Not only did it teach me some invaluable skills, but it also enabled me to build connections and secure a job which I could never have dreamt possible previously.
George Hill, Automotive Journalism MA, graduated with Distinction in 2021 and is now staff writer at What Car? Magazine

Student sat inside the hub looking at his phone

Graduate Immigration Route visa

Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.

How to apply

UK students

To apply to study for a postgraduate course at Coventry University, you can apply online.

Full-time applications

Part-time applications

For further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.

+44 (0)24 7765 2222

ukadmissions@coventry.ac.uk

Chat with our admissions team

Complete our contact form.

International students

Full-time international students should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.

How to apply

For further support for international applicants applying for postgraduate degree view our International hub.

You can also download our International guide which contains lots of useful information about our courses, accommodation and tips for travel.

Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.

+44 (0)24 7765 2152

applications.io@coventry.ac.uk

Chat with our admissions team.

Complete our contact form.

Disclaimers

Coventry University together with Coventry University London, Coventry University Wrocław, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough, and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the University) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University.

¹Accreditations

The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.

²UK and international opportunities

Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or international opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be unpaid and/or subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel, public authority guidance, decisions or orders and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand any visa requirements, please contact the International Office.

³Tuition fees

The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

For international students, we may increase fees each year, but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

⁴Facilities

Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.

Student Contract

By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the current 2023/2024 contract is available on the website for information purposes however the 2024/25 Contract is currently being updated so please revisit this page before submitting your application. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.