Unit MS2
This is a coursework unit, comprising three pieces of linked work. It accounts for 50% of the total AS marks (25% of the whole ‘A’ level). Students will complete:
1. A pre-production piece, such as the draft of a radio news broadcast. This gives the students the opportunity to undertake research that will enable them to develop their plans and ideas.
2. A finished, polished production piece, such as an ‘actual’ radio news bulletin, completed using the Audacity ICT programme. This gives the students the opportunity to put into practice their ideas.
3. A report which includes a justification of the target audience, a discussion of the research findings and an evaluation of the finished production. This gives the students the opportunity to explain how they formulated their ideas and how well they feel they translated their ideas into a full, finished production.

The three pieces of coursework are internally marked and externally moderated by the WJEC. (Each of the three pieces will be assessed separately and then combined to achieve a total mark.)

The Media Studies Department uses the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC) specification at AS/A2, and has done so since the subject was first offered (at GCSE level) over fifteen yeas ago. This Examining Board was chosen because it provides now and has always provided a good mix of theoretical and practical work. The Department’s research found that this particular balance was highly regarded by the country’s universities. Given that nearly all the students who take Media Studies have Higher Education aspirations (both to take Media-related and non Media-related courses), it was and is important to the Department that the course content is approved by many Higher Education institutions and that it helps prepare the students for the rigours involved at that level, regardless of the degree subject taken.

2. Demonstrate their understanding of how texts are constructed.
3. Demonstrate their awareness of how social and cultural groups, events and issues are represented in media texts.
4. Demonstrate how audiences respond to and interpret texts.

Unit MS1 Assessment
There is a two and a half hour examination which accounts for 50% of the total AS mark (25% of the total ‘A’).

Questions 1 - students will focus on an analysis of stimulus materials provided by WJEC (for example, a film/TV extract or a newspaper/magazine front cover).
Questions 2 and 3 require the students to concentrate upon the issues involving representation and audience. In answering these questions, the students will draw upon case studies covered during the course. Some of these case studies will deal with incidents in which a link has been made between real life and screen violence. Others will deal with how national and international events and issues have been represented by the various media institutions.

The AS Specification – the two AS units complement one another well, unit MS1 laying down the theoretical basis for Unit MS2
During Unit MS1, through an intensive study of a number of Media texts (such as newspapers, films, magazines, television programmes), students quickly appreciate that the three most important concepts in the study of the Media are:
Genre                   Representation                                Narrative

An understanding of these concepts and how they are
inter-related is crucial to a critical appreciation of any Media text.
Such an appreciation allows the students to:
1. Demonstrate their ability to examine a media text in detail, employing appropriate analytical tools and language.