Media Studies
Which schools in England make Media Studies a big part of the curriculum, and where results are strongest. Entries and grades from the 2025 performance tables.
Media Studies GCSE was taken in 840 schools in England in 2025, with 26,416 entries — about 4% of the Year 11 cohort.
Nationally 20% of entries achieved grade 7 or above. The tables below show the schools where the largest share of pupils take the subject, and where grades are highest (schools with at least 20 entries).
At University Academy Long Sutton (Lincolnshire) 84% of the year group took Media Studies.
At A level, Media Studies was offered in 884 schools and colleges, with 13,499 entries — roughly 4% of A level students.
GCSE: schools with the highest share of grades 7–9
Schools with at least 20 entries. England: 20% of entries graded 7–9. High grades often reflect who is admitted (selective and independent schools) as much as teaching.
| # | School | Local authority | Entries | Cohort | Share | Grades 7–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Latymer School | Enfield | 22 | 191 | 12% | 91% |
| 2 | Southend High School for Girls | Southend-on-Sea | 51 | 176 | 29% | 88% |
| 3 | Colfe's School | Greenwich | 24 | 119 | 20% | 88% |
| 4 | Chatham Grammar | Medway | 21 | 151 | 14% | 81% |
| 5 | St Andrew's Catholic School | Surrey | 47 | 209 | 22% | 77% |
| 6 | Royal Russell School | Croydon | 32 | 148 | 22% | 69% |
| 7 | Denbigh High School | Luton | 50 | 219 | 23% | 66% |
| 8 | Highworth Grammar School | Kent | 66 | 214 | 31% | 65% |
| 9 | Rosebery School | Surrey | 20 | 235 | 9% | 65% |
| 10 | Eltham Hill School | Greenwich | 45 | 205 | 22% | 64% |
| 11 | Hitchin Girls' School | Hertfordshire | 30 | 208 | 14% | 60% |
| 12 | Claremont Fan Court School | Surrey | 20 | 120 | 17% | 60% |
| 13 | St Anne's Catholic School | Southampton | 20 | 214 | 9% | 60% |
| 14 | The Petersfield School | Hampshire | 27 | 255 | 11% | 59% |
| 15 | The Westgate School | Hampshire | 56 | 239 | 23% | 59% |
| 16 | Orleans Park School | Richmond upon Thames | 51 | 220 | 23% | 59% |
| 17 | Oakwood Park Grammar School | Kent | 21 | 158 | 13% | 57% |
| 18 | Toot Hill School | Nottinghamshire | 39 | 295 | 13% | 54% |
| 19 | Cheadle Hulme High School | Stockport | 39 | 268 | 15% | 54% |
| 20 | Chew Valley School | Bath and North East Somerset | 30 | 206 | 15% | 53% |
| 21 | Christleton High School | Cheshire West and Chester | 40 | 216 | 19% | 53% |
| 22 | St Richard's Catholic College | East Sussex | 21 | 203 | 10% | 52% |
| 23 | Bede's Senior School | East Sussex | 31 | 186 | 17% | 52% |
| 24 | Hinchley Wood School | Surrey | 60 | 218 | 28% | 50% |
| 25 | Carshalton High School for Girls | Sutton | 22 | 242 | 9% | 50% |
| 26 | Alexandra Park School | Haringey | 41 | 228 | 18% | 49% |
| 27 | Moulsham High School | Essex | 29 | 259 | 11% | 48% |
| 28 | Nower Hill High School | Harrow | 23 | 320 | 7% | 48% |
| 29 | The Belvedere Academy | Liverpool | 21 | 156 | 13% | 48% |
| 30 | Bohunt School | Hampshire | 21 | 304 | 7% | 48% |
| 31 | The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College | Hertfordshire | 55 | 185 | 30% | 47% |
| 32 | Bullers Wood School | Bromley | 83 | 231 | 36% | 47% |
| 33 | St Benedict's Catholic College | Essex | 30 | 180 | 17% | 47% |
| 34 | Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing | West Sussex | 43 | 258 | 17% | 47% |
| 35 | Marden High School | North Tyneside | 39 | 174 | 22% | 46% |
| 36 | Torquay Boys' Grammar School | Torbay | 33 | 167 | 20% | 45% |
| 37 | St John Fisher Catholic Academy | North Yorkshire | 20 | 210 | 10% | 45% |
| 38 | Collingwood College | Surrey | 29 | 304 | 10% | 45% |
| 39 | Bosworth Academy | Leicestershire | 56 | 241 | 23% | 45% |
| 40 | Devonport High School for Boys | Plymouth | 39 | 178 | 22% | 44% |
A level: schools and colleges where the largest share of students take Media Studies
Entries as a share of A level students (at least 30 A level students and 10 entries). England: 4% of A level students.
What pupils learn in Media Studies, stage by stage
England has no national year-by-year syllabus: exam boards and schools set the order within each stage. These are the statutory blocks from the Department for Education, so a parent can see what a child meets in Years 7–9, what every GCSE candidate must cover, and what waits in the sixth form.
What GCSE Media Studies teaches · Years 10–11
27 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Arts & Humanities (10), Social & Cultural Skills (9), Business & Administration (4), Digital & ICT Skills (4). Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Theoretical framework4
- analyse how media language communicates meaning through forms, codes and conventions — codes and conventions, media language
- analyse how media represent events, issues, individuals and social groups — representation, social group
- explain how media industries' production, distribution and circulation affect media — circulation, distribution, production
- explain how media target, reach and are interpreted by audiences — audience targeting, interpretation
Media forms3
- analyse media products across television, film, radio, print and online forms — media form, media product
- compare contrasting media products in depth across audio/visual, print and online forms — contrasting product, in-depth study
- produce an individual media production applying media language and representation — media brief, media production
Media language6
- explain how selecting and excluding media language elements construct meaning — media language element, selection
- explain the relationship between technology and media products — media product, media technology
- explain how codes and conventions establish and vary genres over time — codes and conventions, genre
- explain how intertextuality between media products influences meaning — intertextuality
- apply semiotic analysis including denotation and connotation to media products — connotation, denotation, semiotics
- apply theoretical perspectives on genre and narrative including Propp's theory — genre theory, narrative theory
Media representations4
- explain how media construct versions of reality through representation — construction of reality, representation
- explain how and why stereotypes are established and used by audiences — audience interpretation, stereotype
- explain how representations reflect the context in which they are produced — representation, social context
- apply theoretical perspectives on representation including gender and feminist approaches — feminist theory, gender representation
Media industries3
- explain how ownership and control of media organisations affect media products — conglomerate, ownership, vertical integration
- explain the impact of convergence and different funding models on media industries — funding model, media convergence
- explain the functions and challenges of media regulation — digital challenge, media regulation
Media audiences3
- explain how media organisations target, reach and categorise audiences — audience targeting, categorisation
- explain how audience identity and experience shape media interpretation — audience interpretation, identity
- apply Uses and Gratifications theory to explain audience behaviour — audience theory, uses and gratifications
Skills: analysing media2
- analyse and compare how media products construct meaning and generate audience response — audience response, meaning construction
- use specialist media terminology to discuss media issues in writing — discursive writing, specialist terminology
Skills: creating media production2
- apply media language and representation to create an original media production — media production, representation
- use media language to communicate meaning to an intended audience — media language, target audience
Source: DfE GCSE media studies subject content (2016), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.
What A level Media Studies teaches · Years 12–13
37 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Social & Cultural Skills (18), Arts & Humanities (8), Business & Administration (6), Digital & ICT Skills (4) and others. Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Media language10
- explain how media language communicates multiple meanings across different modesYear 13 — media language, mode
- explain how combinations of media language elements influence meaningYear 13 — media language combination
- explain how developing technologies affect media languageYear 13 — media technology
- analyse the codes and conventions of media genresYear 13 — code and convention, genre
- explain how intertextuality establishes meaning between media productsYear 13 — intertextuality
- analyse audience responses to media languageYear 13 — audience response
- evaluate how genre conventions are challenged, subverted or hybridisedYear 13 — genre convention, hybridity
- explain how media language incorporates viewpoints and ideologiesYear 13 — ideology, viewpoint
- apply semiotic, narratological and genre theory to media productsYear 13 — genre theory, narratology, semiotics
- apply structuralist and postmodernist theory to media productsYear 13 — postmodernism, structuralism
Media representation10
- analyse how events, issues, individuals and social groups are represented in mediaYear 13 — representation, social group
- explain how media re-presentation constructs versions of realityYear 13 — constructed reality
- evaluate the effect of stereotyping on media representationYear 13 — stereotype
- analyse how under-representation and misrepresentation of social groups occurYear 13 — misrepresentation, under-representation
- evaluate how media representations convey and reinforce values and beliefsYear 13 — belief, value
- evaluate claims to realism made by media representationsYear 13 — realism
- analyse the impact of industry and historical context on representation choicesYear 13 — historical context, industry context
- apply theories of representation and identity, including Hall and GauntlettYear 13 — identity theory, representation theory
- apply feminist and gender performativity theory to media representationYear 13 — feminist theory, gender performativity
- apply postcolonial theory to media representationYear 13 — postcolonial theory
Media industries7
- explain processes of media production, distribution and circulationYear 13 — circulation, distribution, production
- explain patterns of media ownership including conglomeration and vertical integrationYear 13 — media ownership, vertical integration
- explain the economic factors affecting media industries and their productsYear 13 — media funding
- explain the regulatory framework of UK media industriesYear 13 — media regulation
- evaluate the impact of digital technology on media production and regulationYear 13 — digital convergence, media regulation
- evaluate the effect of individual producers on media industriesYear 13 — individual producer
- apply theories of media power, regulation and cultural industriesYear 13 — cultural industries theory, media power theory
Media audiences6
- explain how media industries group and target audiencesYear 13 — audience segmentation
- analyse how audiences interpret and respond to media differentlyYear 13 — audience interpretation
- evaluate how audiences interact with and produce media contentYear 13 — audience participation
- evaluate the significance of niche and fan audiences to media industriesYear 13 — fandom, niche audience
- apply media effects and cultivation theory to audience behaviourYear 13 — cultivation theory, media effects theory
- apply reception, fandom and end-of-audience theory to media consumptionYear 13 — fandom theory, reception theory
Skills: analysing media2
- compare how media products construct meaning through language and audience responseYear 13 — comparative analysis
- debate the social, cultural, political and economic role of mediaYear 13 — media debate
Skills: creating media2
- produce a media product applying media language for an intended audienceYear 13 — media production
- produce a cross-media production reflecting digital convergenceYear 13 — cross-media production, digital convergence
Source: DfE GCE AS and A level media studies subject content (2016), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.