Creative and media writing?

I'm on a gap year having just finished A Levels with ABC (possibly ABB after my remark) and am looking into Portsmouth uni. It's the only course I've found so far that seems to have exactly what I want, as well as high student satisfaction etc. I was wondering if anyone has done/is doing this course and can give me an idea of what it's really like?

Hiya!

I am going into second year on the Creative and Media writing course. I think it's really good. For the first year there is no exams, you just have to submit coursework. In second year however, you will have one exam in a core unit which was a shock for me so *spoiler alert* lol. It is split into 4 creative writing units and 2 media ones. In the media units, you will be with people who may be taking media alone. I'll describe the units for you as best I can:

True Stories: This unit is for the whole year. You are given writing exercises in class which you could eventually turn into your coursework piece. In the first term, you submit 5 poems and in the second term you submit a 1500 word short story inspired or somehow linked to you. the in class exercises really helped me and I ended up submitting work inspired by them.

Telling Tales: This unit is based on fairy tales and myths and their origins. Then, you write a 2000 word story inspired by or a reworked version of a fairy tale of your choice. You then have to submit an epic poem and a ballad in the second term which comes from the myths and legends.

Tips,Tricks and Techniques: This unit starts in September and finishes in December. You choose an author of your choice and do a presentation on their writing process. Then, you write a short piece in the style of that author. I enjoyed this unit a lot.

Professional Writing: This unit starts in January. They talk about writing in a professional atmosphere such as journalism, news articles etc.. You have to start a blog about anything you like but preferably somehow linked to university and students. You have to update it weekly, at least once or twice. Another piece is an 'op head' where you have to write about a certain student issue of your choice with a bias, but you still need to create a balanced argument. Confusing, I know but it'll be fine once you get to the seminars.

Media writing: Critical reviews and Features: In this unit, you analyse reviews and feature articles then you write a review on a film and a TV show that they show you in a lecture and then you choose another thing to review. In the second term, you then choose 2 issues or subject to write a feature on in the style of a magazine/ newspaper that you choose.

Contemporary Media Events: To this day, I still do not know what a contemporary media event is so I am not much help here. All I can say is read the news to prepare as you will have to choose a media event and write about it using one of the theories they teach you in your lectures. Then in the second term, you will have to do the same thing again but improve from the last essay.

I hope this breakdown helped you and I hope you enjoy the course as much as I did last year!

Feel free to ask me anything more!!