How to go to university

Radio lecturer Andrew Dubber has posted advice on his blog for students who want to make the most of university. "It's borne out of the frustrations we often encounter as lecturers," he explains.

More media jobs for Media graduates

Recent updates to the alumni pages have revealed more UCE Media graduates getting more great media jobs in all areas of the industry. In television, 2004 graduate Darren Coates is working as an Assistant Researcher on Build, Buy or Restore at Hotbed Media in Birmingham.

Stefan in the BBC frame

2004 graduate Stefan Klenke is combining a freelance photography business with a career in the BBC - having already worked as a designer for the likes of What's On magazine and Yellow Pages."At the moment I am a runner for the BBC in Manchester," explains Stefan. "It's the first step on the BBC career ladder. It's a very hands on job and offers - next to a lot of hard work - plenty of opportunities to learn from great talented people."

Kelly on the up!

Kelly Edmonds has been promoted to Account Executive at Willoughby PR - less than eight months after graduating from the Media degree and getting her first PR job."It’s a really great job with lots of variety," Kelly explained. "Day-to-day I am in touch with both consumer and trade press regarding features and comment opportunities, writing press releases and articles and liaising with my clients regarding my team’s activity.

Xenia the entrepreneur

Former Photography student Xenia Randle has set up her own business providing images for music media - less than a year after graduating. "I was working at Barclays Bank for three months, before I decided to take the plunge, and left to go on a five week intensive NESTA/UCE Insight Out programme. It really proved invaluable as I set up my own business, ObservatoryImaging.com

Plaudits pour in for placement students

Students still in the first year of their BA in Media and Communications are showing that they are quick learners when it comes to understanding how to get a job. Their first venture into the media workplace has prompted a torrent of praise from the people who matter most – media employers.

Media student awarded Mentor of the Year

Third year Media student Dean Heeley has been named UCE Birmingham's Mentor of the Year thanks to his success in helping pupils fulfil their potential.The 20 year old has been working with Year 11 pupils at Whitesmore School in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham to encourage them to raise their aspirations and think about higher education.

Home Office poaches media graduate

Media graduate Matt Eccles will have the ear of government ministers after he was poached by the Home Office to work as an External Communications Officer for the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Leading Birmingham businesswoman appointed University Fellow

The Managing Director of a leading Birmingham public relations agency has accepted a prestigious appointment at UCE Birmingham.Julia Willoughby is to take up the honorary post of Visiting Fellow of the Department of Media and Communication, which is based at Perry Barr.

Sky gives students a flying start

Three high-flying media students have been short-listed for a Sky Scholarship. Second year students Daniel Bardell, Nikki Lennox and James Butterworth were handpicked for an intensive work experience programme at BSkyB’s main site in West London. Based in the company’s Libraries section, they will spend two weeks in September, getting a taste of the full range of Sky TV’s operations, including news, current affairs and sports broadcasting.

Kevin is the Cat's whiskers

Recent graduate Kevin Nugent impressed his placement employers so much while on the course that he's been working for them full-time ever since he graduated. "I'm working as a Designer/Creative Director for Big Cat Group, an events management agency and media planning/buying service.

Email leads to another job for former student

2004 graduate Gaynor Andrews has landed the gig of promoting Liverpool band The Christians - all from a speculative email enquiry."I was browsing The Christians' website," explains Gaynor, "and decided to send them an email touting my services. A few days later their PR manager Andrew Macaulay called, asking if I would promote the gig in the Midlands for them. Would I?!

Success in Singapore

Kevin Ho, a graduate of the Media degree in 2003, has found success in Singapore. He's working as a development producer for the Right Angle, an independent production house that specialises in factual programming for local channels and international brands such as National Geographic and Discovery.

PR Awards

Shelley Walton, Natalie Hale and Sian Pollock are among a successful cohort of students to collect their Advanced Certificates, a professional qualification of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. This qualification has an unrivalled success rate at UCE Birmingham and again in 2005 all of the students who completed the programme passed the course.

From our own graduate correspondent

Former Broadcast Journalism student, Chloe Arnold, is one of the writers to feature in the recent publication 'From our own correspondent; a celebration of 50 years'. Featuring classic examples of From Our Own Correspondent writing from BBC journalists over the years, Chloe is included alongside Martin Bell, Fergal Keane and Lyse Doucet , writing about her experiences in the Caucasus when she was based in Azerbaijan.

On track for a career in PR

Media graduate Lauren Jones is on track for a great PR career, having scooped a job as Media Relations Assistant at Network Rail. The role, which ranges from sending out press releases to fielding media enquiries and coordinating filming requests, came after Lauren spent time elsewhere in the company.

Bursaries Bonus

UCE Postgraduate Broadcast Journalism students have scooped three of the 10 coveted national bursaries awarded by ITV. Nektaria Marinou, Emma Whiteley and Theopi Skarlatos saw off stiff competition to win the bursaries, which cover course fees and living expenses and include a six month contract in a regional newsroom.

US Success

John Parman, who completed the Pg Dip in Broadcast Journalism in November 2004, has just been appointed producer of a nationwide programme on America 's national Public Radio Network. John is in charge of Interfaith Voices, described as ‘a liberal religious current affairs programme'.

PR Success

Studying PR paid off for Summer 2004 BA graduate Suzie Fothergill, who's now working as Communications Officer for the NHS in Birmingham. She says: "My job involves me managing the communications over four NHS hospital sites.

Cult Fiction success

Penguin's latest Rough Guide is to feature contributions from Multimedia and Journalism lecturer Paul Bradshaw. The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction gives an overview of seminal books, infamous authors and little-known characters that have generated a passionate following.