Global Academy Global Academy

Sixth Form Digital Production, Design & Development Route 💻

The new Sixth Form Digital Production, Design & Development Pathway at Global Academy Sixth Form is designed to prepare students for a career as a digital programmer, software engineer or technician in the media industry with both classroom and industry placement based learning.

The new Digital Production, Design & Development Pathway at Global Academy Sixth form is designed to prepare students for a career as a digital programmer, software engineer or technician in the media industry.

The course includes an industry placement of at least 45 days, during which students will gain valuable experience and develop the skills needed to work in this field. The course is taught both at the Academy, where students will learn the skills that employers need as well as in meaningful industry placements. Upon completion, students will receive a Level 3 T Level in Digital Production, Design and Development – which is equivalent to 3 A Levels and offers up to 168 UCAS Points. This qualification can lead to an apprenticeship, work in the media and digital industry, or further study in a digital or media-related field.

Global Academy will be working closely with employers like Global Media and others as part of the sixth form course – who will host a student placement across the two year course lasting a minimum of 45 days (9 weeks).

The type of projects which you’ll do during the course could include:

In the first year – alongside a placement at one of our employer partners – the course will help students develop an understanding of a broad range of issues relevant to the digital sector, including:

  • how digital technologies impact business
  • the ethical and moral implications of digital technology
  • using data in software design
  • using digital technologies to analyse and solve problems
  • digital environments, including physical, virtual and cloud environments
  • emerging technical trends, such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, 3D printing
  • legal and regulatory obligations relating to digital technologies
  • the privacy and confidentiality of personal data
  • the technical, physical and human aspects of internet security
  • planning digital projects
  • testing software, hardware and data
  • digital tools for project management and collaboration

 

In the second year – each student will complete occupation-specific content such as:

  • analysing a problem to define requirements and acceptance criteria aligned to user needs
  • designing, implementing, and testing software
  • changing, maintaining and supporting software
  • creating solutions in a social and collaborative environment
  • discovering, evaluating, and applying reliable sources of knowledge
  • applying ethical principles and managing risks in line with legal and regulatory requirements when developing software

 

What qualification will I get?

Students taking this course will receive a Level 3 Digital Production, Design and Development T Level.-  which is equivalent to 3 A Levels. The course offers up to 168 UCAS Points – depending on the grade you have achieved (pass, merit, distinction).

 

What partners are involved in this course?

Across the course – you will be required to complete an industrial placement of at least 315 hours (approx 45 days). This will provide you with an invaluable insight into the demands of working within the creative media industries and will equip you with professional skills such as undertaking research, generating ideas, communicating ideas, developing ideas working collaboratively with others and developing your reflective practice.

Global Academy will be working closely with employers as part of the sixth form course who will host a student placement across the two year course.

Where could this course take me?

The Media Technician pathway at Global Academy will allow you to develop skills with work experience during your course and will equip students to go on to gain an apprenticeship, work within the media or study media or a media-related course at a degree level at university.

Possible jobs could include:

  • Web Developer
  • Web Designer
  • Software Engineer
  • Music Streaming / TV Streaming / Video Streaming Developer
  • Computer Games Developer
  • E Learning Developer
  • User Experience (UX) Designer

What are the entry requirements for this course?

To be considered for this course – you will need to achieve 5 GCSEs at 5 or above (including English, Maths and Computer Science) as well as demonstrate a passion, dedication and interest in the digital side of media, broadcast and production.

What makes a T Level different?

T Levels are new qualifications that are endorsed by business, they include a 45-day industry placement to help you learn what a real career is like. Find out more and hear from current T Level students by checking out the link below.

Find Out More

100%

 Positive destinations into industry, higher education or freelance

7

unique media qualifications available to kickstart your career

150+

media industry and career engagements per year

Life at Global Academy Sixth Form

🧰 Whatever route you take to begin with –  you will be taught the basics of each pathway when you join our Sixth Form in September– we call this your ‘Media Toolbox’.

✨After this – it’s time to get practical and you’ll get real life experience to work on projects with an industry-focused. You’ll get the chance to go through the whole production experience (research, planning, pre-production, production and post-production). During the lessons – you’ll spend time with our experienced media staff who will guide you on how to use industry-standard equipment and software. We also work with real-life clients and industry partners – so you never know who will be seeing your work (and could possibly employ you in the future!).

👉  In your second year – you’ll get the chance to specialise your study to really hone your skills and craft as well as make sure you’re armed with all the knowledge needed to progress into the industry or further education when you leave. Finally, you’ll work on your Final Major Project. The Final Major Project is the culmination of your Global Academy training and showcases all the skills you have learned at Global.

☑️  Alongside studying your course – students will get the chance to take part in a wide variety of career and work experience opportunities with industry leading professionals and our own in house careers team. One minute you could be spending the day with the team at TikTok learning the craft behind creating digital content and the next you could be hearing from a producer from a BAFTA awarding film – we call it #OnlyAtGlobal.

📍 As well as that – there is a wide variety of in house clubs, classes and projects for Sixth Form students to be involved in such as Youths Choice, Film Club, Art Club and more.

What else happens in Global Academy Sixth Form? 🤷‍♀️

Guest Speakers and Workshops

Throughout your time at Sixth Form – you’ll get the chance to hear from and work with guest speakers or attend workshops and classroom drop ins led by someone in the industry – previous companies have included Canon, ITV,  Sky, Grayson Perry, the Director of D&AD creative, BBC, Channel 4, Global and many more. You never know which guest will walk through the door each week!

As well as that, once a week, we’ll spend some time together to learn about issues that affect us as young citizens about to enter the world of work with our Global Cultural Learning Programme.

Social Media

Enhance your social media skills with our weekly masterclass. Each week, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about building and optimizing your online presence, analyzing your performance, and creating a content strategy. No matter which course you choose, you’ll spend one hour of your schedule each week learning the tools of the trade to help you excel on social media.

G:Prepare and Careers Guidance

Each week during Year 12, you’ll spend one hour of your timetable in a dedicated workshop to help develop your media, broadcast and production industry employability skills in a session delivered by the Global Academy team. This session will ensure you have all the skills, knowledge and behaviours to land your first job in the industry once you leave the Academy.

You’ll also get access to Unifrog software for FREE during your time here at Global Academy which offers a plethora of careers advice and guidance at the touch of the button, as well as access to an industry mentor from Global and other professionals from broadcast tech industry.

We also have our own dedicated Careers Advisor office who meets with students for one to one careers guidance support and a dedicated team working directly with industry to arrange work experience, insight days, employer visits and more!

 

Enrichment, Work Experience and Trips

All students will get access to work on real-life client projects, undergo work experience at some of the top media companies and get to meet industry leaders in workshops and insight days. There are also a wide range of trips and visits available during the sixth form to support your course and pathway routes – from visits to ad agencies, TV studios, radio companies and galleries!

To top that off, there are plenty of chances to develop your content and design skills by being involved in the Global Academy’s in house content production company – Youths Choice and produce creative work for the brand.

Finally, there’s a wide range of after school clubs and classes and enrichment opportunities including our annual trip to Hollywood in Year 13.

FREE Adobe Software

All students in Global Academy Sixth Form get access both on campus and home-use to the Adobe Creative Cloud software packages including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Audition and Illustrator to ensure work completed can be to a high standard. The Academy will give you access to this software on your personal devices during your time in the Sixth Form (valued at £600 per year).

Where Are They Now?

Check out some of the Media Companies our graduates have gone on to work for!

Students have graduated from our course into top media employers including Global Radio, BBC, Facebook, TikTok, Google and more.  Click here to find out more about Global Academy alumni.

Read our Alumni Stories

Getting Involved

Want to know what life is like for a Year 12 or 13 student at Global Academy? Here are some of our Sixth Form students talking about their time with us.

 

You In?

If you want to kickstart your career in the creative industry – then click the link below and apply now to join us in September.

Apply now

Ready to kickstart your career in media?

Ready to kickstart your career in media?

Ready to kickstart your career in media?

Ready to kickstart your career in media?

Ready to kickstart your career in media?

Apply Now