Welsh, Theatre and Media BA (Hons) Undergraduate - September 2025/26* Entry

Welsh is a Celtic language at the cutting edge of modern modes of creativity. This course provides you with a firm grounding in literature and language with the opportunity of studying a combination of theatre, drama and media modules. Foster your creative talents in the company of some of Wales’s leading creative practitioners and follow career paths in the media, theatre sectors but also in education. If you want to complement a traditional academic route with exciting creative experiences in theatre and media, this is a course for you.

If you are planning on working in theatre or the media in the future, this course will equip you with the necessary skills to enter the profession. The course will not only give you a solid grounding in Welsh language and literature, but also give you the opportunity to combine creative, practical and academic elements of theatre, drama and the media. Develop your talent with some of Wales' leading practitioners, who continue to work professionally in the field. This course prepares you for a career in the arts, media and theatre or in education.

As well as giving you a strong grounding in Welsh language and literature there will also be an opportunity during the course to learn about various aspects of theatre and media as areas of the arts. There will be an opportunity to learn about the theoretical and historical aspects of these areas, such as the history of Welsh drama, the history of European drama, the tradition of stage adaptation, the study of Welsh screen works and the tradition of broadcasting for radio as a medium. There is also a wide cross-section of modules that give students the opportunity to nurture and develop practical skills in these areas, such as scripting skills (for TV and for stage), performance skills and directing skills as well as production skills for stage, television and radio. 

Why choose Bangor University for this course?

• The Pontio Arts and Innovation centre, a £50 million investment.
• Study in Gwynedd, the home of a dynamic Welsh media and creative industries sector.
• An opportunity to work with theatre and media practitioners who continue to work in the field professionally.
• Studying with poets and writers, winners of national awards and international acclaim.
• Our excellence in creative practice, and Welsh and Celtic studies is acknowledged worldwide.

Additional Course Options

A particular aspect of this course is the opportunity to attend specialist workshops that will equip you with the skills to create your own original work, whether scripting for television or stage, stage production, a short film, or a radio programme.
Teaching is provided through workshops, lectures, seminars and tutorials. Assessment is based on a combination of coursework (e.g. practical/creative work, oral presentations, essays, and weekly tasks) and examinations, with some modules assessed entirely based on coursework. Your modules each year will be equivalent to 120 credits. 
 

What will you study on this course?

The first year is an opportunity to build on your experiences and open new doors, e.g. discuss the language and its art in contexts relating to its history and present-day state, learn new critical skills, respond originally to works of art and develop practical skills in theatre and media.

In your second and third years, you can choose from a wide range of theoretical modules, such as Welsh theatre from the time of Saunders Lewis to Aled Jones Williams and on Meic Povey's television dramas, as well as a wide range of practical modules such as scripting, writing a stage production and producing a short film, to name but a few.

In the third year you will write a dissertation and research an interesting topic of your choice. In the past, many have chosen to research subjects such as the works of various Welsh playwrights, the history of Welsh amateur companies and stage and screen adaptations of Welsh literary works. The options are endless!

Modules for the current academic year

Module listings are for guide purposes only and are subject to change. Find out what our students are currently studying on the Welsh, Theatre and Media BA (Hons) Modules page.

Course content is for guidance purposes only and may be subject to change.

• Pontio Arts Centre is an invaluable resource for Bangor University and the surrounding area. It features state-of-the-art professional spaces to watch live performances or screen productions as well as a dedicated performance studio where students have the opportunity to stage performances.
• The John Phillips building on the university campus also includes: John Phillips Hall - a performance space with sound and lighting equipment, radio studio and control room with self-management equipment, video and audio editing rooms, various cameras for each academic year, e.g. Canon, JVC, various sound and lighting equipment, digital media suite, software such as Adobe Creative Cloud and Final Cut Pro.

General University Costs

Home (UK) students

• The cost of a full-time undergraduate course is £9,250 per year (2025/26).
• The fee for all integrated study abroad years is  £1,385 (2025/26).
• The fee for an integrated year in industry as part of a sandwich programme is £1,850 (2025/26).

More information on fees and finance for Home (UK) students.

International (including EU) students

• International Student Tuition Fees
• International Student Living Costs and Scholarships

Additional Costs
There are also some common additional costs that are likely to arise for students on all courses, for example:

• If you choose to study abroad or take the International Experience Year as part of your course.
• If you attend your Graduation Ceremony, there will be a cost for gown hire (£25-£75) and cost for additional guest tickets (c.£12 each).

Course-specific additional costs
Depending on the course you are studying, there may be additional course-specific costs that you will be required to meet. These fall into three categories:

1. Mandatory Costs: these are related to a particular core or compulsory module that you’ll be required to complete to achieve your qualification e.g. compulsory field trips, uniforms for students on placement, DBS Check.
2. Necessarily Incurred Costs: these may not be experienced by all students, and will vary depending on the course e.g. professional body membership, travel to placements, specialist software, personal safety equipment.
3. Optional Costs: these depend on your choice of modules or activity and they are shown to give you an indication of the optional costs that may arise to make sure your choice is as informed as possible. These can include graduation events for your course, optional field trips, Welcome Week trips.

General University Requirements

To study for a degree, you’ll be asked for a minimum of UCAS Tariff points. For a fuller explanation of the UCAS Tariff Points, please see www.ucas.com.

We accept students with a wide range of qualifications and backgrounds and consider each application individually.

All students need to have good basic skills and the University also values IT and communication skills.

As part of the University’s policy, we consider applications from prospective disabled students on the same grounds as all other students.

We also consider applications from mature students who can demonstrate the motivation and commitment to study a university programme. Each year we enrol a significant number of mature students. For more information about studying as a mature student, see our Studying at Bangor section of the website.

EU and International Students' Entry Requirements

For detailed guidance on the entry requirements for EU and International Students, including the minimum English Language entry requirement, please visit the Entry Requirements by Country pages. International applicants can also visit the International Education Centre section of our website for further details.

Bangor University offers International Incorporated Bachelor Degrees for International students whose High School qualification is not equivalent to the UK school leaving qualification. The first year (or Year 0) is studied at Bangor University International College, an embedded College on our University campus and delivered by Oxford International Education Group.

There has never been a more exciting time to study Welsh at Bangor. There has never been more demand for a workforce that can use Welsh at senior professional levels. The goal is clear, it has been set by the Welsh Government - a million Welsh speakers by 2050 and a truly bilingual Wales. 

In pursuit of that aim, there will be a great need for confident Welsh-speaking graduates, who can use their language skills in flexible ways, who can think analytically through the medium of the language and use it - both orally and in writing - in various professional situations. 

The remarkable professional success of our students in employment - and their varied careers - is already proving how fully relevant this course is to the requirements of contemporary Wales. A proportion of them go into education, to be primary and secondary teachers, headteachers, education officers and directors of education. Some go into further education and others become university lecturers. Teaching Welsh for adults is also a key area. Television and digital media, theatre and print - including the BBC centre in Bangor and Pontio Arts Centre - offer a cross-section of interesting jobs and have led other alumni into book publishing, creative writing and television scripting, public relations and marketing. There is also continuing demand for bilingual administrators and local government officers. And without the presence of Bangor's Welsh graduates, the translation industry would be quite different. And present-day graduates also have every right to aim high. The National Library of Wales, The National Theatre of Wales, Cwmni Da (one of Wales' largest production companies), the Welsh Parliament’s Translation and Reporting Service and Anglesey Council - what do they have in common? Bangor's Welsh graduates have reached the top of their professional careers in them and are at the forefront of them all!    

Opportunities at Bangor

The University’s Careers and Employability Service provides a wide range of resources to help you achieve your graduate ambitions. 

Internships

Bangor University runs a paid internship scheme within the university’s academic and service departments.

Student Volunteering

Volunteering widens your experience and improves your employability. Find out more about volunteering on the Students’ Union’s website.

A 'with Foundation Year' option is available for this course. Apply for Welsh for Beginners.