Digital Media - Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate

Applications Open - 1st November 2026

Applications Close - 12th February 2027

Entry Requirements - Please refer to the Sixth Form Course Directory via the website www.knoleacademy.org

Option blocks and detailed subject information can be found in our course directory on our website www.knoleacademy.org

How to Apply - Via Kent Choices https://www.kentprospectus.co.uk/login

Level 3 Courses - select a minimum of 3 courses to study

Level 2 Courses - select 1 course only as each course is studied on a full time basis.

The Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate in Digital Media provides students with an engaging and practical introduction to the rapidly developing digital media industry. The course combines theoretical understanding with practical media production, giving students the opportunity to understand how media products are planned, created and targeted towards different audiences.

Students will explore areas such as media institutions, audiences, pre-production techniques and the creation of digital media products. They will develop their ideas from initial planning through to production, editing, post-production and final presentation.

The qualification develops both academic and practical skills and is equivalent in size to one A Level, making it suitable to study alongside other Level 3 qualifications

Students complete a combination of mandatory and optional units, allowing them to develop a broad understanding of the media industry alongside more specialised practical skills.

Mandatory Units

Unit 1: Media Products and Audiences - Students investigate the media industry and develop an understanding of how different media institutions operate and how media products are created for specific audiences. They consider ownership, purpose, audiences and how different groups are represented within media products.

Unit 2: Pre-production and Planning - Students learn how successful media products are planned before production begins. This includes developing ideas, interpreting client requirements and producing appropriate pre-production documentation such as storyboards, scripts, visualisation diagrams and production schedules.

Unit 3: Create a Media Product - This practical unit gives students the opportunity to plan and produce their own media product in response to a brief. Students will apply the skills developed throughout the course and work through the production process from initial ideas and planning to creating and reviewing their finished product.

Optional Units

Unit 20 : Advertising Media

Unit 21: Plan and Deliver a pitch for a Media Product

Unit 23: Create a Personal Media Profile

The course uses a combination of external examinations and internally assessed coursework.

Externally assessed units are completed under examination conditions and marked by Cambridge OCR, while internally assessed units require students to produce practical work and evidence demonstrating that they have met the assessment criteria.

Students therefore need to be prepared for both traditional examination preparation and the independent completion of substantial practical coursework.

Cambridge OCR provides examination papers and mark schemes for the externally assessed elements, as well as model assignments and candidate exemplars for the qualification.

Minimum of 5 9-4 grades in GCSE examinations including English and Maths.

• Social media and Digital content

• Advertising and Marketing

• Film, Video, Television production

• Graphic design

• Photography

• Digital production/marketing

• Journalism

• Website and online content

• Media and communications

• Content creator