Study Wildlife Film-making at UWE Bristol

If you dream of making the kind of nature documentaries you grew up watching, there aren’t many better places to learn than Bristol. The city is home to the BBC’s Natural History Unit and dozens of independent wildlife production companies. Right in the middle of all that is the MA Wildlife Filmmaking at UWE Bristol, a one-year master’s built with people from the Natural History Unit itself.

MA Wildlife Filmmaking at UWE Bristol: the course at a glance


Qualification	MA Wildlife Filmmaking (course code D4P31)
Duration	1 year, full time
Start	September 2027
Where	City Campus, Bristol (School of Arts)
Industry partner	BBC Natural History Unit
Application deadline	Friday 23 January 2027
Programme leader	Peter Venn

The course is practical from day one. In the first term you learn the whole production chain for natural history documentaries: pre-production, shooting and post-production. You’re pushed early to find a strong story for a clear audience, which is harder than it sounds.

The 2027/28 modules are:

Stories on Screen: The Natural World
Professional Production Practice
Critical Collaboration
Creative Professional Contexts
Final Major Project

Everything builds toward your final film, made to professional broadcast standard with proper industry paperwork. You then screen it publicly at the school’s MA Film Festival. Groups are kept deliberately small, so you get real time with professional kit and with tutors who have worked in the industry. Because of the BBC partnership, you’ll regularly meet working producers and directors too.

Entry requirements

The paper requirements are fairly simple. The portfolio and interview are where places are actually won.

Degree: normally an honours degree at 2:1 or above, in any subject. If you don’t have one, UWE still considers other qualifications or relevant professional experience case by case.
Media experience: helpful but not essential. You don’t need to come from a film or media degree.
English (international and EU applicants): IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each part, or an approved equivalent. UWE also runs a pre-sessional English course if you need it.
Portfolio: an online portfolio of your own creative work. It doesn’t have to be film. Photography, writing and illustration all count. Add short captions explaining the context and what your role was.
Interview: shortlisted applicants are interviewed online between mid-March and the end of April 2027. Expect to talk about your film ideas, the documentaries you watch, and the work you submitted.

A tip from how this course talks about itself: they care a lot about storytelling. A short, thoughtful photo story can beat a technically polished but empty showreel. Watch plenty of documentaries before your interview, wildlife and otherwise, and have opinions about them.

Places are limited and the course can close before the deadline, so don’t leave your application until January. Deferrals aren’t accepted.

Fees and funding for 2027/28

These are UWE’s published fees for the full one-year course starting September 2027.

Student type	Full course fee	Per 15-credit module
Home (UK)	£14,000	£1,167
International	£17,500	£1,458

For comparison, the international fee was listed at about £17,250 for 2025 entry, so expect small rises each year. Budget for more than tuition, too. You’ll need your own laptop and external hard drives, and you may pay for travel, clothing for shoots, software and printing. UWE advises waiting until you start before buying a laptop, so staff can tell you what spec you need.

Living in Bristol isn’t cheap either. Course aggregators estimate living costs of around £13,000 for the year, and your own figure depends a lot on rent.

Funding options to look into:

UK Postgraduate Master’s Loan for eligible home students, which helps with tuition or living costs.
UWE scholarships, including an alumni scholarship for UWE graduates and Vice-Chancellor’s scholarships for international students. Check UWE’s postgraduate funding page for current terms.
BBC Studios Wildlife Filmmaking Scholarship, a fully funded place that has been offered to applicants from Central and South America in past years. It must be applied for alongside the course, so check whether it’s running for 2027 entry.

Alumni and careers

This is the course’s strongest selling point. UWE reports that 100% of MA Wildlife Filmmaking graduates were in graduate-level jobs 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2023/24, published 2026). Most start in entry-level roles such as researcher or assistant producer at the BBC or at independent production companies in Bristol, elsewhere in the UK, or abroad. Some raise their own funding and go on making independent films.

After more than a decade of graduates, the alumni network now runs from junior researchers to senior producers across Bristol’s major production companies. That network matters a lot in an industry that still runs on who you know.

A few names worth knowing:

Nikki Dodd won the BAFTA Student Award for Best Documentary in 2025 with One Last Farm.
Nyal Mueenuddin won the same BAFTA award in 2024 with When the Floods Come, so the course took it two years running.
Mattia Cialoni and Lior Kestenberg were nominated for the Emerging Talent award at the Wildscreen Panda Awards, often called the “Green Oscars”.
Roxy Furman and Felipe Rosa also had graduation films selected for the Wildscreen Festival.

Student films have also been nominated at the Royal Television Society awards, Jackson Hole and the International Wildlife Film Festival. Some have been shown on BBC broadcasts or sold to broadcasters around the world. You can watch recent graduation films on UWE’s Showcase site, which is the best way to judge whether the course’s style suits you.

FAQ: UWE wildlife filmmaking

How long is the MA Wildlife Filmmaking at UWE Bristol?

One year, full time, starting in September. There’s no part-time option listed for 2027/28.

How much does the MA Wildlife Filmmaking cost?

For 2027/28 entry, the full course costs £14,000 for home students and £17,500 for international students. Equipment, travel and living costs are extra.

What are the entry requirements?

Normally a 2:1 honours degree in any subject, an online portfolio of creative work, and an online interview. International applicants need IELTS 6.5 overall with no component below 5.5, or an equivalent.

Do I need filmmaking experience to apply?

No. Media skills help, but they aren’t required. A portfolio of photography, writing or illustration that shows you can tell a story is acceptable.

When is the application deadline for 2027?

Friday 23 January 2027. The course can close early if it fills, so apply well before then.

Is the course linked to the BBC?

Yes. The course was co-designed with producers, directors and production managers from the BBC Natural History Unit, and the partnership continues through guest sessions and industry contact.

What jobs do graduates get?

Mostly entry-level production roles, such as researcher or assistant producer, with the BBC and independent wildlife production companies. UWE reports 100% of recent graduates were in graduate-level employment 15 months after the course.

Can I defer my place?

No, deferrals aren’t accepted for this course. Apply in the year you actually want to start.

Is UWE wildlife filmmaking better than a wildlife photography degree?

They lead to different jobs. Choose the MA if you want to work in documentary film and TV. A photography degree like Falmouth’s suits stills and conservation photography better. Our schools guide compares the main options.