Media Studies GCSE — AQA (8572)
The complete AQA GCSE Media Studies course as one navigable map: 8 topics and 42 subtopics, structured exactly as the official 8572 specification lays them out. Tap any topic to zoom in.
Every topic in AQA GCSE Media Studies
- Close Study Products (CSPs)§3.1 · 3 subtopics
- Contexts of the Media§3.2 · 4 subtopics
- Extended Response and Synopticity§3.3 · 2 subtopics
- Media Language§3.4 · 5 subtopics
- Media Representations§3.5 · 10 subtopics
- Media Industries§3.6 · 8 subtopics
- Media Audiences§3.7 · 9 subtopics
- Non-Exam Assessment (NEA)§3.8 · 1 subtopic
How the 8572 exam is structured
Paper 1: Investigating the Media
1 hour 30 minutes · 84 marks · 35% of the GCSE
Paper 2: Understanding Media Forms and Products
1 hour 30 minutes · 84 marks · 35% of the GCSE
Non-Exam Assessment (NEA): Creating Media
Coursework (no fixed time) · 60 marks · 30% of the GCSE
Total assessment: 3 hours written + coursework · 228 marks. Source: AQA Media Studies specification (8572).
Practise it, don't just read it
GCSE SatNav includes an exam simulator with 81 real past-paper questions for this subject, plus AI-generated questions in the real exam format — typed or handwritten. Every answer is AI-marked against the official AQA mark scheme — you see the mark, what was missing, and exactly what to add to reach the next band.
Study Media Studies with the map, not a pile of notes
See exactly where you are, what's next, and how to get top marks — practise real exam questions with instant AI marking against official mark schemes, plus coaching grounded in the spec, every claim cited.