Think students avidly rehearsing – some in costume, some in corners, think half a million quids worth of kit, with students plugged into mickey mouse earphones avidly mixing and then recording CD-ROMs. By A2 level, students are up to a truly employable standard. Impressive, superlatives fail, the vast theatre has roll up chairs, the lighting equipment is brill and the sound fantastic."

In a world awash with Media products and messages it is increasingly important for us to understand and challenge the way in which the media impacts on us. With state-of-the-art technology and high levels of expertise and instruction, Hurtwood provides a media education which is dynamic, provocative and rewarding and unparalleled at this level. It gives students the freedom to be creative and the technical and intellectual tools to achieve at the highest level.

Students learn to write, direct, shoot, mix and edit films, music videos, advertisements and documentaries using digital cameras and digital editing suites; they produce radio shows in the school radio station; they learn print and journalistic skills, layout and design, graphics, photography and editorial management and, in the "new media" they produce web-work to a professional level using industry-standard software.

These production skills are fully complemented by classroom study, led by experienced Media Studies academics and authors, ensuring that Hurtwood students achieve exceptionally high results in all aspects of the subject.