A government minister visiting the region recently for the Commonwealth Games dropped into the University of Wolverhampton to get the latest news on its investment in a new Screen School and to find out about its Cyber and Computer Science specialities. 

Matt Warman, Minister for Media, Data and Digital Identity in the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), took time out of his busy schedule to tour the brand-new facilities and talk to University staff and academics. 

The University officially opened its new Screen School in March, an extensive refurbishment project at its City Campus in Wolverhampton that has seen £5 million invested in new facilities for students studying for digital arts and media production courses. 

The new Wolverhampton Screen School has been transformed with investment in industry-standard, state-of-the-art equipment with the aim of boosting skills in the digital arts and media industries. Students are benefiting from a new production space, an equipment media store, a video studio with movable partitions and a large multipurpose studio. There are also new Mac labs, edit suites, staff offices and a production base room.  

The facilities also include a green-screen, three-camera TV studio with an adjoining production gallery alongside a new radio studio which reflects the layout of BBC local stations. News readers have access to a second bulletin studio and the technical kit and software will enable the replication of the workflows of national news journalists and the running orders of professional news programmes.  

The core courses taught at the Wolverhampton Screen School are animation, computer games design, film and television production, multimedia journalism, computer science, cyber psychology alongside proposals for a new course in visual effects. 

Tim Steele, Pro Vice-Chancellor, International and Regional Development, said: “We are delighted with the creation of our brand-new Screen School at the University and it was wonderful to showcase the new facilities for the visiting Minister today.  

“Our focus is always on creating an excellent student experience that provides our graduates with the skills they need to thrive in the world of work. These new facilities will enable our students to collaborate and learn using the latest industry standard technology and resources. 

“The West Midlands region has been identified as an area of potential growth for the creative industries, and in March the BBC announced plans to move jobs and programmes outside of London to places including Wolverhampton and Birmingham. We see the University as having an integral role in the growth in creative industries our region and we’re really excited about the opportunities it brings.” 

Creative Industries Minister, Matt Warman, said: "It is fantastic to see the University investing in the future careers of its students with the state-of-the-art facilities at the Wolverhampton Screen School. With the West Midlands in the spotlight hosting the Commonwealth Games and celebrating a festival of sport and culture, it was great to learn first-hand how facilities like these will help the region's young people break into the creative sector and be inspired for the future."