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The route into journalist

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار إدارة الأعمال— Business Administration · المسار الشرعي— Sharia, or مسار إدارة الأعمال— Business Administration · المسار العامor مسار إدارة الأعمال

A-Level

  • Economicshelpsfor Business Administration and Management, Law, Media, Journalism and Communication, Political Science and International Relations
  • A languagehelpsfor Business Administration and Management, Law, Media, Journalism and Communication, Political Science and International Relations
  • Historyhelpsfor Law, Media, Journalism and Communication, Political Science and International Relations
  • Mathematicshelpsfor Business Administration and Management, Political Science and International Relations
  • English Literaturehelpsfor Law, Media, Journalism and Communication
  • Business Studieshelpsfor Business Administration and Management
  • Politicshelpsfor Media, Journalism and Communication
  • Government and Politicshelpsfor Political Science and International Relations

IB Diploma

  • A second languagehelpsfor Business Administration and Management, Media, Journalism and Communication, Political Science and International Relations
  • History HLhelpsfor Law, Media, Journalism and Communication, Political Science and International Relations
  • English A HLhelpsfor Law, Media, Journalism and Communication
  • Economics HLhelpsfor Law, Political Science and International Relations
  • Mathematics: Applications and Interpretationhelpsfor Business Administration and Management
  • Economicshelpsfor Business Administration and Management
  • Business Managementhelpsfor Business Administration and Management
  • Arabic Ahelpsfor Law
  • Global Politicshelpsfor Media, Journalism and Communication
  • Global Politics HLhelpsfor Political Science and International Relations

Advanced Placement

  • AP Statisticshelpsfor Business Administration and Management, Media, Journalism and Communication, Political Science and International Relations
  • AP English Languagehelpsfor Business Administration and Management, Law, Media, Journalism and Communication
  • AP Macroeconomicshelpsfor Business Administration and Management, Political Science and International Relations
  • AP World Historyhelpsfor Law, Political Science and International Relations
  • AP Comparative Governmenthelpsfor Law, Media, Journalism and Communication
  • AP Microeconomicshelpsfor Business Administration and Management
  • AP Calculus ABhelpsfor Business Administration and Management
  • AP United States Historyhelpsfor Law
  • AP Latinhelpsfor Law
  • AP US or World Historyhelpsfor Media, Journalism and Communication
  • AP Comparative Government and Politicshelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • AP US Government and Politicshelpsfor Political Science and International Relations

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Business Administration and Management

    Business and financial journalism, where subject knowledge is the differentiator.

    Four years in the Kingdom and the US, three to four in the UK, frequently with an internship or placement.

  • Law

    Legal and investigative journalism, where knowing what a document means is the scarce skill.

    Three to four years for the LLB, plus one to three years of professional training and examinations. In the US, law is a graduate degree taken after a first bachelor's.

  • Media, Journalism and Communication

    The direct destination, though the industry hires on portfolio rather than on the qualification.

    Three to four years, with placements and student media effectively compulsory in practice if not on paper.

  • Political Science and International Relations

    Political and foreign affairs reporting, where the subject knowledge is the qualification.

    Three to four years, often with a language, an exchange or an internship year.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi admission composite; check whether the specific college requires the humanities Tahsili.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • SAT or ACTGrade 11 to early Grade 12

    For US applications, and business is often a separately competitive admission within the university.

    • March, May, JuneSpring sittings. The standard first attempt, in Grade 11.
    • August, October, November, DecemberAutumn sittings. The second attempt, and the last one that reaches early US deadlines is usually the October or November date.
    • Two to four weeks after each sittingScores released; sending them to universities is a separate step with its own timing.
  • IELTS or TOEFLBefore applying abroad

    Required almost everywhere for international admission.

    • Weekly, year-roundIELTS and TOEFL both run frequently at centres across the Kingdom; Duolingo and PTE can be sat at very short notice.
    • 3 to 13 days after the testResults, depending on the test. IELTS computer-delivered is among the fastest; paper-based is slower.
    • Autumn of Grade 12 at the latestWhen to have sat it by, leaving room for one repeat before offers are decided.
  • LNATSeptember to January

    Required by Oxford, UCL, LSE, KCL, Bristol, Durham, Glasgow, Nottingham and SOAS among others. Nothing to revise and a great deal to practise; the official practice materials are free.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • LSATAfter a first degree, for the US

    The US graduate-entry route, and years away from a school decision.

  • Portfolio or writing sampleBefore applying, and continuously afterwards

    Not required by every programme and required by every employer. School newspaper, a blog, a podcast, published pieces — start at fifteen, because this is the only credential the industry reliably reads.

  • TSAOctober

    Oxford PPE and related courses.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

United Kingdom · United Kingdom — via a degree

  1. schoolA-levels, or five GCSEs including English for direct entry2 yr
  2. undergraduateDegree in any subject, or in journalism3 yr
  3. trainingPostgraduate diploma or accredited journalism qualification1 yr
  4. practiceReporter0 yr

LicensingNone. No registration, no protected title, no professional body gate.

United Kingdom · Without a degree — apprenticeship or direct entry

  1. schoolFive GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 including English2 yr
  2. trainingJournalism apprenticeship or trainee reporter scheme1–2 yrs
  3. practiceReporter0 yr

LicensingNone.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, either track3 yr
  2. undergraduateBachelor's in media, communications or any subject4–5 yrs
  3. practiceJournalist or media professional0 yr

LicensingNo professional licence for journalists as such, though media organisations and publishing are regulated. Understand the legal and regulatory environment you would be working in before committing to this career locally.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 3–4 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is management consultant at 3 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 1 year by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of £27,000–35,000, that is roughly £27,000–35,000 of earnings deferred.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 1–3 years.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 4–5 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 1 year by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 140,000–220,000 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.