What does Eduqas Component 2 Section A require for Television in the Global Age, and how do you study a TV drama across the whole framework?
Television in the Global Age (Component 2 Section A). Studying contemporary television drama in depth across media language, representation, industries and audiences, the global and national contexts that shape it, and the sustained essay comparing or analysing the set television products.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to Television in the Global Age, Component 2 Section A. Covers studying contemporary television drama in depth across media language, representation, industries and audiences, the global and national contexts, and the sustained essay, with the skills the section rewards. Confirm your set products with your centre.
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What this dot point is asking
Section A of Component 2 is Television in the Global Age: an in-depth study of contemporary television drama across the whole framework (media language, representation, industries, audiences) and the global and national contexts that shape it. The section is examined by a sustained essay, so you need a deep fact file on your set television products and the ability to argue across the framework. Confirm your centre's set products and the current Eduqas lists.
The answer
What the section requires
"In depth" is the key word: you are not skimming the surface but building a complete reading of each product through all four framework areas plus contexts, ready to deploy in a sustained essay.
The framework applied to television
- Media language. How camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound construct meaning, genre and tone in named scenes.
- Representation. How people, places, social groups and nations are constructed, and whose values that carries (apply Hall, and gender or ethnicity theory where relevant).
- Media industries. The production, funding and distribution context: public service broadcasting, commercial models, global streaming, plus ownership (Curran and Seaton) and regulation (Livingstone and Lunt).
- Audiences. Who the product targets, how it addresses them, and how audiences interpret and use it (apply targeting, reception, Shirky).
Why the global context matters
The "global age" is central. Television now circulates across borders; co-productions and streaming platforms reshape what is made and how it is funded; and national context still shapes style, representation and meaning. A non-English-language drama may use pace, performance and setting in ways rooted in its national tradition, which is productive ground for comparison with an English-language product.
The sustained essay
The section is examined by a sustained extended essay marked by levels of response, sometimes comparing the products and sometimes analysing one in depth. The skill is to move across the framework, ground every point in named scenes and contexts, and reach a judgement, rather than writing four disconnected paragraphs.
Examples in context
A strong answer studies the product in depth across the whole framework, grounds every point in named detail, and uses the global context to drive the argument.
Try this
Q1. What does Eduqas require for Television in the Global Age, and which framework areas apply? [5 marks]
- What the marker wants. An in-depth study of contemporary television drama across all four framework areas (media language, representation, industries, audiences) in relation to the global and national contexts (AO1).
Q2. Analyse how one television product you have studied constructs a representation, in its global context. [10 marks]
- Cue. Read named scenes through media language for the representation, apply representation theory, and tie it to the product's global and national context (AO2).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas C2 202215 marksAnalyse how one television product you have studied uses media language to construct representations. Refer to the global context. [15]Show worked answer →
An extended response (AO1 and AO2), shown at 15 marks (the true Section A tariff runs higher; this site caps practice items at 20), marked by levels of response.
Method. Analyse named scenes through media language (camera, mise-en-scene, editing, sound) and show how they construct representations of people, place or values.
Develop. Tie the analysis to the global and national context: how the production context (a UK, US or non-English-language drama) shapes the representation. The top band sustains analysis across the framework and reaches a judgement.
Eduqas C2 202315 marksExplain how the industry and audience contexts of one television product you have studied shape it. [15]Show worked answer →
An extended response (AO1 and AO2), shown at 15 marks (true tariff higher; capped here at 20), marked by levels of response.
Method. Set out the production, distribution and funding context of the product (public service, commercial, global streaming) and its target audience.
Develop and judge. Apply industry theory (Hesmondhalgh on risk, Curran and Seaton on ownership) and audience theory (targeting, Shirky on the changing audience). A judgement on how the contexts shape the product reaches the top band.
Related dot points
- Magazines, Mainstream and Alternative Media (Component 2 Section B). Studying a mainstream and an alternative or independent magazine in depth across the framework, the contrast in their industry models and audiences, the historical and cultural contexts, and the sustained essay.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to Magazines, Mainstream and Alternative Media, Component 2 Section B. Covers studying a mainstream and an alternative magazine in depth across the framework, the contrast in industry models and audiences, the historical and cultural contexts, and the sustained essay. Confirm your set products with your centre.
- Online Media (Component 2 Section C, Media in the Online Age). Studying the websites and social media of a set producer in depth across the framework, convergence and participatory culture, the postmodern blurring of authenticity, and the sustained essay on the online set products.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to Online Media, Component 2 Section C. Covers studying the websites and social media of a set producer in depth across the framework, convergence and participatory culture, the postmodern blurring of authenticity, and the sustained essay. Confirm your set products with your centre.
- The set products and the contexts of media. The range of Component 1 forms (advertising and marketing, newspapers, radio, video games, music video, film), how Eduqas updates the close study products, and the social, cultural, economic, political and historical contexts every product is read through.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to the set products and the contexts of media. Covers the range of Component 1 forms (advertising, newspapers, radio, video games, music video, film), how Eduqas updates the close study products, and the five contexts every product is read through. Confirm your set products with your centre.
- The Component 1 and Component 2 written papers. The structure, sections and timing of both exams, the question types (stepped, analyse, extended essay), the assessment objectives, and the levels-of-response skill of naming, applying and judging theory.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to the two written papers. Covers the structure, sections and timing of Component 1 and Component 2, the question types (stepped, analyse, extended essay), the assessment objectives, and the levels-of-response skill of naming, applying and judging theory.
- Representation: Stuart Hall's representation theory. Representation as construction not reflection, selection and mediation, stereotyping and the exercise of power, and the reinforcing or challenging of dominant ideologies.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to representation and Stuart Hall. Covers representation as construction not reflection, selection and mediation, stereotyping as the exercise of power, and how media reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies, with the analysis skills the representation questions reward.
Sources & how we know this
- Eduqas A Level Media Studies (A680QS) specification — Eduqas (WJEC) (2023)
- Eduqas A Level Media Studies set product information — Eduqas (WJEC) (2025)