📚 Year 12 AQA Media Studies: 2026 Exam Changes and Trends | Year 12 AQA 媒体：2026年考试变化与趋势
For students starting Year 12 in September 2025 and sitting their AQA Media Studies exams in 2026, significant but manageable changes are on the horizon. The most notable update is the introduction of new Close Study Products (CSPs), reflecting a shift towards global streaming platforms, contemporary social issues, and diverse representation. This article breaks down the key updates to the specification, assessment expectations, and revision strategies so you can approach the 2026 papers with clarity and confidence.
对于2025年9月开始Year 12并将在2026年参加AQA媒体研究考试的学生来说，考试将出现一些显著却不难应对的变化。最引人注目的更新是新的深度研究产品（CSP）列表，反映了全球流媒体平台、当代社会议题和多元表征的转向。本文将为你梳理大纲、评估要求和备考策略上的关键变化，让你能清晰自信地迎战2026年试卷。
1. The Big Picture: What Is Actually Changing for 2026 | 概览：2026年到底变在哪里
The core AQA Media Studies specification (7572) remains stable: you will still take two external exams (Media One and Media Two) and submit the Non-Exam Assessment (NEA). The 2026 adjustments do not alter the weightings of Assessment Objectives or the fundamental theoretical framework. Instead, AQA has refreshed the Close Study Products to ensure the course stays relevant in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
AQA媒体研究大纲（7572）的核心框架保持稳定：你仍需参加两场外部考试（试卷一和试卷二）并提交非考试评估（NEA）。2026年的调整并没有改变评估目标的权重或基础理论框架，而是更新了深度研究产品，确保课程内容紧跟迅速演变的媒体生态。
The emphasis remains on media language, representation, industry and audience, but the new CSPs invite deeper analysis of digital-first content, transnational narratives and algorithmic culture. AQA also continues to modernise question wording to discourage pre-learned essays and reward genuine critical autonomy.
考察重点仍是媒体语言、表征、产业和受众，但新CSP促使学生更深入分析数字优先内容、跨国叙事和算法文化。AQA也持续更新命题措辞，以摈弃死记硬背的答案，鼓励真正自主的批判性思维。
2. New Close Study Products: A Digital and Global Turn | 新深度研究产品：数字化与全球化转向
The 2026 CSP list has been designed to reflect the media students actually consume while stretching their analytical range. Streaming series, viral music videos and digitally distributed magazines now sit alongside more traditional forms. This blend promotes comparisons between historical contexts and today’s platform economy.
2026年CSP列表旨在反映学生真实接触的媒体，同时扩展其分析广度。流媒体剧集、病毒式音乐视频和数字发行的杂志与传统媒体形式并列，这种混合有助于在历史语境与当今平台经济之间进行比较。
All students must study nine CSPs for Component 1 and four for Component 2, including television, music video, advertising, magazines, film and online media. AQA’s choices signal an increased focus on non-US production, public service broadcasting in the digital age, and the role of participatory culture in shaping media meaning.
所有学生必须为试卷一学习9个CSP、为试卷二学习4个CSP，涵盖电视、音乐视频、广告、杂志、电影和在线媒体。AQA的选择预示着对非美国制作、数字时代的公共服务广播以及参与式文化在塑造媒体意义方面的作用给予了更多关注。
3. Television CSPs: From Procedural Dramas to Transnational Streaming | 电视CSP：从程序剧到跨国流媒体
The 2026 television CSPs are The Jetty (BBC, 2024) and Lupin (Netflix, 2021). This pairing abandons the older focus on BBC crime procedurals like Life on Mars and invites students to compare a linear broadcast crime drama with a globally streamed, non-English-language thriller.
2026年电视CSP为《The Jetty》（BBC, 2024）和《Lupin》（Netflix, 2021）。这一组合放弃了早先偏重BBC犯罪程序剧（如《火星生活》）的做法，转而让学生比较线性广播的犯罪剧与全球化流播的非英语惊悚片。
The Jetty, a contemporary BBC series, explores issues of consent, memory and small-town secrets, perfect for analysing public service broadcasting values and regulatory contexts. Lupin reimagines a classic French literary figure for the Netflix age, raising questions about cultural hybridity, local-global dynamics and the binge-watching model. Together they push students to discuss media language, genre hybridisation and digital distribution.
《The Jetty》是一部当代BBC剧集，探讨同意、记忆和小镇秘密等议题，非常适合分析公共服务广播的价值和监管语境。《Lupin》为奈飞时代重构了法国经典文学人物，引发关于文化混杂性、在地与全球动态以及刷剧模式的讨论。两者共同促使学生探讨媒体语言、类型杂交和数字分发。
4. Music Video CSPs: Identity, Provocation and Platform Reach | 音乐视频CSP：身份、挑衅与平台传播力
While AQA frequently updates music video CSPs, the 2026 selection pushes the boundaries of representation and controversial imagery. Expect artists who deliberately craft polarising visuals to generate social media debate, such as Lil Nas X’s Montero (Call Me By Your Name) and Billie Eilish’s Therefore I Am.
AQA经常更新音乐视频CSP，而2026年的选择进一步拓展了表征与争议性图像的边界。可以预见的是，那些刻意制造两极分化视觉以引发社交媒体讨论的艺术家将出现在列表中，例如Lil Nas X的《Montero (Call Me By Your Name)》和Billie Eilish的《Therefore I Am》。
These texts demand analysis of intertextuality, challenging gender norms and the music industry’s economic control. The YouTube and TikTok afterlife of a music video becomes as important as the official cut, so students must explore how audiences repurpose and re-circulate meaning across platforms.
这些文本要求对互文性、挑战性别规范及音乐产业的经济控制进行分析。音乐视频在YouTube和TikTok上的二次生命与官方剪辑同等重要，因此学生必须探讨受众如何跨平台重新利用和循环传播意义。
5. Advertising, Magazines and Other Enduring CSP Categories | 广告、杂志与其他延续的CSP类别
Some CSPs have been retained because they offer timeless teaching value. For example, the contrast between the commercial KFC press ad and the charity Shelter campaign remains a powerful vehicle for teaching representation of class, charity versus consumerism, and changing gender roles. These texts are subtly reframed in the 2026 curriculum with an added focus on digital afterlife and social media comments.
部分CSP因其恒久的教学价值被保留下来。例如商业广告KFC印刷广告与慈善机构Shelter广告的对比，仍然是教授阶级表征、慈善对消费主义以及性别角色变迁的有力载体。在2026年课程中，这些文本被悄然重构，增加了对数字二次传播和社交媒体评论的关注。
Magazine CSPs like The Gentlewoman and Vogue continue to illustrate the shift from print to digital, while online media CSPs require students to examine website design, convergence and citizen journalism. The game industry CSP remains a fertile ground for discussing regulation, fandom and immersive storytelling.
像《The Gentlewoman》和《Vogue》这样的杂志CSP继续体现纸媒向数字化的转型，而在线媒体CSP则要求学生审视网站设计、媒介融合和公民新闻。游戏产业CSP依然是讨论监管、粉丝文化与沉浸式叙事的沃土。
6. Assessment Objectives: Same Framework, Sharper Application | 评估目标：框架不变，应用更精
AQA has not changed the weightings of AO1 (knowledge and understanding), AO2 (analysis) or AO3 (evaluation and conclusions), but the new CSPs demand a more sophisticated synthesis. Candidates who simply list theorists or describe products will struggle; the top bands reward analytical writing that weaves together specific textual detail, relevant theory and informed industrial context.
AQA没有改变AO1（知识与理解）、AO2（分析）和AO3（评价与结论）的权重，但新CSP要求更精细的综合能力。只会罗列理论家或描述产品的考生将难以得高分；最高分数段奖励的是能将具体的文本细节、相关理论与行业语境融会贯通的论述。
Expect command words such as ‘Evaluate the effectiveness’ or ‘To what extent do you agree’ to feature widely, testing the ability to construct nuanced arguments. The 2026 mark schemes further penalise vague generalisations about the internet, so precise references to platforms, algorithms and business models are essential.
像“评估效果”或“你在多大程度上同意”这样的指令词将广泛出现，考查构建细腻论证的能力。2026年的评分方案进一步惩罚对互联网的模糊概述，因此精确提及平台、算法和商业模式至关重要。
7. NEA Shifts: Digital Creativity and Real-World Briefs | 非考试评估变化：数字创意与现实简报
Although the NEA briefs are published annually and are not a structural change, the 2026 briefs continue to move towards cross-media production. Students are increasingly tasked with creating a website, social media campaign or podcast alongside a more traditional moving image or print product, reflecting convergent industry practices.
尽管NEA简报每年发布一次并不构成结构性变化，但2026年的要求继续向着跨媒体制作迈进。学生越来越频繁地被要求同时制作一个网站、社交媒体活动或播客，并搭配更传统的动态影像或印刷产品，反映媒介融合的行业实践。
This digital emphasis rewards genuine technical fluency. A well-designed Squarespace-style page with UX (user experience) logic, interactive elements and consistent branding can elevate a NEA submission. Research and planning remain heavily weighted, so documenting audience research and iterative design choices is non-negotiable.
这种数字化重点奖励真正的技术流利度。一个设计良好的类Squarespace页面，具备用户体验逻辑、互动元素和一致的品牌形象，可以提升NEA作品的水准。研究与策划仍然权重很大，因此记录受众研究和迭代设计选择是不可或缺的。
8. Theoretical Framework: New Texts, Timeless Concepts | 理论框架：新文本，恒久概念
The 2026 exams will not introduce radical new theories; students must still confidently apply Barthes’ semiotics, Todorov’s narratology, Hall’s representation theory, Gauntlett’s identity, Curran and Seaton’s power and regulation, and Livingstone and Lunt’s challenges of regulation. However, the new CSPs provide fresh opportunities to critique these frameworks.
2026年考试不会引入激进的新理论；学生仍需熟练运用巴特的符号学、托多洛夫的叙事学、霍尔的表征理论、冈特列特的认同、柯伦和西顿的权力与监管，以及利文斯通和朗特的监管挑战。然而，新CSP为批判这些框架提供了崭新的机会。
For instance, applying Hall’s encoding/decoding model to a TikTok trend around a Lupin clip demands an understanding of how platform algorithms shape oppositional readings. Using Butler’s gender performativity on a Billie Eilish video becomes richer when linked to the artist’s deliberate use of the ‘male gaze’ to subvert it.
例如，将霍尔的编码/解码模型应用于围绕《Lupin》片段的TikTok潮流，就需要理解平台算法如何塑造对抗式解读。将巴特勒的性别操演理论用在Billie Eilish的音乐视频上，当联系到艺人刻意使用“男性凝视”并颠覆它时，分析就更深刻了。
9. Strategic Revision: How to Tackle the 2026 Papers | 策略性备考：如何攻克2026年试卷
Start by downloading the official AQA CSP booklet for 2026 and create a digital folder of screenshots, trailer links and academic articles. Annotate every CSP against the four key concepts (language, representation, industry, audience) and build comparison grids that link television texts, music videos and online products thematically.
首先，下载AQA官方2026年CSP手册，创建一个包含截图、预告片链接和学术文章的电子文件夹。针对四大核心概念（语言、表征、产业、受众）对每个CSP进行注释，并构建能将电视文本、音乐视频和在线产品以主题串联起来的比较表格。
Practice writing timed 15-mark and 20-mark responses under exam conditions, using the PEEL structure (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) but crucially adding evaluation. Always ask yourself: how might a different audience decode this? Is the institution’s power total or contested? Use the exact CSP name and defend your interpretation with textual evidence.
在模拟考试条件下练习15分和20分的限时写作，采用PEEL结构（观点、证据、解释、联系），但关键是要加入评价。时刻自问：不同的受众会如何解码？机构权力是绝对的还是受到挑战的？使用确切的CSP名称，并用文本证据捍卫你的解读。
10. Looking Ahead: Media Studies in a Convergent World | 前瞻：融合世界中的媒体研究
The 2026 updates are not a rupture but a recalibration. AQA recognises that Year 12 students are sophisticated media users who need a vocabulary and critical toolkit to understand their own digital environment. Media Studies remains a subject where memorising facts is far less important than developing an argumentative, questioning mindset.
2026年的更新不是断裂而是校准。AQA认识到Year 12学生是复杂的媒体使用者，他们需要一套词汇和批判工具来理解自己所处的数字环境。媒体研究这门学科中，记忆事实远不如发展出论证性和质疑性的思维重要。
The shift towards global streaming, creator economy and polyvocal storytelling means your best preparation is active, wide-ranging consumption: watch TV series with subtitles, read press releases about Netflix budgets, listen to podcast interviews with directors, and follow media journalists on X. Stay curious, and the 2026 exam will reward that genuine engagement.
向全球流媒体、创作者经济和多声部叙事的转向意味着，最好的准备是主动而广泛的汲取：观看带字幕的电视剧，阅读关于奈飞预算的新闻稿，收听对导演的播客访谈，并关注X平台上的媒体记者。保持好奇，2026年考试将回报这种真实的参与。
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