Sports Journalism BA (Hons)

This course is in clearing

Overview

Course options

Select year

Degree

UCAS code: P502 112 UCAS points
  • BA (Hons) Sports Journalism, home applicant, full time

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 3 years
    • Pound 9250 per year
  • BA (Hons) Sports Journalism, home applicant, part time

    • Home Applicant
    • Part time, 6 years
    • pro-rata full time fee

Degree with foundation year

UCAS code: P503 64 UCAS points
  • BA (Hons) Sports Journalism, home applicant, full time

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 4 years
    • Pound 9250 per year

What makes this course different

1st in the country

Our Journalism courses ranked 1st in the UK for “Academic Support” in the 2024 National Student Survey. (National Student Survey 2024, Results published 10 July 2024)

Practical experience

You'll have the opportunity of work placements at leading media organisations such as the BBC, Daily Mail and Guardian. This will give you insight into the different sports journalism jobs available.

Unique opportunities

You could follow sports journalism students who have recently covered sport in Rio, Barcelona and Milan as part of UEL's Going Global bursary scheme.

Course modules

If you don't meet the entry requirements for a BA, you can study this course as an extended, four-year programme. You'll begin by taking a foundation year which prepares you for a successful transition to the BA sports journalism course. This ensures you get the necessary preparation for a sports journalism degree at a top sports journalism university.

You'll learn about all aspects of sports journalism from the challenge of filing a match report within seconds of the final whistle to producing sport for television. Think of London as being your classroom. You'll develop your skills by attending sports events in the capital and tracking down interviewees.

In the second year of your sports journalism course, you'll be expected to attend matches and other sports events regularly, as well as go to press conferences. It's proper journalism, not taking in information second-hand through the internet and TV. After all, what is sports journalism? It’s getting out there and seeing things for yourself.

The sports journalism course also aims to put sports journalism in a wider context. We look at how it links to politics, national identity, commerce, and even film and music, and what this means for sports journalism jobs in the future.

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Your future career

Our sports journalism course stands out as one of the most successful sports journalism degrees in the country. It promises an industry-focused education tailored to prepare you for a successful career. As the sports industry evolves, our graduates leave with a strong foundation of skills, knowledge, and critical thinking. These are essential to landing a job in sports journalism. You will benefit from our extensive industry connections and a far-reaching professional network.

You will have opportunities for hands-on, practical learning experiences. These will prepare you for positions with prestigious sports media organisations. Many of our graduates have gone on to shine in diverse roles within sports journalism and sports-related media.

Industry links

With our links to the journalism industry and wide-reaching network, you can expect opportunities for practical, work-based learning that helps you to get into sports journalism from the start.

We have links with: 

  • Laura Raphael, music journalist for the BBC and Channel 4, 
  • Matthew Lidbury, former photo editor at various national newspapers, 
  • Alexandra Heal, reporter on the visual storytelling team at the Financial Times, 
  • Pilar Tomas from the Shared Data Unit at the BBC, 
  • John Stern, writer and editor specialising in cricket, 
  • Ed Grenby who has worked at The Telegraph, The Times and The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, 
  • Rodney Hinds, Sports Editor at The Voice, The Guardian. 

We also have connections with experienced professionals in the media industry, such as content strategist and communications manager Marina Walker.

Graduate employers

Our sports journalism graduates have gone to work for employers like: 

  • The BBC, BBC Sport, Match of the Day Extra
  • Arsenal, Chelsea, Leyton Orient, West Ham, Charlton Athletic
  • Formula E 
  • The Guardian
  • ITV 
  • YOU Magazine; and 
  • NewsUK.

Job roles

Typical roles which our sports journalism graduates have gone on to include sports journalist, sports broadcaster and sports editor/content producer.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

Further study

You could specialise further in journalism by doing an MA in Global Football Journalism or Data Journalism at UEL.

Rema Khatun
As a university committed to your career growth, we've curated dedicated Career Zones across all of our campuses with practical services tailored to your success. From internships, personalised coaching, and employability workshops to volunteering, mentoring, placements, and enterprise opportunities, we offer a diverse range of support."
Rema Khatun

Career Zone

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, and further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting-edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

This digital platform provides you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work 
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you've mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

Our Mental Wealth programme

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top:

  • Work-based projects
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations
  • Support in starting a new business
  • London on our doorstep

How you'll learn

You'll be taught by a range of staff, many of whom are practitioners in the area they teach. Some of the assessments focus on practical skills and are presented as 'live or simulated briefs'. This ensures that practice-led teaching is relevant to industry and practice. Our staff are well placed to take advantage of a range of professional networks and industry contacts. Each module is designed with practical components and a reflective component, with the intention that students develop an ability to comment on and justify their creative process.

Guided independent study

When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities. These include online resources, and specialist facilities, such as edit suites, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.

Academic support

Our academic support team provides help in a range of areas - including learning and disability support.

Dedicated personal tutor

When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of the academic course team who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at UEL and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer.

Workload

Each year you will spend around 300 hours of timetabled learning and teaching activities. These may be lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary depending on each module. 

The approximate workload hours per year for this course are: 

  • Scheduled teaching - 318 hours
  • Guided independent study - 882 hours

Your timetable

Your individualised timetable is normally available within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible.

Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

Class sizes

To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts 20-30 students a year. Lecture sizes are normally 20 plus students.

In the classroom, you will be taught in groups of 18-20 students. However, this can vary by academic year.

How you'll be assessed

The sports journalism course is assessed through coursework. Coursework will include practical outcomes, e.g. written assignments, podcasts or research-based assignments, individual or group-based films, and presentations.

You'll always receive, in-person, written or audio feedback, outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days.

Campus and facilities

Docklands Campus, London, E16 2RD

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Statistics for BA (Hons) Sports Journalism Degree, Full Time

Statistics for BA (Hons) Sports Journalism Degree, Full Time

What our students and staff say

Simon Miles
The most inspiring times with our students are when you feel you are playing a part in opening up the life of the mind, when so much wants to close it down. That is when the magic happens."

Simon Miles

Senior lecturer, journalism

Performing Arts Students
I don't think I've ever been made to feel more welcome. Being surrounded by people who are friendly, social, and share your interests has to be one of the best things I can say about my university experience."

Ben Nizan

BA (Hons) Computer Games Design graduate