Course summary
Wembley. The Olympic Stadium. Lord’s. Wimbledon. Twickenham. Have you ever dreamed of working as a sports writer there? Well, our Sports Journalism degree students have reported from all of these iconic venues in the past few years.
Our course offers an exciting but practical, hands-on approach to learning how to report on sport. By the time you finish your degree, you’ll be fully trained as a multi-platform journalist, ready to write for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, the internet and mobile apps.
During our course, you could end up interviewing the England cricket captain. Or reporting on a Football League match. Or being taken on a tour of Wembley or Sky Studios. Or, here in London’s Olympic heartland, writing a feature from the University of East London's £21 million SportsDock facility for our website, Rising East.
Guided by expert lecturers and tutors who are all working sports journalists, we aim to develop your passion and knowledge of sport so that you can deliver and share it with others.
If you don’t meet the entry requirements for a BA, you can study this course as an ‘extended’ four-year course. You'll begin by taking a foundation year which will prepare you for a successful transition to the BA degree.
Contact us
If you have any questions, talk to a member of our Applicant Enquiries team on +44 (0) 20 8223 3333 or email study@uel.ac.uk.
Get in touchHands-on approach
You’ll attend and write about at least 15 sports events while also meeting and interviewing top sports figures.
Practical experience
You'll have the opportunity of work placements at leading media organisations such as the BBC, Daily Mail and Guardian.
Unique opportunities
You could follow students who have recently covered sport in Rio, Barcelona and Milan as part of UEL’s Going Global bursary scheme.
What you'll learn
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. Our students have covered the Europa League final in Dublin and interviewed sports stars past and present such as Ray Wilkins, Andre Villas-Boas and Alastair Cook.
You’ll be expected to attend matches and other sports events regularly, as well as going to press conferences. It’s proper journalism, not taking in information second-hand through the internet and TV.
The course also aims to put sport and journalism in a wider context, looking at how they are linked to politics, national identity, commerce, and even film and music.
We’re also the only university to offer you the chance of studying for the Professional Certificate In Journalism. That means you can earn an important professional qualification to go with your degree.
What you'll study and when
Academic Development (core)
Independent Project (core)
Reporting London (core)
London and History (option)
London and Literature (option)
Media, Culture and Society (option)
Visual Communication (option)
Creative Digital Practice (option)
Photo, audio and video Journalism (core)
Development of Sport (core)
Sports Journalism in Question(optional)
Law, Ethics and Business (core)
Multimedia Sports Reporting) (core)
Journalism Studies (optional)
Long Form Journalism (optional)
Sports Magazine (Print or Television) (Editing Sport) (core)
Journalism Manifesto (optional)
Sport, Media and Business (optional)
Public Relations and Promotion (optional)
Dissertation (Sports/Journalism) (optional)
Insight (optional)
How you'll be assessed
The Sports Journalism course is assessed through coursework. This includes producing portfolios of your own journalism (such as match reports), radio and television packages, essays and presentations.
You will have access to our media production centre, which is an Apple-accredited training centre.
How you'll learn
You’ll get the chance to learn while completing work placements at top sports and media organisations. Some of our students have worked at the BBC World Service, Guardian, Daily Mail and Sky Sports during the course; others in the press offices of Leyton Orient and Charlton football clubs.
You can even think further afield. The UEL’s Going Global scheme enables you to apply for a bursary to travel to anywhere in the world to write about or study sport. In recent years, our students have visited Rio, Barcelona, Berlin and Milan as part of the scheme.
Our academic team, all working sports journalists themselves, will show you how to file reports from our brand new newsroom and media production centre with its TV and radio studios, editing suites and Mac labs.
Our students recently interviewed England’s World Cup-winning rugby captain, Catherine Spencer, and England football international Ellen White. We take women’s sport seriously. According to a recent survey, we have the highest proportion of female students on any sports journalism course in the country.
"The sports journalism degree course is one that really excites me," says Lecturer Dr Carrie Dunn. "It combines practical skills with sports knowledge as well as understanding the business context in which sports operate - all vital for a good journalist.
"Being based here in London, with terrific facilities and opportunities right on our doorstep as well as fantastic travel links, means this is a very special place to study."
Your future career
The professional grounding you receive in all areas of sports writing will arm you with the skills needed to help secure many different types of jobs within the sports business.
After earning their degrees, our students have gone on to work not just in sports media but other areas connected to the sports world.
For instance, recent graduates now work for organisations such as media management company Red Bee, public relations firm Weber Shandwick and Coral bookmakers.
Our work placements and the chance to learn from journalists who have made their names at organisations like BBC Sport, talkSPORT radio, Sky and World Soccer magazine open up invaluable pathways for your future.
They’ll offer you the chance to earn valuable contacts, as will your close ties with the athletes you’ll be lucky enough to meet during your course.
For example, in 2012 our students worked with TeamUSA before the Olympics. Since the Games, we’ve maintained close contacts with UEL’s elite sportsmen and women who train at the SportsDock centre, including sprint stars Adam Gemili and Bianca Williams and leading swimmer Aimee Willmott.
One of our recent graduates now works in the marketing and communications department at SportsDock.
