Sport Journalism BA(Hons)

Intro

Many aspiring sports reporters dream of reporting live from a Premier League press box, and students on our NCTJ-accredited Sport Journalism course get this opportunity through our exclusive links with Arsenal FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

Our course will develop the skills you need for this exciting industry, including news writing, match reporting, digital skills and shorthand. In addition to your degree, you will take the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Diploma in Journalism, a widely recognised entry-level qualification for professional practice.

The course is taught by media industry professionals and highly respected academics. You’ll learn using our industry-standard facilities, which include a 40-station newsroom, multimedia suite, and live satellite sports and news feeds.

You’ll benefit from field trips which have included The American Express Community Stadium, The Times HQ and the Copper Box at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and our guest lecture programme. Sky Sports’ Jim White, Martin Tyler, Kelly Cates, Clare Balding, Nick Davies, former England cricket captain Mike Atherton and Paul Hayward, Chief Sportswriter at The Daily Telegraph have all shared their experiences with our students.

Your work placement will give you experience, helping you make vital industry contacts. Previous students have spent time with organisations including Sky Sports, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun.

You can participate in the running of our journalism website overtimeonline.co.uk which will act as a showcase for your writing. You can get involved in subediting, writing headlines, learn to produce video and audio, and develop your multimedia skills.

Key facts

Location Eastbourne

UCAS code P500

Full-time 3 years

Accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ)

Our next open day for this course will take place in the summer. Register your interest now and we will let you know when you can book your place.

Apply now with UCAS for 2019 entry

Course content

Course structure

The syllabus of our Sport Journalism degree is based on the material of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism, which covers five main areas:

essential public affairs
essential media law
reporting
shorthand
portfolio development.

On top of these core elements, you learn skills in digital and multimedia journalism, which are becoming increasingly central to industry practice. You also take a work placement in the final year so you can experience a professional sport journalistic environment.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, we will inform you of any improvements or innovations to the curriculum through our admissions portal.

Overtime: Online student magazine

Overtime is run and produced by our journalism students. Originally developed with a focus on sports, Overtime now includes includes arts, current affairs and more. Check out the website, Overtime.

Students also produce a 24-page magazine each year as part of their course, which is offered in print and digitally.

What can I do on Overtime?
You can get involved in subediting, choosing pictures, writing headlines and uploading material. You can also learn to produce video and audio for the site, and develop your multimedia skills.

How will Overtime help me?
The work you produce is an excellent showcase for potential employers. Plus, practice makes perfect – the more you write, the better you get, and Overtime gives you the chance to hone your skills throughout your degree.

Year 1

In your first year you’ll gain a thorough introduction to sport journalism, covering areas such as multimedia journalism, news, ethics, shorthand, public administration and the social history of sport.

Modules

Multimedia Journalism
Introduction to Journalism Studies
News, Ethics and Shorthand
Introduction to Sports Journalism
Public Administration for Journalists
Sport and Social History

Year 2

Modules

Advanced News Journalism and Shorthand
Media Law
Research for Sport Journalism
Sports Writing
Digital Journalism
Reading Sport Media

Final year

You’ll go on an industry placement and complete your final project. You will also choose from optional modules, giving you flexibility to specialise in areas of sport journalism that interest you most.

There is also an opportunity to take part in our pioneering and award winning Premier League Apprenticeship and be employed as a matchday media assistant with Brighton & Hove Albion FC.Herald.

Modules

Journalism Work Placement
Advance Sport Journalism

Options*

Critical Investigations of Sport
Dissertation
Magazine Journalism
Public Relations
Entrepreneurship for Journalism
Politics and Power in the Sport Media
Cross-Platform Journalism
Martial Arts and Combat Sports: Theory and Practice
Practical Aspects of the Law and Regulation of Sport
Theory, Sport and the Future
Racism in Sport and Popular Culture
Sport and Deviancy

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Facilities

Newsroom
Our modern newsroom is equipped with 40 computers that retract into the desk to form a workspace for editorial meetings. All computers have the Adobe Suite installed including Premiere Pro, InDesign and Photoshop. The newsroom also has five wall-hung screens showing Sky News and BBC News 24.

Digital Hub
Next door to the newsroom is the digital hub, with editing suites and mobile journalism facilities.

Tour image or URL not entered

Click to view a virtual tour of our journalism facilities.

Staff profiles

Owen Evans, Course Leader

Owen is a sports business academic and ex-professional sports journalist. He was editor for SportBusiness International magazine, the oldest magazine covering the business of sport, and covered major events including the 2012 London Olympics and the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Before that he was a news reporter for three years with Northcliffe Media, reporting mainly for the Surrey Mirror. He holds a MSc in Sport Management and the Business of Football from Birkbeck College, University of London, and also completed his NCTJ pre-entry certificate from News Associates. Previously he has been a returning guest speaker on postgraduate programmes such as CIES (Centre for International Sports Studies) Fifa Master, The MESGO (Master of European Sport Governance) and Vrije Universiteit’s Master in Sport, Economics and Communication.

Owen is the Sport Journalism BA(Hons) course leader and lectures on the Multimedia Journalism, Introduction to Sport Journalism, Public Administration, Journalism in Practice, Research Methods for Journalists, Digital Journalism, Critical Investigation, Cross-platform Journalism and Advanced Sports Journalism modules.

Simon Mcennis, Principal Lecturer

Simon has a professional background in both news and sport journalism. He is a fully NCTJ-qualified senior journalist who started his career as a news reporter with a regional daily, the Colchester Gazette, before moving into national newspapers with The Sun. Simon also runs a 20-session advanced journalism programme for industry professionals at Sky.

Simon has worked in academia since 2009. His research focuses on journalism professionalism and he has had scholarly work published in Digital Journalism, Journalism and Journalism Practice.

Simon has also written articles for The Conversation website.

Rob Steen, Senior Lecturer

Rob Steen is an award-winning sports journalist and one of the world’s leading cricket writers. For 30 years he has worked extensively for the Guardian, the Independent, the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times among others.

Winner of the 2005 EU Journalism Award (UK section) ‘for diversity, against discrimination’, a long-time columnist for Cricinfo and blogger at rocksbackpages.com, he has also written more than a dozen sports books including David Gower – A Man Out of Time (winner of the 1995 Cricket Society Literary award), Spring Summer Autumn (1991 William Hill Sports Book of the Year runner-up) and an acclaimed textbook, Sports Journalism – A Multimedia Primer (second edition published in December 2014).

Rob has peer-reviewed articles for journals such as African and Asian Studies, Nations and Nationalism, Convergence, and the International Review for the Sociology of Sport. He is currently working on a PhD.

Careers

The degree offers career opportunities in newspaper, magazine, radio, television and online journalism as well as public relations and media management in sport organisations. You will also acquire transferable skills suited to other graduate careers.

Previous students include:

Alex Shaw, general editor at ESPNFC
Jim Lucas, senior social media manager at the Football Association
Declan Taylor, boxing correspondent at Hayters Sports Agency
Gemma Nash, subeditor at Sky Sports
Elisha Chauhan, digital motors editor at The Sun
Giuseppe Muro, football reporter at the London Evening Standard
Greg Rose, editor at Virgin.com
Jack DeMenezes, sportswriter at The Independent
Lee Price, head of PR, Paddy Power
Jordan Halford, social media editor at Sky Sports
Matt Webb, press officer at QPR FC
Max Sharp, producer at TalkSport
Sunni Upal, sportswriter at the Daily Mail
Jamie Phillips reporter at The Daily Telegraph

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

A-levels or BTEC
Entry requirements are in the range of A-level BBC–CCC (112–96 UCAS Tariff points), or BTEC Extended Diploma DMM–MMM. Our conditional offers typically fall within this range.

We will generally make you an offer if your predicted grades are at the top of this range. If your predicted grades are towards the lower end of this range we may still make you an offer if you have a good GCSE (or equivalent) profile or relevant non-academic achievements.

International Baccalaureate
28 points, including English at Standard level 5 or Higher level 4, and maths at Standard level 4.

Access to HE Diploma
Pass with 60 credits overall. Level 3 units in media, history or journalism preferred. At least 45 credits at level 3, with 18 credits at merit or above.

Studied before or got relevant experience?
A qualification, HE credits or relevant experience may count towards your course at Brighton, and could mean that you do not have to take some elements of the course or can start in year 2 or 3.

For non-native speakers of English
IELTS 7.0 overall, 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in the other elements.

International equivalencies

International equivalencies by country

Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language institute

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Fees

UK/EU (full-time) 9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 14,460 GBP

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2019–20.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Location

Easy-going Eastbourne

The South Downs National Park, the bustling town centre and the beach with the pier, prom and bandstand are all within a 15-minute walk of our Eastbourne campus. Officially the sunniest place in the UK, Eastbourne has loads on offer: a year-round calendar of sporting events, the independent shops and cafes of Little Chelsea, music and arts festivals, theatres, galleries, great restaurants and high street shopping.

Every June, leading tennis players descend on Eastbourne for one of the main warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. One of the UK's biggest free extreme sports festivals, Beach Life, takes place on the seafront in July, bringing hi-octane action on land and sea. The international airshow Airbourne is another summer highlight.

Every autumn our students and staff participate in and support the Beachy Head Marathon, one of the UK's largest off-road marathons with challenging climbs and descents along the Seven Sisters.

The beach and the South Downs provide sports opportunities including horse riding, mountain biking, paragliding, sailing, canoeing, body boarding, kayaking, windsurfing and kite surfing.

The Towner Art Gallery has world-class exhibitions of modern and contemporary art and entry is free. Eastbourne also has four theatres, two cinemas and hosts a varied programme of arts and music events throughout the year.

Campus where this course is taught

Eastbourne campus

Our campus is within 15 minutes' walk of the beach, South Downs National Park and the Eastbourne's busy town centre. There are excellent sport and exercise facilities, on-site halls of residence and social spaces include the Students' Union pub, the Starting Gate.

Sport and exercise, events, hospitality, journalism, nursing and midwifery, physical education, physiotherapy, podiatry and tourism students are all based here.

Specialist learning facilities include accredited exercise physiology laboratories, a newsroom, clinical simulation suites, human movement lab, culinary arts studio, the Leaf Hospital podiatric clinic and occupational health studios. Campus learning facilities include the Queenwood library, computer rooms, a media centre and a learning and technology suite.

Sports facilities include a 25-metre swimming pool, sports hall and gym, artificial outdoor pitch, dance studio and climbing wall.

Eastbourne Student Centre provides services including careers, volunteering, counselling and wellbeing, student advice, disability and dyslexia support and chaplaincy.

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Accommodation

Eastbourne

All eligible 2019-entry firm and insurance offer holders are guaranteed an offer of university-managed accommodation.

Welkin halls
Located in the Meads area of Eastbourne, right next to the Students' Union and Student Services, Welkin halls are a short walk or bike ride to other areas of the campus.

Ensuite halls with a choice of room and flat sizes.
Breakfast and an evening meal are provided from Monday to Friday during term-time, this is included in your rent. You have access to shared, fully equipped kitchen facilities.
Rent also includes all utilities, 24/7 staff cover, contents insurance, cleaning of communal areas and off-peak access to university fitness facilities including a 25m pool.

Find out more about our accommodation in Eastbourne.

Unihomes
A unihome is a student house which the university manages on behalf of a private landlord. This option can work particularly well when you’re balancing learning with placements and other life commitments.

Rent includes all utilities, broadband, contents insurance, cleaning of communal areas.
Generally shared bathroom with a variety of locations, room and house sizes. Some unihomes offer off-road parking.

Find out more about unihomes.

Private renting
Eastbourne offers good choice when it comes to student accommodation.

There’s a good supply of affordable, high quality private rented accommodation and plenty of support and advice from us if you choose this option. Your first stop should be our studenthomes database. This lists accommodation offered by landlords who have signed up to our code of standards.

Every summer we provide online events and resources, as well as other advice services, for students looking for a place to live and people to share with.

Student accommodation in Eastbourne

Student bedroom in Welkin halls

Modern kitchen in Welkin Halls

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Eastbourne campus map

Student views

Adam Powers

"Sportspeople have the best job in the world, but sports journalists are a close second. At the University of Brighton, you learn that through modules which provoke your thoughts on social sporting matters, facilitate your creativity across different platforms, and teach you the fundamentals and laws of journalism - all in equal measure.

"As an inaugural member on the Brighton & Hove Albion apprenticeship, I was able to gain some invaluable industry experience at a Premier League club during my third year. Quizzing top-level managers and players is something not many students have the chance of doing on a regular basis prior to their graduation."

Adam graduated in 2018 and is now a sport journalist at the Daily Express

Kieran Poole

"After spending two years in Eastbourne I have certainly grown attached to it, from its outstanding natural beauty to its international sports events such as the AEGON International pre-Wimbledon tournament.

"At university you are in charge of your own destiny, and as a sport journalist I have been able to report at the AEGON International and cover Eastbourne Town FC’s Ryman League matches for the local newspaper.

"The school of Sport and Service Management attracted me because of its tight community of students, lecturers and researchers, and as a lover of sport, the wide variety on offer here makes it like no other."

Maria Hudd

"I originally chose the Sport Journalism degree at the University of Brighton because it offered the NCTJ qualification, but the course has given me so much more. I know I will leave with a repertoire of knowledge beyond just sport journalism, including politics, law and multimedia skills.

"Our lecturers have real-life experience in the industry, which means the lessons and tips they pass onto us are invaluable. Their varied expertise ensures that whichever field you find yourself heading towards, they'll be able to help and advise you every step of the way.

"The Sport Journalism BA has everything you need to get your money’s worth, and it will stand you in great stead for a career in the media industry."

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Our next open day for this course will take place in the summer. Register your interest now and we will let you know when you can book your place.

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If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

Statistics

These charts give an indication of how much time you will spend on different activities at each level of the course, and an indication of the balance of assessment by coursework, and written and practical exams. For courses with option modules, actual proportions will depend on the modules you choose.

Find out more about how the academic year and degree courses are organised, and about learning and assessment activities you might get to grips with at Brighton. More specific information about this course is detailed in the programme specification (linked above). You can find out also about the range of support we offer to help you adjust to university life.

Overall workload

Assessments

Unistats and key information sets

Unistats enable you to compare information when choosing a UK university course. All UK universities publish Unistats data on their website.

Programme specification

The programme specification is the approved description of each course. They are updated following course changes, and give a detailed breakdown of the content and structure of the course.

Programme specification