Sport Journalism BA(Hons)

Course in brief

Many aspiring sports reporters dream of reporting live from a Premier League press box, and our students get this opportunity through our exclusive links with Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion FC. Our Sport Journalism 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 new 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, which has previously included Sky Sports’ Jim White, Clare Balding, Nick Davies, former England cricket captain Mike Atherton and Paul Hayward, Chief Sportswriter at The Daily Telegraph.

Your work placement will give you experience, helping you make vital industry contacts. Previous students have spent time with organisations including Sky Sports News, 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)

Apply now with UCAS for 2019 entry

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.

GCSE (minimum grade C or grade 4)
At least five GCSEs including English language and maths (or equivalent). We do not accept Functional Skills or Key Skills as a GCSE equivalent. Applicants must have already passed, or be in the process of taking the required GCSEs.

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.

Course in detail

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

Year 1 introduces practical skills such as shorthand, sports reporting and news writing, as well as the political and legal context of sport journalism.

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

Year 2 builds on your knowledge of practical journalism and introduces multimedia journalism. You also develop an understanding of how sport and media intertwine both nationally and globally.

Modules

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

Final year

In the final year, you embark on investigative research and choose from a host of specialist options. You also complete at least 10 days of work experience, with previous students having worked at organisations including Arsenal Football Club, When Saturday Comes, Hayters Sport Agency and the Eastbourne 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.

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.

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.

Jed Novick, Senior Lecturer
Jed Novick has vast newspaper and magazine experience that encompasses the likes of the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the Observer and the Daily Express.

A contributor to Sport and Society, Jed has written a number of football books in addition to acclaimed studies of Tommy Cooper, Benny Hill, Michael Palin, and Morecambe and Wise. He has set up four national magazines and a publishing company.

Jed’s most recent work is The Cambridge Companion to Football, which he co-edited and wrote with Rob Steen. They are both now working on The Rutledge Handbook of Sports Journalism as Jed studies for a masters in creative writing.

Course statistics

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

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

Careers and employability

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

Fees and funding

Your fees

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

International (full-time) 14,040 GBP

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2018–19.

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- 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 and living here

Location

About Eastbourne

Sunny, friendly and relaxed, there’s lots to do and enjoy in Eastbourne – music and arts festivals, theatre, galleries and sports – and all against the backdrop of the beach and the beautiful South Downs.

Eastbourne hosts some major sporting events, from Eastbourne Extreme – one of the biggest extreme sports festivals in the UK – to Eastbourne International, an annual tennis tournament where some of the world’s finest players prepare for Wimbledon.

Eastbourne has a close-knit community feel. From where ever you are on campus every place you need to go is around 15 minutes away on foot – the beach, the town centre and the South Downs. There is a great selection of clubs, pubs, restaurants and shops and always plenty of student-friendly deals on offer.

Campus where this course is taught

Eastbourne campus

Located in one of the sunniest towns in the UK, our Eastbourne campus sits between the hills of the South Downs National Park and the south coast.

The campus has extensive sporting facilities, including a sports hall, fitness suite, climbing wall, swimming pool, three gyms, a dance studio and an artificial training pitch. For sport and exercise students, there are also exercise physiology labs, a human movement laboratory and an environmental chamber.

Professional-standard facilities on this campus include the Leaf Hospital Clinic, specialist practical skills rooms, culinary arts studio and accredited sports science laboratories.

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Accommodation

Eastbourne

Our Eastbourne halls are in the residential Meads areas, close to the campus.

Welkin halls are catered and offer a choice of room types. The halls are across the road from Hillbrow and Welkin, and within walking distance of Darley Road. Public transport in the town is excellent.

You also have the option of Unihomes, student houses we rent out on behalf of private landlords. This option offers the most choice and flexibility and can work particularly well when you’re balancing learning with placements and other commitments.

There’s plenty of support if you choose private rented accommodation. We manage our own studenthomes database of available properties. And we run our housemates service over the summer for students, new and returning, looking for a place to live.

Find out more on our accommodation webpages.

Accommodation for Eastbourne is in the nearby Welkin halls

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Eastbourne campus map

Find out more

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Student views

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."