Sport Studies BA(Hons)

Course structure

On the first year of your degree, you’ll chose two practical sports modules, develop vital study skills and learn how to enhance your employability within various sport-related areas. You’ll also be introduced to the academic study of sport politics and culture.

During the second year, you will further develop your skills through core modules and gain a standalone qualification in Sports and International Development through the university’s award-winning Football for Peace programme. At the halfway point of your degree you’ll explore employment through a 10-week work placement with a sport-related organisation.

At the beginning of year 2 you can opt to study for a Sport Studies with Physical Education. This prepares you to apply for the PGCE PE course – an additional year of study that leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Choosing this route opens up opportunities in teaching as well as coaching and sport development.

During your final year you'll explore a topic of your choice through the dissertation module. Many students use this time to develop ideas from their placement or simply to delve into an area of personal interest. The year is complemented by a wide range of optional modules which will allow you to tailor the degree to suit your interests, along with the opportunities and challenges presented by the current job market.

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.

Year 1

Topics include the role of sport and leisure in people's lives, debates over the purpose and roles of sport in society, the ethics of sport, questions of governance and media representation, and how politics, economics, legal and social issues influence sport.

Modules

• Adventurous Activities and Games

  In this module you will develop your performance within two elements of physical education. You will develop an appreciation of the distinctive nature of each specific activity and in addition to performance will engage with creative and analytical principles allied to each activity area. You will be introduced to, and develop knowledge and conceptual understanding of performance in selected adventurous activities and selected games activities. You’ll also develop the necessary technical skills to perform.

• Who Runs Sport?

  Understanding why sport is structured and organised in the way it is has become the most important factor for anyone thinking of developing a career in sport. This module will introduce you to issues of governance, government, policy initiatives, funding and media coverage. Content includes a view of the relationships between sport and sports coaching, sport and health/physical activity, sport and physical education, the sources of funding for sport and why sport is such 'big business'.

• The Global Sport Industry and the Media

  This module will introduce you to globalisation with specific focus on sports media and the global sports industry. Key concepts will be explored via globally mediated flows of sport events, sport commodities, and sport agencies and organisations. You will learn about how the media drives the sports economy and the consequences of this dynamic, such as shifts in the roles of fans from citizens to consumers, the rise of sports mega-events, gambling, corruption and performance-enhancing drug taking.

• Preparing for the World of Sport

  This module will support you in the transition to academic study at university. You will be encouraged to take responsibility for, and reflect upon your own learning, development and employability. You will be given support to develop the skills needed to produce high quality academic work. This module will also introduce you to research skills and practices used to investigate sport as well as raising awareness of careers information and services.

• Sport and Social Issues

  This module will provide you with an overview of historical and contemporary social issues affecting the world of sport. You will be encouraged to view sport as interconnected with a range of wider problems which impact upon experiences of participation, shape the provision of sport in communities, and affect the place of sport in popular culture.

• Sport, the Body and Society

  This module will give you an insight into a range of social issues connected to the sporting body. It will introduce you to socio-cultural theories and concepts about the body and sport. This is done through a variety of case studies and topic areas that you will explore through an active and engaged problem-solving pedagogy. You will be encouraged to reflect on taken-for-granted behaviours and experiences in sport to enable you to develop your own social scientific approach to understanding the sporting body.

Year 2

Core modules

• Power and Politics in Sport
• Conducting Research in Sport
• Reading Sport Media
• Sport for Development and Peace
• Applied Professional Practice**

Options*

• Globalisation in Sport
• Young People and Youth Subcultures
• Outdoor Adventurous Activities

Opportunity at the start of year 2 to choose specialist pathway and graduate with Sport Studies with Physical Education BA(Hons). Options for the specialist pathway are:

• Outdoor Adventurous Activities
• Creating a Positive Teaching and Learning Environment
• Learning and Teaching Through Gymnastics and Swimming
• Learning and Teaching Through Athletic and Adventurous Activities.

**Not Sport Studies with PE pathway

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

Source Park provides placement opportunities and hosts field trips for our students. 

Final year

Core modules

• Dissertation
• Theory, Sport and the Future
• Contemporary Issues in Physical Education and Sport (PE pathway only)

Options* common to both pathways

• Martial Arts and Combat Sports: Theory and Practice
• Gender, Sexuality and Physical Culture
• Football and its Communities
• Racism in Sport and Popular Culture
• Sport for International Development and Peace
• Sport and Deviancy
• Watching the Olympics
• Community Sport Development: Policy and Practice

Sport Studies options*

• Applied Sport Psychology
• Personal and Professional Development in Sport and Exercise Science
• Advanced Coaching
• Practical Aspects of the Law and Regulation of Sport

Sports Studies with PE options*

• Primary Physical Education: Active Learning in the Primary Setting
• Physical Education and the National Agenda
• Physical Practical Activity
• Education Studies 3: Inclusive Practice
• Physical Education in the 14–19 Curriculum

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

Examples of dissertation projects

• Young people and surfing in Bournemouth
• Golf Xtreme in secondary schools
• Disability sport in East Sussex
• Drugs and the body building community
• Muslim girls and physical education
• Why boys don’t dance
• Racism on the terraces

Placements

During your second year you’ll explore employment opportunities through a 10-week work placement with a sport-related organisation.

Placements can be in all sectors (public, private and voluntary) and might include schools or colleges, sport clubs, and working with coaching and development officers on projects such as widening girls’ participation and tackling homophobia in sport.

This hands-on experience will include advice and support from industry professionals and help you gain valuable contacts.

Work placements

• Enhance your CV
• Can aid with final year projects
• Allow you to explore a potential specialism
• Give an opportunity to make professional contacts
• Give you practical experience, increasingly vital in today's competitive graduate jobs market
• Some students are offered a job in their placement company after graduation, or find that their applications are prioritised.

If you choose the Sport Studies with PE pathway you will gain your work experience with the award winning Football for Peace programme as part of the Sport for Development and Peace module.

Features

We offer a range of course features to enhance your learning experience.

Field trips
Throughout your course we include field trips that take your classroom learning into the real world. Previous students have visited: 

• Source Park
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
• Eastbourne Boxing Club.

Guest speakers
Our modules include visiting guest speakers from industry who share their experience, present on current topics and discuss the skills needed within the wider sector.

Past speakers have included:

• England Boxing
• Mark Steele, comic, broadcaster and author
• Clive Efford, Shadow Minister for Sport and Tourism
• Lucy Mills, Grassroot Soccer UK.

International requirements

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

Course fees

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.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

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Accommodation

University building

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