Sport Studies BA(Hons)

Course in brief

The Sport Studies BA(Hons) enables you to explore critical issues in the world of contemporary sport, and will provide you with a broad set of skills and knowledge relevant and transferable for careers in many different sectors and industries.

The course takes an interdisciplinary approach and is taught by a course team who combine teaching with practice and research in diverse areas, providing you with a variety of perspectives through which to learn about and reflect on the role sport plays in society.

You’ll benefit from field trips, which have included the world’s largest underground skate park, and our visiting guest lecturer programme with speakers from organisations that have included England Boxing. A placement will add to your learning experience and employability with opportunities in schools, colleges, sport clubs, as well as working with coaching and development officers on projects such as widening girls’ participation and tackling homophobia in sport.

You’ll also have the opportunity to shape the degree according to your own interests and to take part in the university’s award-winning Football 4 Peace programme, achieving a standalone qualification in Sports and International Development alongside your degree. You can also study abroad for a semester with one of our partner institutions in Belgium, Germany, Poland or Spain.

This course offers a specialist pathway:

Sport Studies with Physical Education BA(Hons)

You can choose to follow this pathway at the end of your first year. Alternatively, you can continue to study for the single-honours award.

We are one of just 10 institutions nationally, selected by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), to become a CIMPSA Higher Education Partner. We are part of their pilot programme to develop CIMPSA endorsed and quality assured degree programmes to improve students’ employment prospects. The partnership also offers many benefits for students studying this course.

Key facts

Location Eastbourne

UCAS code C603

Full-time 3 years

Book your open day place

Apply now with UCAS

Start in 2018: how to apply

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

A-levels
Entry requirements are in the range of A-level BCC–CCC (104–96 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
27 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 humanities, history or politics 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.

Foundation degree/HND
May enable you to start the course in year 2.

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 6.0 overall, with 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 academic preparation courses.

Course in detail

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
Who Runs Sport?
The Global Sports Industry and Media
Preparing for the World of Sport
Sport and Social Issues
Sport and the Body

Year 2

Core modules

Power and Politics in Sport
Conducting Research in Sport
Reading Sport Media
Sport 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.

*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.

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.

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 Sport Studies BA(Hons) will provide you with a broad set of skills and knowledge that is relevant and transferable for careers in many different sectors and industries.

Our graduates have gone on to successful careers in a variety of roles which include:

events and sponsorship officer, Cooperative SE Region
research officer, Sports Market Analysis
women's participation officer, THFC Trust
disability coordinator, University of Brighton
club and coach development officer, SE London Sport Partnership
cultural policy officer, Medway District Council
development officer, Sport Brighton
fitness trainer
sport facility manager.

Other students have opted to continue their studies through masters, PhD and PGCE programmes, leading to other professional and academic employment opportunities.

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 hall of residence, Welkin Halls, is in the residential Meads area, next to the Hillbrow and Welkin site and within walking distance of Darley Road. The train station is about 20 minutes away on foot.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. We recommend Unihomes when you’re balancing learning with placements, shifts and other commitments, because they give you more choice and flexibility.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

Find out more on our accommodation webpages, and if you have any questions, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accomeastbourne@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 643810.

Welkin Halls

Welkin bedroom

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Eastbourne campus map

Find out more

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Student views

Amanda Bailey

"What I love about this course is its versatility. You can choose the PE route if you're interested in teaching, and also take the theory route and specialise in different topics. I enjoyed the sociology-based elements of the course myself and went this way with my options.

"Best of all is when you arrive at the dissertation stage and choose whatever area you'd like to research and write about. When I finished my dissertation, I felt like I’d lost a friend – I had put my heart and soul into it for eight months. I loved doing the dissertation and was supported all the way.

"The degree helped me get the role I am in now, supporting students with learning difficulties and disabilities in the Student Services department of the university. It made me understand how minority groups can be marginalised in society and need support in accessing the everyday things that you and I can take for granted. It’s the best job I’ve ever had and I have been doing it now for six years."

Faye Easton

"I studied Sport Studies with Physical Education and graduated in July 2015. I chose the degree at the University of Brighton because of the wide range of modules it offered."

"Soon after graduating I started a job at Bexhill College as their Sports Maker and Student Events Officer. I offer sport activities to all students but one of my aims is to target non-participating students as a way to help reduce the post-16 dropout rate."

"I’ll also be building and sustaining effective partnerships with NGBs, the local county sports partnership and other community sports providers. In order to do this I will be using Sport England’s Strategy such as Sportivate to provide the sporting opportunities."

"I use many of the skills that I learnt on my degree such as analysing Sport England reports, using This Girl Can campaign, and researching and analysing results to enrich students’ experience at college."

William Grey

"After reading the prospectus and finding out what this course had to offer, the choice to attend the University of Brighton was an easy one.

"With a wide array of modules to choose from, you really are in control of your learning and can create the degree that best suits you, your interests, and your future aspirations.

"This course offers the added bonus of having lecturers who are active in research, meaning they have firsthand experience of the topics, which benefits students massively."

Lexi Hibberd

"When I first started this course I wanted to have new experiences in sport and PE because I felt passionate about these things and wanted to know more. I felt that I hadn’t had a full enough experience of them growing up and that I could be really good if given the right opportunity and really believed these experiences would make me a better person. I hoped by studying it I could help others get involved in spite of their disabilities and had ideas of becoming a PE teacher.

"The course has not disappointed me in these respects. I have been allowed to try with varying degrees of success a number of sports and activities at a high level and find out exactly what was involved in them. I know that I’m no Paralympian, and that I’m not the best person to be teaching PE, but knowing that has indeed improved me as a person, and I’ve had some of the most exciting times of my life taking on the challenges. I’m now aiming for a career as a researcher and hope to help improve inclusion for disabled students in PE.

"My favourite physical experience was surfing in Bude. I had the chance to lie on a board and feel the waves crashing over my back. It felt incredible! The most exciting and life-changing discovery I made was not physical though – it was sociology. Sociology has given me ways to articulate my own lived experiences of being blind in a sighted world and helped me understand the reasons why things are how they are when others have only been able to tell me what to do or how to think.

"We’ve had exemplary training in research as a core component of the course, so I feel well equipped to handle my dissertation. Past experiences had knocked my confidence with regard to interacting with others for research and I’m not the most organised person, so this training may mean the difference between success and failure for my future in research."