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Sports Journalism BA(Hons)

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    Overview

    Considering a journalism degree? Our Sports Journalism BA(Hons) helps you refine your journalism education to a topic you’re passionate about: sport. Sports media is a global entertainment industry – and via this course, it’s our job to get you ready to enter this exciting world.

    You’ll gain a huge range of technical and creative skills, from match coverage and in-depth research, analysis, and interviewing, to club and sports promotion – across online, social, video and audio.

    We’ll nurture your passion for the sports you love, while developing your understanding of the forces behind the headlines. You’ll think about the power of digital media and become fully equipped for a great career.

    Why study Sports Journalism BA(Hons)

    On this course:

    • The course is accredited by The Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC).
    • You'll learn everything from writing a match report to producing a podcast and presenting your own TV sports show.
    • Our academics include industry experts, such as reporters, broadcasters, and commentators, who will help you develop a deep understanding of key issues in sport, culture, and the media.
    • Work experience opportunities in sports media, facilitated by our strong relationships with professionals in the field, will help you turn your passion into a career.

    Whether you’re keen to head into a career in broadcasting, digital or print media, this degree is ideal. Past graduates have gone on to work for BBC Sport, ITV, and talkSPORT, as well as football and rugby league clubs, the English Football League (EFL), and news site. newspapers and magazines**.

    *** Source: LinkedIn

    Entry requirements

    BBC-BCC at A Level .

    112-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications.

    Merit in T Level .

    DMM-MMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.

    • Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
    • 112-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

    Applicants who meet the entry criteria will be invited to interview to meet BJTC accreditation requirements.

    Applicants with prior learning or prior experiential learning will be considered individually by the School of Arts and Humanities Accreditation and Validation Panel, to assess whether it is appropriate to grant general or specific credit towards the course.

    Applications from international students will be considered on an individual basis, and with advice from the University's International Office.

    If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

    Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

    Course Detail

    Core modules:

    Analysing Content

    This module introduces you to different forms of analysis of media texts, ranging from industry-produced, professional media to user-generated content. It explores forms of textuality and their importance in the interplay of culture and communication across different textual formats including written, spoken, and audio-visual. It explores both mass media, such as film, television, radio and print, and digital platforms. The module equips you with the analytical skills to understand the construction and processes of meaning-making in media content and introduces key concepts in the study of media texts such as of genre, history, and structure.

    Online Media and Content Creation

    This module provides the knowledge for you to gain an understanding of the role of technology in shaping and being shaped by mediated communication, with a particular focus on digital media technologies. The module combines the critical analysis of media technologies with practical skills to use those technologies in the journalism, media and creative industries.

    Journalism Law, Ethics and Policy

    This module introduces you to essential media law, ethics and policy knowledge needed for a career in journalism. It will help you understand the structures in which journalists and their employers operate, and the ways in which specific legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks impact the material created and published by media companies. You will learn about these so you can begin to effectively apply them in the context of creating journalism content.

    Digital Audio Production

    The module introduces you to a range of audio formats and technologies: mobile, online, radio and podcast. You will be provided with the essential recording, editing and studio skills necessary to produce an audio output, and to understand the language and concepts required to critically evaluate audio content.

    Writing for Journalism

    This module introduces you to a range of types and styles of journalistic writing. You will also be guided to develop transferable skills to write for a broad range of media formats. You will engage with key concepts related to the practice of writing and analyse material online, in magazines and newspapers and in broadcasts. Through regular writing activities you will develop and hone your writing skills.

    Digital Video Production

    The module introduces you to a range of video formats and technologies: mobile, online, television and video. You will be provided with the essential recording and editing skills necessary to produce a video output, and to understand the language and concepts required to critically evaluate video content.

    Core modules:

    Sports Broadcasting and Commentary

    This module introduces you to key journalism techniques and skills in sports broadcasting and commentary. It offers technical and creative training in broadcast and online sports journalism. You will develop a range of writing, technical and voice skills to help you produce audio and video sports news output, along with on-location sports reporting and live commentaries, suitable for a range of media platforms.

    Media Careers and Entrepreneurship

    This module examines transformations of employment, agency and practice in creative and cultural industries. Through the study of forms of media work and labour, you will develop an understanding of the wider context of contemporary work and employment and critically assess its interplay with political, social, cultural, technological and economic structures. Knowledge and understanding of media and creative industries are in turn are applied to skills required in selecting appropriate career paths and opportunities, including employment, freelancing and entrepreneurship, and portfolio building.

    Sports Reporting and Writing

    The module develops your abilities in sports journalism, with a particular focus on reporting and writing for the written sports media. You will gain experience of covering sports events on location, allowing you to produce match reports suitable for online platforms and print outlets and to use social media platforms to provide live coverage. You will develop your skills in researching news and feature stories for the sports media, identifying and interviewing newsmakers within sport, and writing news and feature articles and liveblogs in a variety of styles suitable for a range of publishers. There will also be teaching in media law, and you will attend and report on the courts. The modules includes a series of industry-like newsdays, allowing you to work to deadlines in a live environment.

    Sports Radio

    This module gives you an understanding of the technical, legal and professional standards involved in digital radio and audio production for broadcast and online; and the practical skills needed in the maintaining of a functioning online radio station with additional online content. You will further develop your abilities to create, produce and present sports radio journalism, and will receive individual voice training. You will also plan, produce and present a sports radio programme. You will work together as a group to plan and run a pop-up radio station along with its associated online platforms.

    Podcasting

    This module gives you an understanding of the technical, legal and professional standards involved in planning, producing and publishing digital audio content, with a focus on podcasting. You will develop advanced skills in creative audio storytelling and editing. You will take part in creating a podcast and will develop abilities in promoting your work on social media platforms.

    Magazine Design and Production

    There’s a magazine for almost any topic you can think of, and this module helps take you closer to a job working for a publication you’ll love. Industry experts help teach you how to use software packages to design a stunning product. Then, you’re tasked with coming up with your own idea for a new magazine, to fill a gap in the market that you’ve spotted.

    Placement Year

    The optional one-year (48 weeks) work placement after the second year can be completed in the UK or abroad. It will give you the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience, insight into your chosen career and open up your graduate employment prospects.

    Core modules:

    Advanced Writing Techniques Across Media

    This module concentrates on helping you develop an advanced professional and distinctive style in journalistic writing for different media platforms, with a particular focus on transmedia feature writing. You will closely analyse the writing styles adopted for a variety of journalism platforms in the context of media convergence. You will produce work that reflects your understanding of the style and format in each context as well as how to develop narratives across media.

    Media Industry Project

    This module provides the opportunity for you, working individually or as part of a small group, to devise, plan and create some form of media output or outputs, working in partnership with an external organisation or other suitable client. This could take the form of an individual work placement, or individual or group project work.

    Political Reporting

    This module will allow you to develop the investigative journalism skills you need to report effectively on matters of public interest in your field. It provides the knowledge for you to gain a deep understanding of local, national and international institutions – who runs them, who funds them and the power they hold. You will be introduced to key issues in the study of public affairs, and will then develop the journalistic skills, from making Freedom of Information request to visualising data, for you to do investigative reporting in the public interest in a variety of media formats.

    The Multi-Platform and Sports Newsroom

    This module provides the advanced knowledge and practical skills for you to understand the technical, legal and professional standards involved in running a multiplatform sports and newsroom. It will enable you to achieve professional standards of capability in radio and audio, TV and video, and online newsgathering, editing and presentation. It will stress the importance of team skills in the newsroom context. You will also explore the rationale and constraints of user-generated content. The aim of the module is to encourage you to produce work which will have a beneficial impact on your employability and will contribute to your personal development portfolio.

    Option modules:

    Choose one from a list which may include:

    Video Shorts: Music, Advertising and Short film

    This module gives you the knowledge and practical skills to develop an advanced understanding of the emerging and diverse use of short film in a variety of forms. You will examine how video can be used across digital and broadcast platforms in innovative and complex ways. You will work in small groups to develop video narratives using a range of styles and platforms, with a clear understanding of audience and production.

    Video Games and Culture

    This module examines video games in culture and video games as culture. It will allow you to explore key approaches and debates in video gaming analysis, while placing video games into their historical, social and economic contexts. You will examine key theories in game studies, including narratology and ludology; debates about play, immersion and flow; the cultures and sub-cultures of gamers and players, including age, race and gender; and the media industries that produce video games. By the end of the module you will be able to analyse video games utilising a variety of theories, and will understand the social and cultural meaning of games.

    Our degrees seek to develop your creative, technical and analytical skills, and every aspect of your learning is designed to help you succeed in the media, creative and cultural sectors. We thus work with a wide variety of teaching formats which alongside lectures, seminars and workshops, include newsdays, work-based learning and placements, project work, dissertations, one-on-one and group supervision, and digital learning. We continuously review and innovate teaching formats to reflect changing technologies and industry contexts. An average 17.2%* of the time on your course will be spent with your tutors (either face to face or online) on timetabled activities.

    *based on 23/24 programme specifications.

    We use a variety of assessments, including video shorts, podcasts, newsroom days, audience research portfolios, essays, production pitches, data analytics, presentations, and dissertation. This allows you the ability to tailor your degree to fit your passions, interests and strengths. You will be taught by world-leading scholars whose research is helping to shape our understanding of how media, journalism and culture operate alongside industry-leading practitioners and producers, supplemented by a variety of guest talks.

    Full-time or part-time study

    This course is not available to study on a part-time basis on an evening, at the weekend, or via distance learning.

    Further Information

    The teaching year normally starts in September with breaks at Christmas and Easter, finishing with a main examination/assessment period around May/June. Timetables are normally available one month before registration.

    Your course is made up of modules and each module is worth a number of credits. Each year you study modules to the value of 120 credits, adding up to 360 credits in total for a bachelor’s qualification. These credits can come from a combination of core, compulsory and optional modules but please note that optional modules may not run if we do not have enough students interested.

    If you achieve 120 credits for the current stage you are at, you may progress to the next stage of your course, subject to any professional, statutory or regulatory body guidelines.

    1. The University of Huddersfield has been rated Gold in all three aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023. We were the only university in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West to achieve Gold ratings in all three aspects of the TEF among those announced in September 2023. In fact only 13 Universities, out of the 96 that were announced in September 2023, were Gold in all three ratings.

    2. Further proof of teaching excellence: our staff rank in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, who have higher degrees, and hold teaching qualifications (HESA 2024). So, you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.

    3. We are first in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 22 since 2008 (2023 data).

    4. We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).

    At Huddersfield, you'll study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* so that you gain valuable qualities and experiences that could help you to get the career you want, no matter what your field of study is. On completion of the Award, you'll receive a GPA certificate from the University of Huddersfield, alongside the specialist subject skills and knowledge you gain as part of your degree, which may help to set you apart from other graduates.

    Giving students access to the Global Professional Award is one of the reasons the University won ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ award at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021. Find out more on the Global Professional Award webpage.

    *full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.

    Placements

    Our Sports Journalism degree includes two exciting placement opportunities. Students are encouraged to undertake an optional one-year (48 weeks) placement in Year 3. We support our students in finding suitable placement opportunities in the Sports and Media Industries and beyond. During the placement year you will be supported by an academic tutor and have the opportunity to build professional experience invaluable for your final year of study and future career.

    The final year compulsory placement module also gives you the chance to put your skills into practice over a 120 hour period. You'll spend time working with an external client, such as a newspaper, broadcaster or production company, or in the press office of a professional football or rugby league side.

    Previous placement providers have included ITV Calendar and Granada, Halfords Media Sportsbook Social Media, a range of newspapers and magazines, Badminton Europe and clubs including Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United, Bradford Bulls RLFC, Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers.

    Going into a working environment once a week taught me the scale of work and planning that goes into Formula One PR. I was given a good level of responsibility, allowing me to learn as I went along, and develop my own style.

    tom errington

    Tom Errington, Sports Journalism BA(Hons)

    TV Studio
    Student using Adobe Premiere for video editing
    Tech Office
    Radio Studio
    Newsroom
    John Smith's Stadium
    Students filming on location

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    Important information

    We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

    Changes to a course you have applied for

    If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

    Cancellation of a course you have applied for

    Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

    Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

    We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

    Changes to option modules

    Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

    Major changes

    We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

    For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

    Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

    Termination of course

    In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

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