The BSc (Hons) Sport Media degree at Cardiff Met will enable you to develop the critical understanding, and professional knowledge of the sports media, marketing and communications industry, along with giving you the opportunity to develop the essential journalism, broadcast production and digital skills needed to enter the ever expanding, fast changing sports media environment.
This could include broadcast journalism positions with major broadcasters, producer roles creating content for sports brands and digital platforms or working in the media office of major sports organisations, sports events and sports governing bodies dealing with press, media and sponsors. The sports management element of the programme will allow you to learn about development and management of the structures and environments in elite sport and the governance and administration of sport at a national and international level. This component is designed to give you a grounding in how professional sport is financed and an opportunity to examine the areas where sport media, business and marketing overlap.
You will gain a fundamental understanding of how the sport media industry is organised from a local, national and global perspective, from TV coverage to broadcast rights, to the structure of professional teams and tournaments. You will acquire an appreciation of the sport consumer; this will include the consumer as a fan, both at the game or online, and as a participant.
We aim to help establish the guiding principles of what it takes to break into, survive and thrive in the industry today. Concepts such as ethics, media law, image rights, digital storytelling and sport on social media platforms will be explored alongside your own personal and professional development, not only in a media sports context but also in a way that will enable you to take your knowledge and skills into other sectors as well. The programme will provide you with a well-defined, contemporary foundation on which you can build your career.
Excellent on-site media facilities, first class sporting facilities on campus and top class venues in Cardiff and the surrounding region combine with a network of broadcast and media industry partners to provide a comprehensive work-related and work-based learning programme. This is designed to enable you to apply the knowledge gained from the degree curriculum in real-world settings and gain valuable experience to use as a foundation for further study or future employment.
Foundation Year
This degree can be studied as a three-year full-time degree or a four-year degree that includes a year of foundational study. Our foundation year is intended to prepare you for your subsequent years of studying, offering you the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence.
The foundation year will be relevant to:
- Students who have not achieved the required A-level points (or equivalent) score to enter the first year of the degree programme.
- Mature students who have been out of the formal education system for some time.
Find out more about the
foundation year.
Please note: You will need to apply using a specific UCAS code if you wish to undertake the 4 years including foundation. Please refer to Key Course Information at the bottom of this page.
Course Content
The BSc (Hons) Sport Media degree programme offers you a module framework which provides the fundamental underpinning knowledge, skills and understanding to be able to gain employment in a creative and dynamic role within the fast moving and exciting world of sport media.
Students will develop and master a wide spectrum of media and broadcast journalism production skills, learn to self-shoot and edit and sharpen their journalistic instinct and editorial judgment. They will critically examine the reciprocal relationship between socio-political issues, modern media coverage and professional sport. Students will also study elements of sports marketing, media law, and analyse how ethics, a sense of fairness, impartiality, accuracy and a robust knowledge of regulations and rights play a crucial part in operating within the modern sport media, marketing and broadcasting landscape.
The module content will allow you to reflect on the underlying business and marketing principles that help to sustain and develop the sport media industry and there is a strong focus on creativity, journalism, marketing, entrepreneurship and strategic thinking which offers the potential for you to define and develop your own ideas for sport related media content. These principles are underpinned by the theories of culture, media, journalism and marketing practice applied in a wide range of sport media related settings.
Year one consists of six modules, two of which are common across the whole of the sports related offer. These core modules focus on helping to shape your professional and academic skills whilst also gaining some professional qualifications. The other four modules are all compulsory and consider the contexts in which sport media takes place and helps to ensure that a fundamental understanding is gained of the global sport media landscape; the sporting consumer; the platforms upon which sport is broadcast and the business of sport.
Level 4 (year one)
- Research and Scholarship*
- Digital Sport Media
- Sport Journalism
- Global Sport Industry
- The Sport Consumer
- Applied Sport Marketing Communications
Options:
In year two the compulsory modules build on the knowledge and understanding gained in year one but focus on more functional aspects of working in sport media such as digital storytelling, sport radio broadcast, enterprise, marketing and managing people. There is also a focus on sports ethics and how their application to Sport Media. You will begin to examine and explore the role of Sports News and Broadcast Journalism and the skills required to work in these areas. All these aspects of sport media are underpinned with work related learning opportunities, largely based around the excellent and wide ranging facilities, events and activities offered on campus to students, staff and the local community.
During Year two students will be embedded with one of the university sports teams with a remit to look after their sport media and marketing requirements. This is part of work based learning, service and delivery module. Through this opportunity, students will gain practical, real-world experience of various broadcast roles including presenter, reporter, producer, director, videographer, camera operator, floor manager, video editor, social media producer, commentator and all-round broadcast journalist. Students will learn to research, network and build contacts, elevating their sports reporting and writing skills to the next level and master the art of story-telling and content making in the fast-changing digital age through social media platforms, blogging and podcasts. They will also be responsible for communications, marketing, promotions and publicity for their team’s fixtures and events.
Level 5 (year two)
- Research Design and Practice*
- Professional Placement*
- Introduction to Sport Marketing
- Sport Broadcast Journalism
- Culture, Media and Sport Journalism
- Sport Ethics
In the third year we look at live sport broadcast, live streaming and analysis in sports media as well as a more advanced exploration of digital sports media and the way in which technology is driving the change in the areas of broadcast and marketing. The final year also year sees the opportunity to further develop your professional identity through a final project which operates in partnership with a range of industry organisations, regionally, nationally and internationally, and our own teams on campus. With operational issues the main focus in year two, you will now consider the higher order strategic, socio-cultural, political, ethical, governance and financial aspects of how sport is run, organised and financed. This final year focuses upon developing you as an independent, reflective learner who can take control of your development and ensure that it aligns with your first step into graduate employment or further study.
Level 6 (year three)
- Final Project*
- Industry Placement*
- Global Sport Governance
- Digital Sports Marketing
- Live Sport Broadcast and Analysis
*modules available through the medium of Welsh
Learning & Teaching
Effective learning, teaching and assessment methods underpin the educational aims and the learning outcomes of all of our programmes and modules. Learning and teaching methods within the sport and exercise science programme may include lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, laboratory-based practical sessions, guest speakers and industrial visits. Our Virtual Learning Environment is also an integral aspect of the learning package that supports the needs of our students.
Lead lectures introduce key topics and concepts, whilst seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical laboratory sessions focus on the application of key concepts with the aim of enhancing the student experience and engagement. You will also meet tutors on a one to one basis. As a school, we work hard to provide student-centred learning opportunities that deliver a high quality and flexible learning environment.
Learning and teaching methods emphasise and facilitate the development of your critical reasoning, and encourage the integration of practice and theory. Throughout your programme, you will experience both tutor-led learning and self-directed methods of learning, increasing independence and reflection and encouraging you to develop a positive attitude toward lifelong learning.
Our teaching and learning methods embed the Cardiff Met 'EDGE' (Ethical, Global, Digital and Entrepreneurial) skills and you will be well equipped to demonstrate graduate attributes expected of you in an increasingly competitive world of work. We aim to help you to develop into scientists, reflective professionals and critical scholars.
In your sport programme at Cardiff Met, you will encounter a learning experience from induction to graduation that is coherent and develops your identity within your programme of study.
Specific features of the learning experience on Sport Media include:
- Internationally renowned researchers and industry experienced tutors that are integral to the learning package offered to our students.
- World-class on-campus media facilities which are utilised in order to enhance the student learning experience and apply the theoretical knowledge in a real world setting.
- Excellent industry partnerships which are used to underpin and enhance the delivery of the programme.
- A degree programme that has been endorsed by industry partners and meets employer needs.
Assessment
The assessment strategies for each module vary to ensure that most appropriate method is implemented for your area of study. Modes of assessment are designed to both enhance your learning experience and to acknowledge that you have fulfilled the learning outcomes linked to each module. Assessment also ensures that you have achieved the standard required to progress to the next stage or to qualify for an award (as articulated by the FHEQ and CQFW). Assessments support your learning experience by providing opportunities for you to engage in formative and summative assessments to test your knowledge, ability, skill, and critical understanding. The undergraduate modules are assessed by a combination of assessment types. For example:
- written coursework
- poster presentations
- oral presentations
- portfolios
- seen and unseen exams
- practical skills
- other activities designed to assess, develop, and enhance academic and employability skills.
You will be expected to complete a final project as part of the assessment of your Honours degree. Final projects are major pieces of work that may be research, enterprise, consultancy or community based projects.
The nature of the Sport Media programme requires students to demonstrate both theory (evidence-based practice) and application (practical skills), and therefore assessments within Sport Media modules include both theoretical assessments alongside practical assessments in applied settings such as events and group activities.
Employability & Careers
The Cardiff Met EDGE supports you to thrive in the modern world. Throughout your degree you will experience a range of opportunities to develop your Ethical, Digital, Global and Entrepreneurial competencies through problem-based learning, real-world industry case studies, integrated work experiences on campus and opportunities for work-based learning placements off campus. We will ensure that you get a range of opportunities to develop transferable skills such as communication, team work and leadership.
During your time with us you will get the opportunity to undertake technical qualifications in a range of industry relevant areas including video editing, social media & health and safety. These opportunities will ensure that you have the appropriate qualifications and experience to apply for one of the many work placement opportunities on offer both on and off campus. We will also support you to seek opportunities to work or study abroad. Work placements can give you a critical EDGE in gaining professional employment on graduation. Students who have graduated from the Sport Media programme will be expected to go on to work in careers both within and beyond the Sport Media, Marketing, Communications, Digital Media and Broadcast Industry.
Graduates from our Sport Broadcast MSc are now working in the professional sport media industry with BBC Sport, Sky Sports, LiveWire Sport and Cardiff City.
Many students also pursue their own opportunities and set up businesses based on ideas that they have generated during their studies. There is on-going enterprise support available from the Centre for Entrepreneurship designed to help provide the best chance to create a successful enterprise. This includes business mentoring, funding advice, free office space and networking opportunities.
Other students might choose to continue onto further study through our MSc Sport Broadcast programme for example and might progress to doctoral level studies. You can also progress onto more generic Masters level Media, Broadcast, Marketing and management programmes including the Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Cardiff Met or other Higher Education institutions offering similar courses.
Entry Requirements & How to Apply
Typical Offers
The following requirements are based on typical offers relevant to entering year 1 of the degree.
If you do not meet these entry requirements, we also offer a
Foundation Year which allows progression to Year 1 upon successful completion.
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Tariff points: 104 - 112
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Contextual offer: See our
contextual offers page.
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GCSE: Five GCSEs at Grade C / 4 or above to include English Language / Welsh First Language, Mathematics / Mathematics – Numeracy.
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English Language Requirement: Academic IELTS 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in all elements, or equivalent.
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A level subjects: Three A levels to include grade B. No specific subjects required. Welsh Baccalaureate – Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate considered as a third subject.
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BTEC National / Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: DMM
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T Level: Merit.
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Access to Higher Education Diploma: 15 Level 3 credits at Distinction and 30 Level 3 credits at Merit. No specific subjects required.
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International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: Higher level Grade 6. No specific subjects required.
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Irish Leaving Certificate: 3 x H2. No specific subjects required. Higher level subjects only considered, with a minimum grade H4.
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Scottish Advanced Highers: Grade C. No specific subjects required. Scottish Highers are also considered, either on their own or in combination with Advanced Highers.
Combinations of the above qualifications are accepted if they meet our minimum requirements. If your qualifications aren’t listed, please contact
Admissions or refer to the
UCAS Course Search.
Further information on Overseas qualifications can be found
here.
If you are a mature applicant, have relevant experience or
RPL that you would like us to consider, please contact Admissions.
How to Apply
Further information on how to apply can be found
here.
Contact Us