Sports Journalism

Location:: Stoke-on-Trent campus
Study option:: Full-time
Duration:: 13 Months
Start date:: 14 September 2020

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Score yourself a winning career with our Sports Journalism MA. Our News Days and work placement opportunities will give you the skills necessary to launch your broadcasting career.

On our Sports Journalism MA, you’ll work with a team of top journalists and academics. You’ll learn how self-shoot and edit a TV package, how to write and present on television and radio and how to operate as a multi-media journalist. Not only this, you’ll learn the advanced theory that underpins journalism, so you’ll always be a step ahead of the game.

Our teaching staff have many years’ experience of working in newspapers, online journalism, radio and television. Also, you’ll have access to cutting-edge equipment throughout your studies.

You’ll undertake a fully assessed work placement and have an opportunity to visit several leading London newsrooms, including Sky News, Sky Sports News, ITV News and The Daily Telegraph, which is included in the course fees.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: MA Sports Journalism

Work placements

You have the option to choose your own work placement.

To help you out, we have connections and work placement arrangements with many leading companies such as:

Manchester United TV
Eurosport
BBC Sport
Sky Sports News
Birmingham Mail
Express & Star
The Stoke Sentinel

Course content

Our Sports Journalism MA covers a variety of modules that aim to give you the skills to thrive in the competitive world of broadcasting. You will study core modules that work to give you an in-depth background, such as Sport, Media and Culture, Broadcast Journalism: Theory and Practice, Sports Broadcast Studies and Law.

While giving you an advanced knowledge of the background in Sports Broadcasting, we will work to ready you for specialist careers after graduation. Sports Writing will focus on developing your sub-editing and writing skills. Our Multi-Platform Feature Production will give you the technical knowledge you need to report and present sports-based news. During your course you will undertake 120 hours of work placement, assessed via a professional portfolio. You will need to use basic reporting skills of researching, writing, presentation and digital editing to gather information, and assemble and produce sports stories for broadcast according to a brief given by your news editor or supervisor.

More importantly, you will complete a final project where you’ll be required to make a 40-minute radio or 25-minute TV documentary. The topic is completely up to you! Once complete, the project, alongside your portfolio and the valuable experience you will gain during teaching hours, will prepare you for a career as a professional sports broadcasting journalist.

Entry requirements

UK qualifications

International qualifications

You’ll usually need a minimum 2:1 BA honours degree, but candidates with a 2:2 may be invited to interview.

Mature students can be considered based on experience.

If your first language is not English, you’ll need the equivalent of a 2:1 degree in the UK and an IELTS score of at least 7.5.

For equivalent entry requirements in your home country, please see the information on our country pages.

Choose your country

Check our entry and English language requirements for your country

Facilities

Libraries

We have Libraries and Service desks on all our sites in Stoke, Stafford and Shrewsbury. All have experienced and friendly staff who can answer your IT queries, help you to access resources, show you how to research for your assignments and even help with referencing.

Some libraries are open 24/7 at key times in the academic year and we have a 24 hour help line too.

Careers

After completing the Sports Journalism MA, you will be equipped to take enter the world of sports broadcasting for companies such as BBC, Eurosport, ITV, Sky Sports, in journalistic areas such as:

Photojournalism
Communications
Sports journalism
Sports presenting
Foreign correspondence
Video production
Newspaper reporting
Magazine editing
Sports commentating
Public relations
Social media
Investigative journalism
Editing

Eager for more knowledge? Upon completion, you will be ideally placed for further academic study at PhD level.

Teaching and assessment

Overview

Study time

Teaching

We know that everyone learns differently. So, not only do we use traditional ways of teaching like lectures, but we also use problem-based learning to help you apply your skills.For this course, you will:

Work with others on group work
Delve deeper into subject areas in workshops
Be expected to study independently
Be required to undertake 160 hours of work placement

Our teaching is supported through our Virtual Learning Environment called Blackboard. This means you can access a range of materials to support your lectures wherever you are.

We’ll also assign you a supervisor to support you throughout your research project.

Assessment

There are two types of assessments: practice (also called formative) or formal (also called summative).

Practice assessments do not count towards your final mark. These are your chance to test your understanding – and learn how to improve for the real thing.

You’ll have formal assessments at the end of each module. These could include essays, exams, or portfolios.

Learning support

Your course tutors will provide lots of support. But you can also take advantage of our Academic Skills team, who can help you with:

Study skills (including reading, note-taking and presentation skills)
Written English (including punctuation, grammar)
Academic writing (including how to reference)
Research skills
Critical thinking
Revision, assessment and exam skills (including time management)

Additional support

If you have additional needs like dyslexia or a sensory impairment, then our AccessAbility Services are here to help make sure nothing stands in your way.

Feedback

We know that it’s important for you to be able to gauge your progress. So, your tutor will give you feedback on any practice assessments you do.

We usually give you feedback on formal assessments within 20 working days, but the format will vary for each module. For example, on broadcasting modules you will receive hour-by-hour feedback.

Your study time will include scheduled classes, independent learning and assessments. It will vary depending on your module choices.

Independent learning

The emphasis of the course is on independent study, developing a portfolio and pursuing career prospects. The award follows a programme of continuous assessment and requires you to undertake a fully assessed work placement.

Fees

Overview

Additional costs

Financial support

For the course starting on 14 September 2020 the tuition fees are:

Study option
Full time

UK / EU / Channel Islands
£9,085 per course

International (Non-EU)
£14,500 per course

If you would like to know more about the fees listed and what this means to you then please get in touch with our Enquiries Team.

Alumni discount

If you have previously completed an undergraduate degree with us, you may be entitled to a discount off your course fee for any subsequent postgraduate taught course. For further information please contact Graduate Relations.

Accommodation and living costs
Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. For more information on accommodation and living costs, please see: Accommodation

Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees.

For more information on accommodation and living costs, please see: Accommodation

Sources of financial support

Providing you are studying towards a full Masters qualification you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan of up to £10,609 to help with tuition fees, maintenance and other associated costs. Student loans are available for many of our postgraduate degrees and are provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC). The loan can cover a wide range of postgraduate study options - part-time, full-time and distance learning.

For more information and how to apply visit postgraduate loans.

Bursaries and scholarships

As a postgraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Our students

Student stories

Emily Atyeo
Content Department MUFC

The Sports Journalism lecturers are not just about waving goodbye to you the day you graduate; they look after you once you are gone, always there for advice and a helping hand, and that's something I haven't experienced elsewhere.

Emily Croydon
Assistant Producer for BBC Sports News

The professional set-up enabled me to see the challenges and demands of being a journalist and helped me to learn to cope with the pressure of live broadcasting. The placements I undertook allowed me to make contacts in the business who I have gone on to work with.

Adam Claverly
Freelance currently working for Sky Sports

I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy such great jobs if it wasn't for the technical skills that I learned on the course. All of the material is there for anyone who wants to progress in the broadcast industry.

Zenith Vaghasiya
MA Sports Journalism

The staff and faculty have been the most surprising element so far, in a good way. Coming from a class of 150 students, to just 10 of us in the course it already felt very close and personal every time I was in a lecture.

No matter how busy the tutor is or their other commitment, if I ask them for five minutes just for an informal chat about football, their door is always open. The willingness to listen to and respond to feedback has been very crucial too. Someone out there is actually listening, they want to know my opinions/thoughts on how the course is going, how can they make it better for next year’s students; all of these questions make me think that University is determined to see their students succeed.

After coming to Staffs, it feels like my future looks a bit different, very bright in fact. The contacts I have made here, the industry knowledge gained and friend I have made are all for life. In my mind, I have no doubt that I will be employed before the end of my degree, and a big part of that is because I chose Staffs.

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Location:

Award:

Study option:

Start date:

Apply link

Location:

Stoke-on-Trent campus

Award:

MA

Study option:

Full-time

Start date:

14 September 2020

Apply now

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at Staffordshire University, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of Staffordshire University enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations.

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