The Conservation and Education Centre at the former Bristol Zoo Gardens site remains open to students.

You will have private access to the zoo grounds during lectures, to carry out your observations and data collection, but as more animals are moved, this will gradually be carried out at the Bristol Zoo Project. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Course Description

Our foundation degree in Sports Media is designed to develop you into an industry-ready individual with an exceptional understanding of the sports media industry. You’ll spend your time working with a wide range of platforms and technologies to create professional sports media content. With strong working links with local professional sporting teams for whom we’ve created a wide range of content, from interview packages to highlight reels.

Full of opportunity

Further afield we have travelled across the country in pursuit of a good story, covering a wide range of sports, from football and rugby union to golf and motor racing. From our University Centre equipped with tv studio, media suites, editing bays and state-of-the-art broadcast facilities, previous students have had the opportunity to live-stream international under-18 rugby games, matches in the Women’s Super League and have had the opportunity to interview sports heavyweights from Graham Taylor to Andy Robinson.


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Study Modules
SM4001
Creating Sports Video Content
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This module will deliver a set of core media production skills and an understanding of the forms and publication contexts for video content in the field of sports media. The main role you will be asked to perform will be that of the self-shooting video journalist. To pass this module you will have to locate a real sports event and then work with the client to deliver a media product to a specified audience. Delivery will be through a series of workshops, using the dedicated studio spaces available, and seminars. Your progress across the different skills, technologies and roles will be tracked. Assessment will focus on a practical portfolio, including research, pre-production documentation and a completed media piece, evidenced in its published context. Evaluation will take the form of a video diary.

50% Portfolio

50% Practical Assessment

SM4002
Writing about Sports Events and Athletes
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In this module you will work with a set of core media production skills to gain an understanding of the forms and publication contexts for sports media copy . The aim is to create our own magazine and website for our best sports writing, collaborating with both our own journalistic research skills and our in-house Academy and professional sports teams, as well as the connections we have with the local sports scene. You will begin by identifying a topic and platform, drawing from both your own journalistic research interests and Academies and professional sports teams in-house and locally. You will then conduct research into your subject and into the audience and publication context and means. You will draft your copy and will design and craft your finished piece using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. You will then manage your publication platform, engage with your audience and, where possible, gain client feedback about your work.

40% Assignment

60% Portfolio

SM4003
Sport and Social Media
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You will learn about the social media publishing tools and platforms that are newly available for use by journalists and sports media producers working freelance, for media employers and for sports clubs and events. You will learn about how to create content for social media audiences, how to create a profile, how to build an audience and how to manage publishing schedules for a multi-platform campaign. You will make use of some of the work you're doing for modules 4001 and 4002, using it as content for your social media work. You�ll also create content specifically for this module, using your video and copywriting skills to that end. You will also be given the opportunity to explore photography and graphic design skillsets. Further techniques will be explored to help you define your audiences, to protect yourself from personal and professional abuse and risk and to understand some key theories about social media and its influence on society.

50% Assignment

50% Portfolio

SM4004
Law and Ethics in Sports Media
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For this module you will consider the moral and ethical dimensions of your production and social media work. You will conduct investigations into the legal and ethical frameworks for media practice and into wider contextual issues that are relevant to your story world. You will make decisions about what constitutes context for this module, though tutors will bring to the lessons case study material that deals with some of the current issues that are live within debates around the media and society, including Black Lives Matter, notions of social class, gender and the role of social media in shaping beliefs and attitudes. Assessment will be through an extended essay, annotated research and evaluations of the legal and ethical considerations made for your production and social media work.

100% Assignment

SM4005
An Introduction to Sound Production for Sports Media
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This module will introduce you to some of the foundation skills and forms of sound recording and post-production for audio content in the field of sports media. To pass this module you will create an audio product for a self-identified context. You will select, through reflection and analysis, a publication platform for your piece. You will use this platform to deliver your work to your target audience and will ask their opinion of its quality. You will then reflect on what you've learned, both from them and from your experience of working with this technology. Delivery will be through a series of workshops, using the dedicated studio spaces available, and seminars.

50% Portfolio

50% Presentation

SM5004
The Role of Sport in Society with Sound
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You will develop your understanding of the social, cultural and political contexts and drivers for sports activity and sports media through taking part in guided group discussions, seminars, producing an online record of research and writing an illustrated assignment on a set topic. While this is a largely theoretical module, you will be making inks between what you're learning and your own sports media practice, in order to give your work greater depth and to enhance your sense of ethical responsibility as a media practitioner. You will present a case study of a particular sport or sporting event through which you will demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the social, cultural and political factors that have influenced its reception and development.

100% Presentation

SM5005
Telling the Story with Sound
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This module builds on the work done for module SM4005: An Introduction to Sound Production for Sports Media. You will develop further skills in radio production, to include the forms of sports news and current affairs. You will create a sound package for radio on a self-chosen topic and will learn how to creatively employ a range of core sound production techniques in order to realise an imagined world for your listeners. This module will be taught through sets of practical workshops, involving demonstrations, guided tasks and collaborative peer learning. Assessment of coursework will be through the submission of a completed sound piece and evidence of research and production activity in relevant form. It will also include a blog (or other negotiated platform) that reviews the learning undertaken and the quality of the end result, factoring in audience and client/publication considerations.

50% Practical Assessment

50% Assignment

SM5003
Working for a Client
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The central focus of this module is the application of skills and production techniques to a professional standard and the practice of those interpersonal and communication skills necessary to operate successfully as a sports media professional. You will engage with professional practice via a live commission from a local sports team or event, seeded through established relationships with local clubs, to foster a real and properly situated context for work. After initial skills workshops supporting you to function professionally within the new digital media environment, and once the commission has been obtained, you will be free to practice as a professional.

70% Portfolio

30% Presentation

SM5002
Going Live
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For this module you will gain an understanding and experience of working in a live broadcast environment. Building on the skills acquired in year one and working with your classmates, you will devise, plan and produce a live sports show, using social media publishing platforms to reach your audiences. You will study the conventions of the live sports show form and gain an understanding of its textual properties through research and evaluation. You will be conceiving, developing, planning and creating a live broadcast sports show as a member of your class production team. Production roles will be assigned and adopted within the production management team, with each student taking a lead role in a specified area. You will have responsibility for a segment of the show, as both producer and director, creating your own v/t, though aided by your peers on production tasks. For the recording of the live show you will adopt a particular role, allowing you to enhance your skillset and understanding in an area of personal and professional interest.

50% Assignment

50% Practical assessment

SM5001
The Sports Business
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This module will provide an overview of the sports business, with the UK industries as a particular focus, but also looking to sports in other territories and to global events, such as the Olympic Games. You will learn about funding models and how regulatory frameworks enable and limit business activity. Case studies will be offered of media practice as it comments on and positions the business of sport to audiences and you will be asked to conduct your own enquiry into an area of the sports business world that interests you. This enquiry will consider both the historical context for the founding and growth of the business and the ways in which this has been made sense of for audiences, with the resulting tensions and consequences being a particular focus.

100% Assignment

Course Video
Steve Mazillius
Lecturer in Media
*This programme is subject to validation and delivery approval by the University of Gloucestershire.
APPLICATIONS FOR SEPT 2024 ENTRY ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS COURSE.APPLY VIA UCAS FOR FULL-TIME STUDY
(FULL-TIME)
APPLY ONLINE FOR FULL-TIME STUDY
(FULL-TIME)
APPLY ONLINE FOR PART-TIME STUDY
(PART-TIME ONLY)
Campus:
University Centre WISE
Level:
Foundation Degree
Full-time Duration:
2 Years
Full-time Fee (Per Year):
£8,500
Part-time Duration:
4 Years
Part-time Fee (Per Year):
£4,250
UCAS Application Code:
P500
UCAS Entry Tariff:
64
Entry Requirements

The minimum UCAS tariff entry points from a level 3 qualification, GCSE Maths and English at grade C/4. Please submit a portfolio to be reviewed by Programme Lead. Once your portfolio has been reviewed, you may be invited for an interview. Mature students over 24 without the relevant qualifications will be required to demonstrate previous experience and evidence of academic ability.

Course info last updated:
September 9, 2024
Full-Time
Part-Time
Delivery Format

The delivery format for your degree-level programs is primarily face-to-face and in-person sessions. However, there may be some hybrid sessions offered occasionally, mainly for flexibility purposes, such as tutorials or for larger events like visiting lecturers. Additionally, it's mentioned that all degree programs are well-supported by Virtual Learning Environments, which include Teams or Google Classroom.

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