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BA (Hons) Sports Journalism with Integrated Foundation Year

Gain thorough training for life at sport media's cutting edge. Learn the latest techniques in digital, video, and broadcast production. Study for UK journalism's gold standard qualification, the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) diploma.

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Sports journalism students working in the press boxes at a football match
UCAS codeP504
Duration4 years
Fee (UK)£9,790
LocationOn campus

Course summary

Gain thorough training for life at sport media's cutting edge. Learn the latest techniques in digital, video, and broadcast production. Study for UK journalism's gold standard qualification, the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) diploma.

You'll get the opportunity to undertake assignments such as:

  • Reporting from the press box at Wembley Stadium
  • Interviewing club executives
  • Visiting some of Europe's finest football stadiums
  • Reporting on professional county cricket
  • Producing your own website, sports TV episode, or series of investigative sports articles
  • Using our state-of-the-art TV studios and outside broadcast equipment

Working in the mediaHUB, you'll build your practical experience and develop a portfolio of work. You'll publish your work on SportsByte, our student-run website covering sport across the north-east.

Our graduates have gone on to work for:

  • Sky Sports News
  • BBC Sport
  • Manchester United FC
  • Liverpool FC
  • Everton FC
  • Newcastle United FC
  • Golf’s Ryder Cup and DP World Tour
  • The Williams F1 team
  • National newspapers
Why Sunderland for Journalism

Integrated Foundation Year

This course is available with an Integrated Foundation Year, an extra year of your degree. This route offers a supportive way of transitioning into university study. It may be suitable for you if you:

  • Have valuable work or life experience but no formal qualifications
  • Are returning to education after a break
  • Want to change direction or explore a new career path
  • Have just missed the entry requirements for the three-year course.

We’re enhancing our Integrated Foundation Year to give you an even stronger start to your degree. The updated modules will align more with your chosen subject area. This will help you build the knowledge, confidence, and skills you need for your studies. We'll share full details soon and can't wait to tell you more.

Please note, this route isn’t available to international students.

Accreditations and approvals

This course is accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).

National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) logo(opens in new tab)

What you'll study

Many of our courses include a range of modules you can choose from. Some options may only be available if you’ve already studied specific modules. If you’re not sure what you need before picking a module, your course leader can help.

Undergraduate module credits should total 120 credits per academic year. If optional modules are available, choose an amount that totals 120 credits.

How you'll learn

In your first year, we'll set you up with the core skills of sports journalism. This includes training in writing styles, research, and media law. You'll learn traditional sports reporting techniques as well as contemporary digital sports journalism skills.

In your second and final year, you'll study topics in more depth. You'll work in our state-of-the-art facilities while training in shorthand – a key skill valued by employers such as Sky Sports News – free of charge.

Throughout the course, you'll build your practical experience and portfolio of published work by taking on reporting and/or editing roles on SportsByte. This is our student-run website covering sport across the north-east. You can also benefit from our exclusive links with:

  • Durham County Cricket Club
  • Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club
  • Sunderland AFC (where a part-time internship is available each year to one final-year student)

Here, you'll gain invaluable match day and behind-the-scenes reporting experience of big sporting stages.

In your final year, you can have your sports content published by JPI Media each week for an entire semester, and go on work placement. Here you'll put what you’ve learned into practice while building crucial workplace relationships. You’ll produce a large-scale piece of journalism, which will be a significant piece to add to your portfolio of work to present to prospective employers.

Teaching methods include lectures, demonstrations, seminars, workshops, group projects, and practical skills work. Your teaching staff have all worked as journalists and have strong links with regional employers and industry organisations. We also invite experienced industry professionals to carry out regular guest lectures.

Assessment methods include portfolios of practical work, essays, examinations, reports, and presentations.

Entry requirements

Fees and finance support

UK£9,790

The tuition fee includes the NCTJ exam fees. It covers the cost of one attempt at all seven exams required for the NCTJ Diploma, including each shorthand speed.

Undergraduate fees are set according to rules from Government in line with forecast inflation. If you're a Home fee-paying student, the fee for your first year of study for 2026/27 will be £9,790. You'll pay tuition fees for every year of study. Fees may increase every year based on the Retail Price Index.

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See all course tuition fees.

Full-time UK/Irish/EU settled/EU pre-settled students may be eligible for financial support. This would cover your fees for the full four years. UK and EU settled students may also be eligible to receive a maintenance loan.

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UK students

Disclaimer

We want to make sure you have clear and accurate information about our courses. Our website always shows the latest updates. If you’ve applied and you're offered a place, we’ll contact you in writing if anything important changes.

For more information, view our programme specifications. These include course content, learning outcomes, and the skills you'll gain.