The Sport Management degree enables you to develop the knowledge and understanding, as well as the skills and attributes needed to undertake managerial roles in the ever-expanding global sport industry. For example, this could be in positions of responsibility for: developing and delivering school, community or elite sport programmes, systems, and structures; for researching contemporary issues and challenges associated with modern sport; or for the governance and administration of sport at a national and international level.
The degree programme introduces you to a range of core management disciplines that are relevant to all industries, including: business planning, strategic management, human resource management, research and development, operations management, events management, marketing, and communications. Related theories, concepts and best practice are explored through the lens of sport and physical activity, to engage and ensure they possess the industry knowledge to boost their employability.
The degree programme utilises excellent on-site facilities and world-class venues in Cardiff and Southeast Wales, in combination with a network of industry partners to provide students with rich work-related and work-based learning experiences. This approach enables you to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to real-world settings, whilst providing you with experiences that can be used as a foundation for further study or future employment.
The degree programme was the first in the UK to receive an endorsement from the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), certifying that the degree is mapped to both the Entry Manager and General Manager professional standards endorsed by the Institute, recognising the skills, qualities and experience the programme helps to develop. To complement and enhance this endorsement, our current students receive student membership of this industry body.
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 Management degree at Cardiff Met offers you a module framework which provides the fundamental underpinning knowledge, skills and understanding to be able to work in a managerial role in the fast moving and exciting world of sport, together with the opportunity to channel your interests and aptitudes into one of four different pathways as you progress through the degree. The module content will allow you to reflect on the underlying business principles that help to sustain and develop the sport industry and there is a strong focus on entrepreneurship and strategic thinking which offers the potential for you to define and develop your own ideas for sport related products and services. These principles are underpinned by management theory and practice applied in a wide range of sport related settings.
Year one consists of six modules, two of which are common across the whole of the sports related offer at Cardiff Met. These core modules focus on helping to shape your professional and academic skills whilst also gaining some professional qualifications from the outset. The other four modules are all compulsory and consider the contexts in which sport management takes place and helps to ensure that a fundamental understanding is gained of the global sporting landscape; the sporting consumer; the environments in which sport takes place and the business of sport.
Level 4 (year one)
- Research and Scholarship
- Professional Development
- Global Sports Industry
- The Sport Consumer
- Introduction to Sport Marketing
- Managing Sport and Physical Activity
Options:
- Dwyiethrwydd (billingualism)
Progression to year two affords the opportunity to start to tailor your programme to your chosen areas of interest. You can begin to focus on one of four pathways – research and insight, community sport, elite sport or sports administration and governance. Projects on the compulsory modules can be designed to align with these pathways and complement the more specific nature of the option modules.
The compulsory modules build on the knowledge and understanding gained in year one but focus on the more functional aspects of managing sport such as enterprise, marketing and managing people. All these aspects of managing sport are underpinned with work related learning opportunities, largely based around the excellent facilities, events and activities offered on campus to the students, staff and the local community.
Level 5 (year two)
- Research Design and Practice
- Professional Placement
- Enterprise in Sport and Health
- Applied Sport Marketing Communications
- Managing People
Options:
- Sport Policy and Insight
- Sport Development Principles into Practice
- Managing Events
- Business of Sport
The final year allows continued exploration of the pathways introduced in year two but with more flexibility in relation to the options followed. The opportunity to further develop your professional identity is provided through a work based learning module which operates in partnership with a range of industry organisations, regionally, nationally and internationally. With operational issues having been a focus in year two, you will now consider the higher order strategic, socio-cultural, political, ethical, governance and financial aspects of running sport which runs in parallel with the development of your own critical and analytical skills, important in more senior roles. 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
- Strategic Management
- Economics of Sport
Options:
- Contemporary Issues in Policy Development
- Sport Consultancy
- Planning for Sport
- Managing High Performance Sport
- Strategic Sport Event Management
- Global Sport Governance
- Digital Sports Marketing
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 may include lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and work related practical sessions. These are also complimented by guest speakers and industry field trips that help to assimilate the learning. 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 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 theory and practice. 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 & Entrepreneurial) skills which aim to ensure that you will be well equipped to demonstrate graduate attributes expected of you in an increasingly competitive world of work. We therefore aim to help you to develop into 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 Management include:
- Internationally renowned researchers and industry experienced tutors that are integral to the learning package offered to our students.
- World-class on-campus 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.
- All aspects of Learning and Teaching utilise the most recent research literature and are aligned to industry Professional Standards (CIMSPA – subject to accreditation)
- 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 the most appropriate method is implemented for the relevant topics and stage of learning. 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 and to also develop crucial workplace related skills.
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 Management programme requires students to demonstrate both theory (evidence-based practice) and application (practical skills), and therefore assessments within Sport Management 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 first year of study you will get the opportunity to undertake technical qualifications in a range of industry relevant. 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 Management programme have gone on to work in careers both within and beyond the Sport Industry.
Graduates from Sport Management are now working in professional and semi-professional sport, national agencies and governing bodies of sport, local authority and social enterprise based organisations, community related organisations, as well as commercial sport and fitness.
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 have continued onto further study through our MSc Sport Leadership programme for example and then further progressed to doctoral level studies. You can also progress onto more generic Masters level business 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