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University of Portsmouth

UCAS Code: N882 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)

Entry requirements

A level

B,B,B-B,C,C

104-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels.

106-122 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma.

Cambridge Pre-U score of 44-50.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English and mathematics at grade C/4 or above.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

24

24 points from the IB Diploma, with 444 at Higher Level.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H3,H3,H3,H4,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H3

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM-DMM

104-120 Tariff points to include a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

104-120

104-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent.

104-120 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 1 A level, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.

About this course

This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2026

Other options

4 years | Sandwich | 2026

Subject

Sport and exercise sciences

**This is a Connected Degree**
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

**Overview**
Devise marketing campaigns for top sports brands. Manage community schemes that inspire the next generation to love sport. Organise sponsorship strategies for international sporting events.

On this BSc (Hons) Sport Management degree, you'll study sport in a global context and turn your passion for sport into a career.

**Course highlights**
- Learn from industry experts with experience in delivering community sports programmes and gain practical skills in everything from events management to entrepreneurship

- Plan and market local sports events such as the Great South Run and work with organisations like the Hampshire FA

- Have the chance to study abroad, go on overseas field trips and take part in research run by institutions such as UEFA, the FA and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)

- Train and coach within our extensive sports facilities, including a 100-station gym, fitness studios, and a new sports centre featuring a ski simulator, climbing wall and 8-lane swimming pool

- Visit international sports facilities and compare them with those in the UK

**Worried about your grades?**
If you're not sure you meet the entry requirements, or need some help to get uni-ready, then we offer this course with a foundation year to bring you up to speed. When you successfully finish, you'll get a guaranteed place on this course.

**Careers and opportunities**
On this course, you'll explore sport’s role in society and how sports management and development can make sport accessible to all, yet the business skills you'll gain will prepare you for a wide range of careers.

When you graduate, you'll be ready to apply corporate, management, financial and marketing knowledge to an exciting career within the sports industry, or any other sector that interests you.

90% of our graduates find work within a year of completing this course, so you can feel confident that what you learn will set you up for the world of work.

What jobs can you do with a degree in sport management?
Our graduates have gone on to roles such as:

- sports development officer

- sports marketing executive

- data analyst

- sponsorship executive

- football coach

- sports agent

- event manager

- strategy manager

- PE teacher

Others have entered more diverse areas of employment, such as sports law, local government, strategic leadership, consultancy and the charity sector.

**Placement year**
Either before or following your third year, you can opt for a work placement year to gain valuable longer-term work experience in the industry.

Placements give you the opportunity to apply what you've learnt so far in a real workplace, boosting your employability and making you attractive to employers after graduation.

You can work for a company or organisation here in the UK or overseas – some of our graduates have gone as far afield as Mwanza in Tanzania.

Or, you could go independent by setting up and running your own business with other students.

Whichever route you choose, you'll receive support and guidance. Our specialist team of Science and Health Careers advisors can help you with finding a work placement and improving your employability skills. They'll provide you with a database of placement vacancies, support with your job search – including help with applications and interviews – and support throughout your placement year.

Modules

Year 1

Core modules in this year include:

- Contemporary Issues and Research Skills in Sport Management (40 credits)
- Sport and Society (40 credits)
- Sport Business Management (40 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2

Core modules in this year include:

- Digital Marketing and Social Media (20 credits)
- Human Resources for Sport Management (20 credits)
- Operational Management (20 credits)
- Sponsorship and Sales in Sport (20 credits)
- Sport Event Management (20 credits)

Optional modules in this year include:
- Sport for Development (20 credits)
- Sports Law (20 credits)
- Overseas Study (60 credits)

Placement year

Enrich your intercultural awareness and language skills through a study abroad sandwich year or accelerate your employability through an immersive year-long work placement.

With support identifying a study exchange programme or placement opportunity, you'll take part in overseas study or a work placement and develop skills in autonomy, accountability, language, interpersonal communication, time management, planning, assessment and analysis – while considering the impact of your actions.

As you study abroad or complete your tasks in the workplace, you'll demonstrate a strong level of skill, initiative, independence and performance.

You'll return able to evaluate how study or work placement activities relate to your studies and broader global contexts, presenting a critical evaluation of your professional development.

This is a Connected Degree

We're the only university that gives you the flexibility to choose when to take a work placement. Take it after your 2nd year, before returning to finish your studies. Or after your final year, connecting you into the workplace.

If you're not sure if or when to take your placement, don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to settle into your studies and explore your options before making your choice.

Year 3

Core modules in this year include:

- Applied Strategic Management in Sport (20 credits)
- Economics and Finance of Sport (20 credits)
- Occupational and Organisational Psychology (20 credits)
- Sport Entrepreneurship and Business Venturing (20 credits)
- Strategic Leadership in Sport Management (20 credits)
- Work-Based Learning for Sport Management (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

Assessment methods

You’ll be assessed through examinations, essays and reports, projects, portfolios and case studies, practical demonstrations, oral assessments through presentations or discussion groups.

You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.

You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

The way you're assessed will depend on the modules you select throughout your course. Here's an example from a previous academic year of how students on this course were typically assessed:
- Year 1 students: 30% by written exams, 15% by practical exams and 55% by coursework
- Year 2 students: 25% by written exams, 23% by practical exams and 52% by coursework
- Year 3 students: 8% by written exams, 30% by practical exams and 62% by coursework

The Uni

Course location:

University of Portsmouth

Department:

Faculty of Science and Health

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

87%
Sport and exercise sciences

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sport and exercise sciences

Teaching and learning

75%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
73%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

79%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
75%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

91%
UK students
9%
International students
76%
Male students
24%
Female students
72%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

After graduation

The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Sport and exercise sciences

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£25,000
high
Average annual salary
90%
med
Employed or in further education
72%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

33%
Sports and fitness occupations
9%
Public services and other associate professionals
7%
Teaching and educational professionals

One of the fastest growing subjects in the country, the number of sports science graduates went from under 3,000 in 2003 to over 10,000 in 2013. Numbers have fallen slightly since 2015, but we still have over 9,000 graduates in the subject. However, the good news is the country's appetite for good health and fitness - and the adaptability of graduates in the subject - means that sports science grads are less likely than average to be out of work. Sports science graduates, not surprisingly, tend to get jobs in sport, fitness and health - coaching and teaching especially - but they're found all over the economy. Management and business are also popular options for graduates from this subject — and sports science graduates are particularly found where drive, determination and physical fitness are an advantage.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Sport and exercise sciences

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

£23k

£23k

£30k

£30k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here