Sports Media and Journalism - MA *
Currently viewing course to start in 2027/28 Entry.
Developed and delivered in partnership with the BBC, our MA Sports Media and Journalism course is designed to develop advanced sports journalism skills and accelerate your career in a competitive media industry. Aligned to the corporation's journalistic practices, the course combines specialist industry input, real-world production projects and self-directed practice....
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time
- Award MA
- Start date September 2027
- Subject
- Location City Centre
This course is:
Available with Professional Placement option
Open to International Students
Overview
Developed and delivered in partnership with the BBC, our MA Sports Media and Journalism course is designed to develop advanced sports journalism skills and accelerate your career in a competitive media industry.
Aligned to the corporation's journalistic practices, the course combines specialist industry input, real-world production projects and self-directed practice. You'll develop the professional skills needed to create content across broadcast, digital and social media platforms, while critically evaluating the rapidly evolving sports media landscape.
Based in one of the UK's leading sporting cities, you'll study against the backdrop of major football clubs, international cricket, athletics and world-class sporting events.
Teaching will take place at BCU's City Centre Campus and, subject to final planning approval, at the BBC's new Midlands headquarters at the Tea Factory.
What's covered in this course?
This practice-led Master's course explores the fast-moving world of sports journalism and media. You'll develop the skills to research, create and deliver compelling sports content across broadcast, digital and social platforms, while gaining insight into the forces shaping contemporary sports media.
Working alongside BBC staff, academics and industry professionals, you'll gain experience of the full content production process, from story development and live reporting through to production, editing and distribution. You'll cover sport across a range of formats while building practical skills in journalism, multimedia storytelling and content creation.
Alongside hands-on production, you'll explore how audiences consume sports content, investigate emerging industry trends and examine the ethical, legal and commercial considerations that shape modern journalism.
Throughout the course you'll build a portfolio of professional work and develop the confidence, creativity and industry awareness needed to thrive in a competitive and evolving sector.
You will benefit from studying in one of the world's most established television and radio nations, while the BBC partnership provides valuable insight into contemporary British broadcasting and professional practice.
Professional Placement option
This course offers an optional professional placement. This allows you to spend 20 weeks with an employer, following completion of your taught modules, and is a great way to enhance your employability.
The experience you gain through your placement will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.
If you choose the placement option, you will be responsible for finding and securing a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you do not secure a suitable placement, you will automatically be transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Please note: Placement opportunities may be available with a wide range of organisations across the media, creative and communications sectors. Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process. As such, opportunities with specific employers or organisations cannot be guaranteed.
Why Choose Us?
- Developed and delivered in partnership with the BBC. You'll learn from BBC staff, experienced academics, technical specialists and industry professionals, benefiting from contemporary industry insight alongside academic expertise in sports media and journalism.
- Report on sport across multiple platforms. Develop advanced journalism skills for today's media landscape, creating content for broadcast, digital and social platforms while gaining experience of the technologies and workflows used across the industry.
- Gain hands-on experience in live sports journalism. Through practical reporting, production projects and independent work, you'll develop the confidence to cover sport in fast-moving professional media environments.
- Study in a city with sport at its heart. Birmingham is home to major sporting venues and events, including Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Edgbaston Stadium and Alexander Stadium, providing an exciting backdrop for aspiring sports journalists.
- Build a portfolio of industry-standard work. Throughout the course, you'll create sports journalism content that demonstrates your reporting, production and storytelling skills, helping you showcase your abilities to future employers.
- Gain insight into the business of sport and media. Explore audience engagement, branding, monetisation, commissioning and professional media workflows, gaining insight into how modern sports content is developed and delivered.
Open Day
Join us for an Open Day where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, chat to students, explore our campus and tour accommodation.
Next Event: 21 November 2026
Course in Depth
Modules
Sports Journalism Practice
Live Sports Reporting
Sports Media and Industry
Professional Practice
Production Lab
Major Project
How you will learn
Your learning will combine advanced seminars, lectures, practical workshops, studio production, collaborative projects, industry engagement and independent creative practice. The course has been developed in partnership with the BBC, providing opportunities to engage with industry professionals and explore contemporary approaches to broadcasting, audio production and digital media. This is complemented by our wider network of industry, community and research partners.
You will be encouraged to critically reflect on established industry practices, explore emerging technologies and develop your own creative identity as a media professional. Through independent projects and collaborative activities, you will apply advanced knowledge and skills to real-world creative challenges, developing solutions that demonstrate originality, critical understanding and professional awareness.
Opportunities for industry engagement and professional networking are embedded throughout the course, enabling you to apply your learning within relevant creative contexts. Flexible approaches to learning are integrated across the curriculum, including blended learning, recorded materials, online activities and intensive practical sessions where appropriate.
As a postgraduate student, you will be expected to take increasing ownership of your learning journey, developing the independence, resilience and reflective practice required of advanced creative professionals. Academic staff will support your development through supervision, tutorials and specialist guidance, while guest speakers, technical demonstrators, industry practitioners and academic researchers will contribute to your learning through workshops, masterclasses and professional engagement activities.
Throughout the course, you will build a professional portfolio of creative work that demonstrates your developing expertise, critical thinking and ability to produce work suitable for professional, research or further academic contexts.
Entry Requirements
Essential requirements
Applicants are normally expected to have a minimum of a 2:2 honours degree, or equivalent, in media studies, media production, media communication, film and television studies, radio and audio courses, performing arts or theatre, public relations, journalism, English, creative writing and screen writing.
Prior experience of work in television, radio, online content production or other media related areas is useful, but not essential.
Your achievements should clearly demonstrate a keen interest in the field of media production and you are advised to read around the subject of media and to explore examples. Your application should demonstrate your ability to generate and develop ideas, as judged by the MA team.
We welcome non-traditional applications, particularly from applicants with substantial professional or production experience.
Applying with international qualifications
See below for further information on applying as an international student.
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Personal statement
You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
If you are applying for a stand alone module, please include the title of the module you want to study in your Personal Statement.
Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.
Employability
Enhancing employability skills
This course is designed to help you graduate with the confidence, professional skills and industry experience needed to succeed in today's fast-moving sports media industry. Developed in partnership with the BBC and aligned with contemporary journalistic practice, it combines industry-informed learning with practical experience, helping you develop the expertise required to work across broadcast, digital and social media platforms.
Throughout the course, you'll develop advanced skills in sports journalism, content creation, live reporting, research, editorial decision-making and multimedia production. Working on practical projects and real-world production activities, you'll gain experience of producing content for a range of platforms while building a professional portfolio that showcases your abilities to employers.
Professional development is embedded throughout the curriculum. Through modules such as Professional Practice, you'll explore areas including commissioning, branding, audience engagement, monetisation and industry workflows, helping you develop a deeper understanding of how the sports media industry operates.
You'll also strengthen highly transferable skills valued by employers, including communication, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, project management and professional judgement. Opportunities to collaborate with industry professionals, external partners and fellow students will help you build your professional network while gaining insight into current industry practice.
By the time you graduate, you'll have a portfolio of industry-standard work, valuable professional contacts and the practical experience needed to pursue opportunities across sports journalism, broadcasting, content creation and the wider sports media industry.
Links to industry
Industry engagement is embedded throughout this course, helping you develop the professional knowledge, experience and networks needed to succeed in the sports media industry.
You'll be supported by BBC staff, experienced academics, technical specialists and visiting industry professionals who bring real-world expertise directly into your learning experience. Their knowledge will help you understand how sports stories are researched, produced and delivered across traditional, digital and social media platforms.
Teaching takes place across Birmingham City University's City Centre Campus and the BBC Tea Factory, providing access to professional production environments and industry-standard facilities. Throughout your studies, you'll participate in practical projects, collaborative activities and networking opportunities designed to reflect contemporary professional practice.
The course's location in Birmingham provides an additional advantage. As a city with a rich sporting landscape, including major football clubs, international cricket, athletics and large-scale sporting events, it offers an exciting environment in which to study sports media and journalism.
By building a portfolio of professional-quality work and developing connections with industry practitioners, you'll graduate with valuable experience, professional contacts and a strong understanding of the evolving sports media industry.
Graduate jobs
This course will help you develop the journalistic, creative and technical skills needed to build a successful career in the sports media industry. Through practical production experience, live reporting opportunities and industry-focused learning, you'll gain an understanding of how sports content is researched, produced and delivered across a range of platforms.
Graduates may pursue careers as sports journalists, broadcast journalists, sports reporters, digital content producers, social media producers, multimedia journalists, sports broadcasters, podcast producers or communications officers within sports organisations.
The transferable skills developed throughout the course may also support opportunities in communications, content creation and media roles across sports organisations, governing bodies and the wider creative industries.
Alongside specialist journalism skills, you'll develop the adaptability, critical thinking and professional awareness sought by employers across the sports media sector and wider creative industries.
Placements
We strongly believe in the practical application of learning and are fortunate to have very strong links with employers and the media industry. Students on placements have worked with a wide range of organisations including the BBC, Maverick Television and Reach plc.
Facilities & Staff
Through Birmingham City University's partnership with the BBC, you will benefit from access to specialist facilities across both our City Centre Campus and – subject to final planning approval– the BBC Tea Factory, located just a short walk away in Birmingham's creative quarter.
Subject to final planning approval, the Tea Factory facilities are expected to include radio and television production spaces, audio facilities, and specialist broadcast technology environments.
Alongside this, you'll learn in BCU's purpose-built Media Centre at Parkside, home to industry-standard television, radio and digital production facilities. Three of the TV studios can facilitate live multi-camera production, and all studios (TV and radio) can be interconnected. It’s taken 22km of wire to make that happen!
Together, these facilities provide a dynamic production environment where you can develop practical skills, collaborate on creative projects and gain experience using the technologies found across today's media industries.
Our staff
Chris Lepkowski
Senior Lecturer in Sports Journalism
Chris has been a journalist since 1997, specialising in sport since 1998. Chris has worked for national publications and websites, including FourFourTwo, Autosport, Motorsport News and the Birmingham Post & Mail, as well as freelanced for The Sunday Times, The Mirror, The Express and The Daily Star.
More about ChrisDr Ross Hawkes
Course Director for MA Journalism
Ross is the founder and editor of an award-winning hyperlocal news website, Lichfield Live, and also leads the Community Interest Company producing The Lichfield and Burntwood Independent newspaper. His PhD explored the work of semi-professional journalists operating in the hyperlocal and independent space across the UK. He is a member of the...
More about RossDr Olufunmilayo Jinadu
Lecturer in Broadcast Journalism
Dr Olufunmilayo 'Funmi' Jinadu is a journalist and researcher with over a decade of experience working as a radio presenter, news editor and producer in the UK and Nigeria. She was also a multimedia journalist working across visual and audio online platforms.
More about OlufunmilayoDr Rachel-Ann Charles
Associate Professor in Media and Communications
Rachel-Ann brings a range of experience from her work in news media across the Caribbean and Europe. Her teaching expertise spans all undergraduate media courses, ensuring students receive a comprehensive and well-rounded education in journalism. As a member of the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research (BCMCR), Dr Charles is keen on...
More about Rachel-Ann