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Summary:


Course Code: C660


Course Code: C66F

Where Are You Applying From?

How Would You Like To ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½?

When Do You Want To Start Your Studies?

Which Campus Would You Like To ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ At?

Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?

Why choose the School of Sport Science and Physical Activity


Our sports science courses rank in the UK top 15 in their subject field (Daily Mail university rankings, 2024).

Over 95% of our full-time UK graduates are in employment and/or further study, 15 months after graduating (Source: HESA Graduate Outcomes data for 2020/21, pub 2023).

You benefit from placement opportunities with our official Education Partner, Luton Town FC, as well as other football organisations and clubs.

About the course

We offer two football-related pathways (business or coaching) where you choose your preferred specialism after your first year. This course focuses on the business of football, exploring areas such as economic impact; investment in facilities; community programmes; marketing; and management. You learn the academic theory related to the football, sport and leisure, and apply your knowledge to industry-related scenarios and real-world simulations, with opportunities for placements including with our official Education Partners, Luton Town FC.

Course accreditation / industry endorsement

CIMSPA Higher Education

We increase the employability of our graduates by being a Higher Education Partner of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).

Facilities and specialist equipment

  • External 4G sports pitches
  • Sports arena
  • Purpose-built strength and conditioning facility
  • Free gym and Olympic weight room
  • Multi-use games areas
  • Sports therapy and rehabilitation centre with a sports injury clinic, open to staff, students and external athletes/clients
  • Sports massage rooms

Industry links

UoB & LTFC partnership

We are official education partners of Luton Town FC, and collaborate with other football clubs and organisations across the region, giving you the opportunity to put your learning into practice through work placements.

Your student experience

  • Gain a wide perspective of the sports and football industries, exploring sport and physical activity; sport management; and working in sport.
  • Learn from top-class professionals within the field, working with governing bodies such as the FA, UEFA and FIFA as well as experts from professional football teams.
  • Take part in behind-the-scenes tours and match-day experiences to football clubs such as Luton Town FC and MK Dons as well as local football organisations and non-league clubs.
  • Opportunities for placements through our official partnership with Luton Town FC and other local football organisations.
  • Field trips include St George’s Park, Burton-on-Trent, the home of England Football, and football clubs around the country.
  • Our Bedford campus is a small, thriving academic community where academic staff get to know you well; you also have the support of your own personal academic tutor who will guide and support you throughout your student journey.

with Professional Practice Year

This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.

There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.

*Only available to UK/EU students.

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with Foundation Year

A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.

Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.

With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.

The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.

This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.

Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?

  • Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
  • Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
  • Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
  • Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees

The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.

During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.

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Course Leader - Simon Robinson

Before coming into lecturing, I worked as a Football Development Officer, Director of Sport and Recreation, Regional Training Unit Coordinator and as a Football Coach.

I enjoy playing and watching football and am a keen supporter of Barnsley Football Club. I also like to play golf, go skiing and I have ran the London Marathon raising money for Diabetes UK.

Course Leader - Simon Robinson

Before coming into lecturing, I worked as a Football Development Officer, Director of Sport and Recreation, Regional Training Unit Coordinator and as a Football Coach.

I enjoy playing and watching football and am a keen supporter of Barnsley Football Club. I also like to play golf, go skiing and I have ran the London Marathon raising money for Diabetes UK.

What will you study?


ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ing our Football Business BA (Hons) course will equip you with the knowledge and skills around the sports industry, marketing and management. You will gain a broad understanding of the football industry as well as its impact on contemporary society in our units in an Introduction to Football Studies, The Football Industry and Contemporary Issues in Football. You will look closely at the causes of fandom and question what makes people support a particular team - successful or unsuccessful – while also examining how economic factors have shaped football into a global cultural phenomenon. In areas of business, you will explore the recent changes within the football industry such as stadium reconstruction and development, the relationship between clubs and fans, and the relationship between football and the media in The Business of Football unit. Furthermore, you will discuss the impact of football on local and international economies, how differing ownership models for football clubs affect their position in the industry, and factor in the role of marketing within football in our Sport Marketing unit by examining how owners maximise revenue potential. With this approach, you will also look at research into Football Governance to understand how football organisations operate at all levels.

Moreover, our Football Finance unit aims to outline the financial and economic aspects of the football industry for you to assess the financial strength of such organisations in the field. Another key factor you will consider is environmental sustainability, and you will analyse how committed sport governing bodies and event organisers are to this cause alongside international development and world peace in our Sport in a Global Context: Sustainability and Development unit. Regarding sport management, our Strategic Sport Management unit will expose you firsthand to the strategic management processes behind the development of sport and physical activity. Based on real-life case studies, you will critically analyse the vital issues and approaches to creating sports programmes while assessing the needs of participants and managing the provision of sport and physical activity. Similarly, our unit in Sport and Physical Activity Management will allow you to consider the management and provision issues that arise from constraints and pressures of the commercial sector. You will then learn to apply this knowledge within sport organisations in our Sport in Action: Management unit while examining the role of the state, non-profit and professional sectors in sport. In addition, you will also learn the discipline of Managing Elite Sport and the role of high-performance directors in athlete success as a developing area of study.

You will also be exposed to units focused on individual performance and career, such as by developing practical coaching skills to provide positive learning environments for performers in our Foundations for Football Coaching unit. This closely links to our Football Development unit where you will assess youth development programmes in football from around the world to highlight best practice used to identify and support talented young players. Similarly, you will also explore current biographies of famous sports figures and other research in sports sociology in our Sport, Physical Activity and Life Story unit. Finally, you will have the opportunity to complete a Dissertation for Sport and Physical Activity where you will identify a key issue relevant to your study and examine it using the skills and knowledge gained from your academic study. To help you with this, our units in Dissertation Preparation, Research Methods for Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity, and an Introduction to Research Methods will support you in reading and understanding research, and to complete a proposal with ethical documentation. Alternatively, you can complete a Work Placement Project that will allow you to undertake work experience in the field that can be used to develop reflective practice, critical evaluation and work-based skills.

To prepare you for your career, our Working in Sport and Physical Education unit will introduce you to multiple career pathways available within the Sport & Physical Activity industry. You will then acquire the skills for the job application and interview process in our Professional Development and Employability unit, while also learning how to apply for grant funding. Furthermore, our Professional Development (Sport Policy Enactment) unit is where you will engage in project management to design a school or community-based intervention based on your knowledge of government policy, partnership and grant applications. To add to this, you can also undertake a Professional Practice Year (Sport Science and Physical Activity) that will allow you to gain work experience while developing your professional skills.

How will you be assessed?


You will be required to undertake a variety of assessments that vary depending upon the learning outcomes of the unit delivered. The range of assessment styles includes: written reports and essays oral presentations e-portfolios phase tests and collaborative projects. In addition you will undertake practical assessments related to the design planning and delivery of a wide variety of football projects providing opportunity to develop and demonstrate critical analysis problem solving communication styles needed in business.

Assessment of these activities will be based on tasks which develop vocational skills underpinned by subject knowledge requiring higher levels of cognition in the upper levels of the course. As you progress through the levels of study the marking criteria for all assessment styles undertaken will be that much more rigorous with the expectation you progressively demonstrate a more theory driven understanding of the football industry and practices.

The workshop approach of the teaching and learning strategy enables formative assessment to be ongoing. Units combines formal -summative' (e.g. individual and group-based assignments) and informal -formative' (e.g. reflective tasks) modes of assessment drawing also upon peer review and peer support techniques staggered periodically throughout the units so as to emphasise and support incremental individual student learning as process.

Careers


Our graduates are able to secure a wide range of roles in the football industry as well as the wider sports industries. Examples include, Broadcast Executive, Referee Development Officer, Broadcast Sport Technology Specialist, Sport Business Owner, Sports Business Technology Owner, Commercial Development & Global Strategic Partnership Manager and academic roles in other universities.

These roles, and others, have been with a wide range of clubs in the FA Premier League and The English Football League as well as with FIFA and in countries outside of the UK such as USA, Latvia, China and Malaysia. Students often progress to post graduate degrees also.

Our graduates have also been successful in gaining employment within a wider range of sport-sector areas including: community local authority and sport governing-body sport-development teams, professional sport clubs, international sport development; project and event management, health and fitness management. Students have also developed their own sport-sector businesses.

Entry Requirements

96 UCAS tariff points including 80 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent

Entry Requirements

48 UCAS tariff points including 32 from at least 1 A-level or equivalent

Fees for this course

UK

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See

Excellence Scholarships

Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*

» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**

» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available

* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.

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International

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.

There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.

A full list of scholarships can be found here.

Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk

Fees for this course

UK

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See

Excellence Scholarships

Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*

» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**

» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available

* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.

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International

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.

There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.

A full list of scholarships can be found here.

Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk

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