On our practical, hands-on BA (Hons) Sports Journalism degree we focus on helping you secure the job of your dreams when you graduate. Journalism is, in a nutshell, about telling stories and we’ll teach you how to do this in a variety of ways. From written news reports to television broadcasts, podcasts to digital video, magazines to social media.

We offer one of only a few sports journalism courses in the UK which are accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC), who are partners with the BBC and Sky. We also pay for you to sit your National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) exams. This makes us the only sports journalism course in the country which enables you to graduate with both the BJTC and NCTJ qualifications.

In September 2022, we celebrated 60 years of journalism at UCLan, making ours the longest running journalism course in the UK. Our strong heritage began in 1962 and we continue to offer high-quality, innovative journalism courses that confront vital issues facing the profession.

On this course you’ll not only learn how to operate as a sports reporter, with all the personal and technical skills a professional journalist needs. You’ll also study a range of issues in sport, exploring its development into a multi-billion-pound industry.

From day one, you’ll become a reporter. It’s hands-on and hard work, but it’s also a lot of fun. You’ll join our newsroom environment, report on matches and press conferences and get to interview a wide variety of sportsmen and women. Throughout the course you’ll attend lectures led by many of the major players in the sporting media. Recent guests have included:

• BBC presenter Gaby Logan
• Sports editor Dan Roan
• Sky Sports F1 reporter Craig Slater
• Football managers Ian Holloway, Simon Grayson and Neil Critchley
• Premier League referee Anthony Taylor
• Cricket’s Jonathan Agnew
• Boxing’s Steve Bunce
• BBC commentators John Murray, Ian Dennis and Gary Flintoff.

You’ll learn by taking on the role of a real journalist. We’ll help you develop all the skills and knowledge you’ll need to thrive in the digital age. You will follow in the footsteps of previous graduates who’ve gone on to report on the Olympics and Champions League football. Working with organisations like the BBC, ESPN and Sky. We work closely with industry professionals to help you gain real-world work experience throughout the course.

In Year 1 you’ll be given the opportunity to write for a professional sports website. Here, you'll be able to attend Premier League, Women’s Super League, and Football League games.

Then in Year 2 you’ll have the chance to spend time studying abroad in the USA, Asia, Australia or Europe, and we regularly arrange trips abroad. In recent years we’ve taken our students to China and Kenya. You’ll also have the chance to gain industry experience. One student will get to spend two weeks on an all-expenses-paid work placement at Chelsea Football Club. Two students will take up the opportunity to go on a year-long internship with the international graphics company AE Live. If you’re lucky enough to be chosen you’ll be paid £19,500 a year to travel the world covering major sporting events.

In Year 3 we work closely with major web company Planet Sport, which takes on many of our students and gives them the opportunity to impress. Leading to jobs covering sports like football, Formula 1, tennis and golf after graduation.

We work closely with the BBC and Reach, the UK’s biggest media organisation, as well as football clubs such as:

• Preston North End
• Burnley FC
• Bolton Wanderers
• Fleetwood Town.

As well as other major sporting bodies to ensure you get the chance to gain vital experience while still a student. We’re also partnered with the John Schofield Trust, providing students with one-to-one mentorship from a professional reporter working at the BBC or Sky.