BA (Hons) Sports Business and Management
01 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2032
| Course Leader | Adam Sherratt |
|---|---|
| Course Team | Tina Thomas, Chris Emsley, Tom Overton, Jay Probert, Robyn Pinder, Tony Wallis, Lyn Jehu |
| Awarding Body | University of South Wales |
| Teaching Institutions | University of South Wales |
| Modes of Study | Full Time |
Document Version
| Version | 1 |
|---|---|
| Valid From | 01 Sep 2026 |
| Valid To | 31 Aug 2032 |
QAA Benchmarks
Educational Aim
To develop integrated knowledge, critical perspectives, and skills relevant to managing sport organisations and businesses.
To apply sport and business concepts, models, and practices to real-world scenarios, enabling informed operational and strategic decision-making.
To embed principles of inclusivity, diversity, sustainability, and digital transformation within sport business practice.
To nurture entrepreneurial and innovative thinking to lead change across public, private, and voluntary sectors of sport.
To equip students with professional, cognitive, and transferable skills for careers in the dynamic global sport industry.
Learning Outcomes
| A1 | Demonstrate,?apply?and evaluate relevant knowledge and understanding of organisations, the business environment in which they?operate?and their management?in particular?the context of sport. |
| A2 | Critically analyse and apply concepts, principles, theories, and techniques relevant to Sports Business and Management in authentic contexts. |
| A3 | Apply ethical, sustainable and socially responsible decision-making in sports business, sport leadership, and organisational settings.? |
| A4 | Demonstrate and apply interpersonal, digital, and professional communication skills to collaborate effectively with stakeholders, including colleagues, participants, mentors, and external organisations. |
| A5 | Critically reflect on personal and professional development using appropriate frameworks to inform continuous learning and leadership identity in sport.? |
| A6 | Conduct applied research or inquiry-based projects in sports business and management, using appropriate methods to analyse data, solve problems, and inform practice.? |
| B1 | Demonstrate,?apply?and evaluate relevant knowledge and understanding of organisations, the business environment in which they?operate?and their management?in particular?the context of sport. |
| B2 | Critically analyse and apply concepts, principles, theories, and techniques relevant to Sports Business and Management in authentic contexts. |
| B3 | Apply ethical, sustainable and socially responsible decision-making in sports business, sport leadership, and organisational settings.? |
| B4 | Demonstrate and apply interpersonal, digital, and professional communication skills to collaborate effectively with stakeholders, including colleagues, participants, mentors, and external organisations. |
| B5 | Critically reflect on personal and professional development using appropriate frameworks to inform continuous learning and leadership identity in sport.? |
| B6 | Conduct applied research or inquiry-based projects in sports business and management, using appropriate methods to analyse data, solve problems, and inform practice.? |
| C1 | Demonstrate,?apply?and evaluate relevant knowledge and understanding of organisations, the business environment in which they?operate?and their management?in particular?the context of sport. |
| C2 | Critically analyse and apply concepts, principles, theories, and techniques relevant to Sports Business and Management in authentic contexts. |
| C3 | Apply ethical, sustainable and socially responsible decision-making in sports business, sport leadership, and organisational settings.? |
| C4 | Demonstrate and apply interpersonal, digital, and professional communication skills to collaborate effectively with stakeholders, including colleagues, participants, mentors, and external organisations. |
| C5 | Critically reflect on personal and professional development using appropriate frameworks to inform continuous learning and leadership identity in sport.? |
| C6 | Conduct applied research or inquiry-based projects in sports business and management, using appropriate methods to analyse data, solve problems, and inform practice.? |
Course Structure
Level 4 Modules
| Module Code | Module Id | Module Title | Module Status | Credit Value | Module Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4B041E | MOD014020 | Digital Communication and Fan Engagement (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 4B042E | MOD014021 | People, Performance and Practice (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 4B043E | MOD014022 | Reflection on Learning in the Workplace (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 4B044E | MOD014023 | The Business of Sport (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
Level 5 Modules
| Module Code | Module Id | Module Title | Module Status | Credit Value | Module Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5B045E | MOD014024 | Human Resource Management in Sport (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 5B046E | MOD014025 | Leadership and Organisational Practice (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 5B047E | MOD014026 | Sports Branding (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 5B048E | MOD014031 | Sports Finance and Analytics (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
Level 6 Modules
| Module Code | Module Id | Module Title | Module Status | Credit Value | Module Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6B039E | MOD014027 | Leadership and High Performance in Sport (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 6B040E | MOD014028 | Policy, Law and Governance in Sport (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 6B041E | MOD014029 | Storytelling and Stakeholder Influence (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
| 6B042E | MOD014030 | Strategic Sport Development (Online) | Running | 30 | specified |
Teaching and Assessment
Learning and Teaching Methods
Employer Engagement
We will sustain and deepen the course’s co-created model by continuing to engage Club Charity employers and?EFLitC?staff as ongoing contributors to curriculum design and delivery. Key mechanisms will include:?
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Annual Club Mentor Meetings,?where mentors and Heads of Educations will help shape future curriculum content, share emerging practice, and advise on delivery approaches.?
Termly mentor feedback forms,?capturing insights into student support needs, success stories, and areas for improvement.?
Continued use of?themed focus groups?with Club Charity staff to explore key topics (e.g. coaching, health and wellbeing and professional practice) and?identify?opportunities for innovation, expert contributions, or assessment co-design.?
Employer partners will also be invited to contribute?live briefs,?guest talks, or input into authentic assessments across relevant modules.?
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Drawing on the successful partnership model already in place, this engagement will ensure the course?remains?responsive to sector trends, professional expectations, and localised delivery contexts.?
Means of Assessment
The assessment strategy employs a progressive approach, moving from structured assessments at Level 4 to more complex, open-ended projects at Levels 5 and 6. Level 4 assessment focuses on developing foundational knowledge and academic skills through structured portfolios, basic practical assessments, and guided case studies with regular formative feedback. Level 5 introduces more authentic assessment through a performance appraisal, presentations on project developments, more complex practical assessment, and collaborative projects. At all levels, assessment will be based upon real-world challenges that will be co-created with the EFLitC and their network of football club charities.
The nature of challenge-based learning requires a continuous cycle of reflection and feedback as students use this to identify gaps in their knowledge, understanding and skills. This informal on-going assessment and feedback will be provided by peers, EFLitC staff and Club Mentors as students co-create their knowledge. Given learning outside of Residential Visits will take place on the VLE, the course team would also be encouraging engagement with integrated online tasks (formative assessment), where Module Leaders can engage with students by affirming their views, challenging them and connecting peer-to-peer. Within specific modules, students will be provided opportunities to use self-assessment to develop skills of reflection and set goals for self-development. This will be guided, scaffolded, and reinforced throughout the course through appropriate formative assessment opportunities.
Students will have different formative opportunities to present assessments prior to summative submissions in the form of presentations and draft assessment plans to peers and Club Mentors. During their WBL students will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge and provide evidence to support their achievement of relevant module LO’s and will receive regular feedback and supervision from their Club Mentor in relation to their development in practice.
Continuous monitoring processes will be enhanced through a proactive and collaborative approach involving students, staff, mentors, and examiners. Planned actions include:?
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Annual curriculum and delivery reviews,?using data from student surveys, Residential Consultation Meetings, external examiner reports, and Club Mentor feedback?
Embedding?ROPS (Reflection and Observation of Practice Scheme)?participation across all teaching staff to support pedagogic development and reflective practice?
Ongoing use of?assessment mapping and dialogues?to ensure balance, rigour, and relevance of assessment tasks, and to reflect on outcomes such as progression, retention, and graduate destinations?
Continuing to align with the?2030 Curriculum Design Principles, including stakeholder-informed design and adaptive, authentic learning experiences?
Ensuring that any modifications to modules or course structure go through the?appropriate?consultation?and approval process?with students, examiners, and school leadership?
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This approach builds on the?strong foundation?of monitoring practices already embedded across the?EFLitC?USW partnership and ensures the course?remains?dynamic, inclusive, and?impactful.?
Learning Support
The course team plans to build on the strong feedback culture?established?in existing EFL in the Community degree pathways by embedding a range of student voice mechanisms throughout the course lifecycle Students will be engaged meaningfully through:?
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Student Consultation Meetings at every Residential Study Visit, which will act as the main forum for student feedback and dialogue (in place of SSCLG). These meetings will use focus group approaches and build on the structure successfully trialled in the existing?EFLitC?programmes.?
Termly student surveys combining module and course level feedback will be administered via MS Forms to ensure manageable and targeted opportunities to collect insights.?
Student representation will be embedded through both elected student reps and the continued use of Female Development Programme representatives, who will act as advocates for equity and inclusion.?
A clear and visible ‘You Said, We Did’ style feedback loop will be formalised. This will include guidance to Club Mentors on how to share responses to student feedback, ensuring transparency and communication are consistent across all Club Charity sites.?
Opportunities for flexible, authentic assessment and student choice in assessment format will be evaluated annually through feedback mechanisms.?
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Building a sense of community will also be prioritised. We will continue to use Residential Visits as key moments to foster student belonging and peer relationships - areas consistently valued by students in our existing?provision.?
Induction
Induction for level 4 students is delivered as part of a Residential Study Visit to USW. This visit would last approx. 4-days, where students would be accommodated in Halls or the surrounding area. Induction for Level 5 and 6 students would either replicate this or be delivered at another location, where there is less need to induct the students to university level study and the basic requirements of the course.
If students cannot attend Induction, at any level, then they could access materials on their Course Organisation page on Blackboard. Stored materials would include any resources relating to a session delivered, as well as recordings and where to go for further support. Additionally, the students’ Club Mentor and Course Leader would be responsible for helping the student to catch-up on missed information.
Induction is driven by a set of four University principles, designed to enable students to identify positively with their course and fellow students, introduce studying at university and support mechanisms surrounding this, and explore expectations for andragogical learning.
Principles include: -
Transition
Teambuilding, problem solving and getting to know you
Our expectation of Students
The who and how of academic and pastoral support
Staff receive updated guidance annually to help them consider and design meaningful induction activities (Academic Induction Guidance).
A centrally designed workshop, including resources, explores the Universities values (Professional, Responsive, Creative, Inspiring, Collaborative) is available for all staff to embed into Induction, enabling students to co-create their understanding of the University’s expectations.
In addition, the University’s Academic Blueprint (outlining module and course essentials) also requires courses to design a six- week immersive project, culminating in a summative assessment. This module not only sets the expectations of active, co-created learning but provides an opportunity for early formative and summative feedback, helping identify students that need additional academic support.
Students requiring additional help will be offered the services of the Student Support Service and the Progression Team.
Learner Analytics
Learner Analytics is used to monitor engagement, but the course team has its own process which has been in operation for many years and have therefore been designed to monitor and support engagement effectively for students on these courses. The following processes are operated in this area:
Creation and distribution (to Club Mentors) of a Grade Matrix. This gathers summative assessment scores for all students at all clubs, allowing Mentors to see grades for all their students.
Population of a Retention Register, which gathers data on students of concern. This would be non-submissions, lack of attendance, lack of engagement with VLE, missed PAC meetings and health concerns.
Monthly Monitoring Form completed by Club Mentors where they outline to the course team any concerns they have about their students, which would include a lack of attendance, lack of engagement, health concerns, missed summative assessments or engagement with WBL.
Office hours
The course team would normally be available from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, however, it is appreciated that blended learning approaches requires flexible patterns of attendance across a range of learning, teaching and assessment modalities.
Tutorials
Tutorials are available on all modules, mainly relating to summative assessments.
Seminars
Not applicable.
Formative Assessment
The nature of challenge-based learning and teaching methods require a continuous cycle of reflection and feedback as students use feedback and assessment (both internal and external) to identify gaps in their knowledge, understanding and skills. This informal on-going assessment and feedback will be provided by peers, ADO’s and Club Mentors as students co-create their knowledge. Given learning outside of Residential Visits will take place on the VLE, the course team would also be encouraging engagement with integrated online tasks, where Module Leaders can engage with students by affirming their views, challenging them and connecting peer-to-peer. Within specific modules, students will be provided opportunities to use self-assessment to develop skills of reflection and sets goals for self-development. This will be guided, scaffolded, and reinforced throughout the course through appropriate formative assessment opportunities.
Students will have different formative opportunities to present assessments prior to summative submissions in the form of presentations and draft assessment plans to peers and Club Mentors. At L6 students will also have an Academic Supervisor who will provide independent project supervision. Club Mentors will further provide support for students to develop their skills on an ongoing basis as part of the weekly WBL.
During their WBL students will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge and provide evidence to support their achievement of relevant module LO’s and will receive regular feedback and supervision from their Club Mentor in relation to their development in practice. Students will complete a formative midway review at the half-way stage of each placement to identify any gaps and ensure transparency regarding progression.
Progress meetings
Students should meet their ADO (individually) at least once during every term at a pre-arranged time. These meetings should focus on the student’s personal and professional development. Additional progress meetings with module leaders or the Course Lead can be requested and are welcomed.
Research Supervision
Students are allocated an academic supervisor as outlined in the University Policy, that outlines minimum expectations for the supervision of taught dissertation/independent learning projects, ensuring students get a parity of experience. This Policy outlines expectations at a faculty, module, supervisor, and student level.
Online Resources and Digital Support
All modules are linked to UniLearn, the USW integrated system, which supports assessment, learning and teaching activities through technology. Video capture, podcasts and short video clips will supplement face-to-face taught components of the course (during Residential Visits), providing context and additional learning to support student’s development.
Students will also engage with other digital resources during their time on Residential Visits and while in-situ at their CCO and have the opportunity to engage with several synchronous or asynchronous learning opportunities designed to facilitate CPD.
Library Services
Core texts to be purchased by the EFL Trust and made available within each participating CCO learning hub.
Students able to access 158 HE institutions throughout the UK via the Sconul Access service.
Librarian to deliver introductory presentation during induction and provided recorded summary to be hosted on the Course Organisation page.
All module reading lists to be access via the E-Library.
Postal loan and scan delivery service made available to all students. This service is for USW students wanting to request a USW book by post or, to request a digital scan of a print-only copy of a USW journal article or book chapter to their email.
Review the reading list to ensure that it is reflective of the societies we aim to serve e.g. cultures, religions, ethnicity. Ensure that there is an even split of Male/Female authors within the lists.
Review blackboard reading list engagement.
Club mentors to review club core textbooks to see how well utilised these are.
Student Development and Study Skills (SDSS)
This department is collaborated with mainly in two ways. Firstly, they are invited to deliver guest talks to our students at appropriate times during the Residential programme. This is often scaffolded and targeted, dependent upon the level of study and time in the year. This all starts with a Welcome Talk during Year 1 Induction Residential, which is when the online offerings are also shared with the student cohort.
Advice Zone
The AZO is a familiar place of contact for our students and provide support in a range of ways, but most popular are queries around University level items that require signposting, or for more information on the Extenuating Circumstances process.
Disability Advice Team
The Disability Service provides a confidential and professional service where students can discuss individual requirements relating to disability. This includes students with physical, sensory, mental health or unseen disabilities, specific learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia) and autism.
Advice and support are available for all students who have additional learning needs or require reasonable adjustments to be made. Students are encouraged to discuss additional needs or support with personal tutors, the Course Leader and their Practice Educator.
https://disability.southwales.ac.uk/
Mental Wellbeing
Students requiring help in this area can speak to?The Wellbeing Service?at USW or contact Nightline (a confidential listening service run by USW students for USW students). This information is made available to students via the course handbook.
Progression Advice Team
This team supports students particularly when entering the LOE process. They’re collaborated with to understand the students’ needs and will communicate with academics who refer students into the process. If a student’s decides to re-engage, support is gained from this team to develop this.
Careers Service
This service has been engaged from the outset to ensure that employability skills and compassionate leadership are scaffolded. Their involvement will be embedded within delivery through delivery upon residential study components. Careers material will also be embedded across L4-6 of the course the designated work-based learning modules. During Residential Study Visits, students will get the opportunity to attend forums such as these, where the academic team would engage with USW Careers to facilitate such delivery.
USW Careers team are utilised to ensure employability skills are scaffolded across the module enabling them to be explicitly developed, revisited, practices and their relevance linked to the workplace. Methods of assessment within the module are authentic and simulate skills required in the workplace and through the next three years of study at undergraduate level.
Course Exit Points
| Award | Criteria | Final |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) | 360 credits of which at least 100 must be at Level 6 or above, 120 at Level 5 or above, 120 at Level 4 or above and no more than 20 at Level 3 | Final |
| Diploma of Higher Education | 240 credits of which at least 100 must be at Level 5 or above, 120 credits at Level 4 or above and no more than 20 credits at Level 3. | Exit |
| Certificate of Higher Education | 120 credits of which at least 100 must be at Level 4 or above and no more than 20 at Level 3 | Exit |
Progression Route
Entry Requirements
Admission to the course is typically through the following qualifications:
Inclusive Curriculum Statement
The University of South Wales operates a policy of inclusive learning, teaching and assessment to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to fulfil their educational potential. Course teams will have considered ways of designing out any potentially disadvantageous element of courses during the course design process. However some specific needs may remain, details about how to apply to have your needs assessed can be found at: http://unilife.southwales.ac.uk/pages/3040-disability-and-dyslexia-service/
Addendum for Delivery at a Partner Institution
N/A
Methods Of Quality Standards
N/A
Quality Of Standards Indicators
N/A