MSc Sport Management
Kick-start your sports career with a Masters from the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide Sports University of the Year 2020. Our Masters includes a sports internship, allowing you to gain valuable professional experience.
Key facts
- Award Masters / MSc, Postgraduate Diploma, Postgraduate Certificate
- Start date January 2023, September 2023, January 2024
- Application deadline For students who require a visa: we are closed for January 2023 entry
- Duration MSc full-time: 12 months, MSc part-time: 24 months
- Mode of study part time, full time
- Delivery on campus
Overview
Kick-start your career in the sports industry with our highly-rated Masters degree in Sport Management.
Attracting students from all over the world, this unique course is designed to meet the sport sector’s need for well-qualified managers who can combine management and financial skills with a specialist knowledge of sport and its unique institutional nature. You’ll learn how to apply your insights to the inherent challenges of sport management – from conducting research into event planning, to advising organisations on the impact of policy changes.
The course is taught by leading experts in the subject, whose research helps to ensure you’re being taught about the most up-to-date industry trends. You’ll also have invaluable opportunities to undertake a period of professional practice with a sporting organisation, either virtually or in person, and be involved in organising a sports event with our industry partners. By the time you graduate, you’ll be well equipped to turn your passion for sport into your profession.
Enhance your learning with Riipen
The University has a Riipen license for this course. Through this platform, you can work with global companies on real business problems that are assessed and rated. As you complete more challenges, you build a portfolio. This platform can help you boost your skills, gain career clarity, network with potential employers, and find a job you love.
Top reasons to study with us
Course objectives
The objective of our MSc Sport Management is to help you acquire the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills you to need become an effective manager in a range of sport settings. After graduating you’ll be able to:
- identify and evaluate recent changes in sport participation and policies, and their implications for sport management practices
- apply management theory to the context of managing sport organisations
- conduct research into sport issues relevant to managing and developing sport organisations and events
Professional connections
Our course tutors include individuals with experience as directors of National Governing Bodies of Sport, sport managers with wide professional experience and staff who actively consult with international sport organisations. These connections add up to give you a unique insight into real life practice and access to a vast network of industry contacts.
Sport is in our DNA
As Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence, we’ve developed an international reputation for delivering sport courses that get results. We bring together leading academics to deliver high-quality teaching in a range of areas and with a focus on your future employability. We’re closely aligned with many sports bodies and have formal links with a growing number of organisations who can help to facilitate your learning. Our campus is also home to the National Swimming Academy, the GB National Tennis Academy and Triathlon Scotland.
If you love sport, you’ll fit right in at the University of Stirling.
Work placements
A period of professional practice (60 hours) is an integral part of this course, where you will have the opportunity to be placed with a local or international organisation.
Flexible learning
If you’re interested in studying a module from this course, the Postgraduate Certificate or the Postgraduate Diploma then please email Graduate Admissions to discuss your course of study.
Faculty facilities
The University of Stirling is Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence and we recently invested £20 million in our outstanding sports facilities. We’re consistently ranked among the best universities in the UK for our sports facilities, making Stirling the perfect destination to study sport or the science behind it.
Research overview
The University of Stirling is ranked 1st in Scotland for outputs in Sports and Exercise Sciences (REF 2021), with 80% of our research classed as world-leading or internationally excellent.
Entry requirements
Academic requirements
A minimum of a second-class Honours degree (2:1 preferred) or equivalent. Applicants without these formal qualifications but with significant appropriate/relevant work/life experience are encouraged to apply.
Other routes of entry
If you don’t currently meet the academic requirements for this course, INTO University of Stirling offers a variety of preparation programmes that can earn you the qualifications and skills you need for direct entry.
Explore INTO Stirling programmes to see the pathway and pre-masters routes available for this course and others at the University of Stirling.
International entry requirements
English language requirements
If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:
- IELTS 6.0 with 5.5 in each skill
- Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) 169 overall with a minimum of 162 in each sub-skill
- Cambridge C2 Proficiency (CPE) 180 overall with a minimum of 162 in each sub-skill
- Pearson Test of English (Academic) 60 overall with a minimum of 59 in each sub-skill
- IBT TOEFL 78 overall with a minimum of 17 in listening, 18 in reading, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing
- Trinity ISE II Pass overall with a Pass in each sub-skill, ISE III Pass overall and in all sub-skills, ISE IV Pass overall and in all sub-skills
Last updated: 4 August 2022
For more information on ways that you can meet our English language requirements, including options to waive the requirement, please read our information on English language requirements.
Pre-sessional English language courses
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this course, our partner INTO University of Stirling offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for entry to this degree.
Find out more about our pre-sessional English language courses.
Course details
Get real experience of working in sport management as you earn a Masters from Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence.
To earn your Sport Management Masters you’ll need to complete seven modules and a dissertation. Alternatively, you can graduate with a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma by completing limited aspects of the course content.
Modules
The module information below provides an example of the types of course module you may study. The details listed are for the current academic year (September 2022). Modules and start dates are regularly reviewed and may be subject to change in future years.
Course Details
Teaching
Management concepts and theories will be taught in lectures, while theory will be applied through case study analysis, discussion with sport management practitioners, seminars and research.
You’ll acquire “softer” management skills such as problem-solving, team-working, leadership, analysis, evaluation and presentation through a range of learning activities essential to becoming an effective manager.
Assessment
The modules are mainly assessed by coursework and designed to encourage you to link theory to professional practice.
Course director
Key staff
Ask an expert
Professor Jayne Donaldson explains why Stirling is the ideal place to study health sciences and sport.
Fees and funding
Fees and costs
| 2022/23 | 2023/24 | |
|---|---|---|
| Students from the UK | £9,850 | £10,350 |
| Students from the Republic of Ireland | £9,850 | £10,350 |
| Overseas (non-EU) students | £21,345 | £21,845 |
| European Union students | £21,345 | £21,845 |
Students from the UK
Course fees
Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course.
If you need to extend your period of study or repeat study, you will be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Students from the Republic of Ireland
Course fees
Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course.
If you need to extend your period of study or repeat study, you will be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
European Union students
EU Postgraduate Scholarship
Eligible EU students will automatically receive our EU Postgraduate Scholarship, which provides a 40% fee discount on full-time, on-campus postgraduate degrees at the University of Stirling.
Course fees
Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course.
If you need to extend your period of study, you will be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Overseas students (non-EU)
We offer a range of funding options for overseas students.
Course fees
Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course.
If you need to extend your period of study, you may be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Postgraduate tuition fee loans
This course is eligible for a postgraduate tuition fee loan from one of the UK’s governments. See the Scholarships and funding section, below, for more details.
Additional costs
There are some instances where additional fees may apply. Depending on your chosen course, you may need to pay additional costs, for example for field trips. Learn more about additional fees.
Scholarships and funding
Postgraduate tuition fee loans
Scottish students may be eligible to apply to the Students Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for loans of up to £10,000 to cover tuition fees and associated living costs.
English students can apply for a loan of up to £11,570 each year as part of the Postgraduate Masters Loan Scheme.
Welsh students can apply for financial support of up to £18,025 as a combination of grant and loan from Student Finance Wales.
Northern Irish students can apply for a postgraduate tuition fee loan of up to £5,500 from Student Finance NI.
Other sources of funding
If you have the talent, ability and drive to study with us, we want to make sure you make the most of the opportunity – regardless of your financial circumstances.
Learn more about available funding opportunities or use our scholarship finder to explore our range of scholarships.
Cost of living
If you’re domiciled in the UK, you can typically apply to your relevant funding body for help with living costs. This usually takes the form of student loans, grants or bursaries, and the amount awarded depends upon your personal circumstances and household income.
European Union and overseas students won’t normally be able to claim living support through SAAS or other UK public funding bodies. You should contact the relevant authority in your country to find out if you’re eligible to receive support.
Payment options
We aim to be as flexible as possible, and offer a wide range of payment methods - including the option to pay fees by instalments. Learn more about how to pay
After you graduate
This Masters will prepare you for a career in sport management with a local authority, commercial organisation or voluntary sports organisation like a governing body of sport. A key benefit of the course is that you will leave with an in-depth knowledge of management that could apply in other sectors too.
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Get practical experience by completing an internship with a sports organisation, either virtually or in person
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Be involved in the organisation of a sports event to put your new skills into practice
- 95% of our postgraduate leavers are in employment or further study within fifteen months of graduating (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2021, HESA)
Companies we work with
The University has strong partnerships with a number of national and local sports organisations, including:
- The Scottish Professional Football League
- Scottish Sport Federations
- Active Stirling
- local professional sport organisations
What our students said
Hong Kong (SAR)
MSc Sport Management
Read Alexandria's storyThe practical side of the course, which involved planning and organising my own sports event, has provided me with first-hand experience of managing people, and engaging with sponsors and other organisations which will help me in my future career.
India
MSc Sport Management
Read Rohan's storyI was always interested in a Masters in Sports Management. Since the University of Stirling is rated highly for this course and is also Scotland’s University of Sporting Excellence, my decision was an easy one.
MSc Sport Management
Read Lee's storyI chose the University of Stirling for this course as it's in the top 10 in Europe for Masters in Sport Management. It's Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence and it as excellent sporting connections.