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Undergraduate BA (Hons)

Sport Development

By studying sport development, you can make a positive difference to disadvantaged and under-represented groups and encourage people to be physically active.

Sport Development

Course Overview

  • UCAS code


    C690
  • Institution code


    L27
  • Main location


    Headingley Campus Beckett Park
  • Attendance


    Full-Time
  • Duration


    3 Years
  • Start date


    16 Sep 2024

Fire your passion for sport and help to transform lives and shape active communities. 
As part of this course, you’ll:

  • Learn how to provide opportunities for participation in sport for all sections of society and encourage people to lead healthier lives
  • Examine how issues such as racism, poverty and gender inequality impact on sport participation – and how as a future practitioner you can challenge these issues
  • Build your teamwork and management skills so you can lead on sporting projects to improve participation rates and attract investment
  • Gain the skills and knowledge to develop inclusive sporting pursuits that benefit disadvantaged and under-represented social groups and communities
  • Understand how sporting opportunities are provided in the UK and internationally and learn about the key organisations responsible for this work
  • Examine how sport can be used as a tool to support communities, and promote peace and international development

Hands-on experience
We’ll help you organise a potentially life-changing, six-week work placement. This could be with a community foundation attached to a professional sports club, a national governing body of sport, a high school, a sports club, or a youth organisation. 

You’ll have the opportunity to volunteer with local sports organisations and run your own community sports project or event for an external client. These experiences will provide opportunities to develop your professional networks and help you work towards your chosen career. 

Graduate success
Graduates from the course have gained employment within organisations such as:

  • The Football Association and other National Governing Bodies of Sport
  • European sports federations
  • Community sport foundations and charities
  • Local authorities and leisure trusts
  • School Sport Partnerships Schools and other education settings

Industry speakers
Regular guest speakers from national and international organisations will show how to learn from successful projects and will keep you up to date with the current hot topics in the sport industry. 

Professional expertise
This degree has been designed in conjunction with leading industry experts. The course team has extensive industry experience and continually engages with organisations such as StreetGames, Yorkshire Sport Foundation, local school sport partnerships, and the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity. This means we can provide excellent work experience opportunities, develop joint projects, and ensure that your course material and assessments are relevant and up to date.

Research active
The team also has extensive experience of working in sport development and the wider sport industry, including in national and international settings conducting research to inform policy and practice. 

Our staff have contributed to three editions of the highly successful Routledge textbook 'Sports Development: Policy, Process and Practice'. They also regularly publish research on a diverse range of topics such as gender and masculinity, community sport development, sport politics and policy, and strategic management.

Why study sport development at Leeds Beckett University...

  1. Six-week work placement
  2. 92% of students were positive about the teaching on BA (Hons) Sport Development*
  3. Run your own community sports project or event for an external client
  4. Sandwich year – a year of paid employment in industry
  5. Study in our new £45m state-of-the-art Carnegie School of Sport building

*National Student Survey 2023