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Sports Photography BA (Hons)
- Level(s) of Study: Undergraduate
- Typical Offer: 104 - 112 UCAS tariff points
- UCAS Code(s): W643
- Start Date(s): September 2025
- Duration: 3 / 4* years (*see below)
- Study Mode(s): Full-time / Sandwich
- Campus: City Campus
Introduction:
The story of sport is evolving and the way we interact with that story is evolving too. Spider-cam, Cockpit-cam, Hawk-Eye, VAR and our POV [Point of View] are changing. Realtime data, Predictive Analysis, Artificial Intelligence and Fantasy Leagues mean our experience of sport is no longer passive. We want to get closer. We want to know more. We want to get involved and as the next generation of Sports Photographer it will be your job to enable this.
Using cutting-edge technologies and immersive approaches to picture making, this course provides you with the creative support and professional tools to explore, develop and share your love of sport. You’ll capture moments pitch-side, your drones will get places you can’t, you’ll capture whole games in immersive 3d. You’ll be shooting in-game and your images will become games. You’ll collaborate with journalists, you’ll work with sports-scientists, you’ll learn from technologists and all the time being guided and supported by our award winning academic team. A team who’s client lists include amongst others the FA, RFU, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sony World Photo Org and the World Press Photo Foundation.
Working individually and collaboratively you will experience every moment of the creative process, from concept to competition, from live event to living-room gaming and all the while pushing the boundaries of what the story of Sport can be.
Main image: Ons Jabeur by NTU Alumni Alex Pantling (Getty images).
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Develop your professional skills through live projects, industry competitions, and collaborations with organisations. You will also benefit from our guest lecturer series, with speakers from a range of photographic practices.
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During your time here, you will be given the opportunity to showcase your work to members of the creative industries and develop a professional portfolio tailored to your own career aspirations.
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You’ll have the opportunity to complete a work experience placement of up to a year in length. Dependent on the duration of your placement, you could gain an additional Diploma or Certificate in Professional Practice.
What you’ll study
Our BA (Hons) Sports Photography course takes a holistic and practical approach to give you skills and experience to become the next generation of Sports photographers. From live events to living-room gaming, all the while pushing the boundaries of what the story of Sport can be. With an emphasis on hands-on training, you’ll also learn the importance of all aspects of the creative process with access to high-specification equipment and the latest software applications for post-production editing with support from our award-winning academic team.
There is an opportunity for students to undertake a placement year, and transfer to the Sandwich route, please see further details in the ‘Year Three’ section below.
History, Context and Near-Future of Photography
This module begins students on a journey they will undertake as photographer, subject and audience, through Photography’s ever-expanding world. It encourages students to explore the photographic from global, historical, technological, ethical and theoretical perspectives, providing a foundational toolkit for conceptualising and contextualising their practice, as well as thinking of, and understanding Photography, as a compelling and hugely influential cultural phenomenon.
Sport behind the lens
This module provides the technical foundation to the course, providing students with the knowledge and skills to use a wide range of traditional still and moving image-capture technologies and techniques in live settings. Digital workflows and introductions to image processing for output are covered, providing students access to experiment with the course’s extensive inventory of professional-grade equipment.
Sport beyond the lens
This module builds on the foundational “Behind the lens” module, directing students to experiment with moving image, immersive technologies, AI and sound.
Alongside exploring the latest and emergent digital capture technologies, students will continue to develop their understanding of the key issues pertinent to Sports and Lifestyle contexts. Sports-specific case studies are again used to contextualise key themes examined in the accompanying lecture series, with students tasked to respond creatively through a longer bi-weekly work cycle. The emphasis is on experimentation and innovation, with students working toward the goal of creating of new experiences and possibilities for Sports Photography.
CoLab: Research, Exploration and Risk-Taking
The collaborative learning experience will expose you to a range of new processes, building on your year one collaborative experience, and approaches that will develop your creative thinking. These will act as a catalyst to inform the solutions that you develop in response to the brief. This will include the development of creative thinking skills, design thinking and critical questioning approaches that can be used throughout the creative design process.
Through active participation with team-based problem-solving, you will work together in mixed teams on identified projects and/or themes* where you will use your creative ideas to generate solutions to the challenge or brief.
This module will be taught through lectures, workshops and seminars. This will include the introduction of the live brief, guest lectures, practical skills development workshops and independent group learning.
Participation in this module will encourage your skills development in; collaboration, teamwork, generating ideas, communication and presentation skills, decision-making and organisation, critical reflection, problem-solving and learning from failure.
You will be empowered to act as catalysts and change-agents in your response to the brief. The JOIN platform will provide community wide discussions relating to the themes and experiences within the module.
Experimental Sports Lab
This module offers students an open and creative platform to further develop their ideas and more freely pursue their interests from the end of Level 4. Students are tasked to create works that investigate different approaches to image capture and data interpretation and visualisation. These may include things like motion tracking data, sensor-informed storytelling (everything on a phone - audio, visual, haptic etc) and AI such as computer vision (data interpretation such as that used in concussive studies). Students will work beyond traditional environments to create interactive and augmented experiences that challenge interpretations and possibilities for audience engagement and experience of sport.
Live Sports Assignments
Further develop and apply the themes and practical tools you;'ve developed in the first year, through a series of simulated assignments. Alongside exploring the latest and emergent digital capture technologies, you will continue to develop their understanding of the key issues pertinent to Sports and Lifestyle contexts. By the end of the module, you will be an expert in the use of digital image technologies to both engage and convey meaning.
Optional Modules
Optional modules are mandatory across all our courses and enable you to personalise your studies by choosing from up to eight optional modules. This is a great opportunity to expand your learning and discover new areas of interest to inspire your work, influence your future career, or postgraduate study.
- Publishing: Experimental Formats
- Telling Stories
- Music Video
- Sound Art & Design
- Ethical Design
- Digital Marketing & Communication
Optional Placement Year (Sandwich)*
We have an option for all of our students to undertake a placement year (Sandwich) and allow you to decide whether this is right for you once you have completed years 1 and 2 of your course. This time spent working in industry provides our students with crucial work experience, which is highly prized and much sought after by employers upon graduation. If you are successful in securing a placement you will have the chance to gain an additional Certificate or Diploma in Professional Practice, dependent on duration.
The additional placement year incurs a fee. For international students considering the transfer to the 4-yr SW route it’s important to seek advice from the International Student Support team and the Home Office regarding any potential visa implications and costs. For UK students, advice should also be sought regarding SLC eligibility, if applicable.
* If you choose to take the sandwich route option, you will still need to apply for this course with the full-time UCAS code: W643
Sketchpad
Sitting at the foot of the third and final year, this short module requires students to apply their learning over a series of discursive workshops. These sessions respond to the themes and issues brought up in the concurrent “Recent Past and Near Future of…” case study series. Short-form practical reflections are required of the student through a series of ethically, culturally and technologically focused tasks, at the same time affording the student creative latitude to develop signature responses.
Students are required to publish innovative and compelling responses to their online portfolio, to be presented and discussed in the weekly workshops. Emphasis remains on the creative processes (practical and thematic) which are reflected in the assessment weighting. By the end of this module, students will have a number of practical starting points for immediate further development. They will have identified prospective audiences and begun to formulate strategic approaches to engage those audiences, both through their work and through participation in the public dialogue.
Launchpad
Within this module students finalise and launch their campaigns for audience engagement. It is where their passion and creative vision take form as a physical or digital interface between creator and prospective client, collaborator and/or employer (audience). It is for the student to imagine their perfect brief without fear, concern or limit; to own the fullest expression of its creative resolution.
As this is a self-directed module, students lead the way, with lecturers taking a supporting role throughout, providing guidance through regular formative feedback. By the end of this module students will have identified and engaged prospective audiences with compelling visual experiences built on a strong thematic and practical foundation. They will have demonstrated their ability to speak clearly with images, to be heard and to be taken seriously in the world of photography.
The Recent Past and Near Future of Creative Storytelling
This module introduces students to a range of internationally recognised figures drawn from industry, academia and popular culture. It facilitates student engagement with a wide range of questions, concerns, ideas and practices that are animating the creative industries. The module brings student thinking into live and direct contact with industry, enabling them to road-test their theories, pitch their ideas and make valuable real-world connections. The series offers students invaluable opportunities to research connected audiences (both technologically and thematically connected) from their position at the centre of the discussion.
By the end of the series, students will have first hand knowledge of compelling storytelling, its constituent parts, its’ production process, its’ intended purposes, applications and impact. They will have been central to internationally networked conversations, seen how they and their participation has been rendered digitally, and recognised their impact and the impact of others, on that network. They will have had opportunities to extend their professional networks of industry contacts and related audiences.
Video Gallery
How you’re taught
You will be taught through a variety of teaching and learning experiences which will include:
- lectures and seminars
- studio workshops
- darkrooms
- on-location practical demonstrations
- portfolio reviews
- tutorials
- live projects
- study trips
- peer and self-evaluation.
You will also benefit from one-to-one surgeries, portfolio reviews, and self-initiated work experience.
International exchanges and study trips
Go on organised study trips to galleries, exhibitions and cultural cities, both in the UK and abroad. Recent destinations have included: Hepworth Gallery, Yorkshire; Paris Photo; European Month of Photography, and Berlin.
If you’re thinking about studying part of your degree abroad, the course has exchange agreements with a number of institutions around the world.
Exchanges take place in Year Two of the course. You’ll receive guidance from the university about where you can go and study, and help in completing your application and arranging your exchange.
Recent destinations include FAMU, Czech Republic; Universitat de Barcelona, Spain; École Supérieure d’Art et Design, France; and RMIT, Australia.
Showcase
You will be given the opportunity to exhibit your work during your time at NTU to members of the creative industries. Visit our ‘We Are Creatives’ showcase to take a look at the work of this year's graduating students’.
You may also have the chance to be selected to exhibit your work at graduate exhibitions in London, such as New Designers and Free Range.
Contact hours
- Year 1 lectures/seminars/workshops (24%), independent study (76%)
- Year 2 lectures/seminars/workshops (21%), independent study (79%)
- Year 3 lectures/seminars/workshops (23%), independent study (77%)
How you’re assessed
- Year 1 coursework (100%)
- Year 2 coursework (100%)
- Year 3 coursework (83%), practical exams (17%)
People excel in different ways, and we want everybody to have the best possible chance of success. On this course you will be assessed on a range of individual and group presentations, and your final year project. Your work in Year Two accounts for 20% of your final degree mark, and your work in your final year accounts for the other 80%
Careers and employability
The course prepares you for a career in sports photography or photo-related activities. Depending on your particular interest, you will identify your practice, and research picture agencies, image libraries, organisations, and photographers' agents.
You'll learn about proposals and CVs; how to cost your work; how to prepare estimates and invoices; and your rights, responsibilities and obligations as a photographer.
You’ll enhance your employability through things like live projects, guest lectures, industry visits, and work experience.
Students work across a range of creative industries when they graduate. Roles include:
- Sports Photographer
- In-house Photographer
- Product Photographer
- Art Director
- Director of Photography
- Art Buyer
- Photo Editor
- Content Production
- Location Scout
- Retoucher
- Lighting Director
- Campaign Designer
- Visual Strategist
- Entrepreneur / Business Owner / Change Agent
YouFirst – working with our Employability team
Studying a creative degree in a large university has many benefits, none more so than having access to a large employability team.
Our friendly, experienced careers consultants will work closely with you at every stage of your career planning, providing personal support and advice you won't find in a book or on the internet. You can benefit from this at any time during your studies, and for up to three years after completing your course.
Connecting with industry
You’ll benefit from industry professionals from a range of photographic and creative industries practices visiting the course to guest lecture and share their experience. Recent events run by industry organisations for our students include:
- Genesis Imaging, London: bursary scheme
- Alamy 100% Student project: designed to promote, showcase and sell student images through an international picture library.
- Colorama brief: working with Vitec Manfrotto.
- The Hive: a live photographic project brief working with freelancers, in conjunction with Santander.
- Art UK Shadowing: opportunities for students to shadow photographers on commissioned projects.
Creative Industries Federation
We are members of the Creative Industries Federation (CIF), which means students in the Nottingham School of Art & Design have the opportunity to sign up to free student membership. Creative Industries Federation are an organisation that represents, champions and supports the UK’s creative industries and membership grants students exclusive access to their selection of resources and events to help advance your career and connect with industry.
Campus and facilities
Entry requirements
BA (Hons) Sports Photography
- Standard offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
- Contextual offer: 104 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
Other requirements
Contextual offers
A lower offer may be made based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer and we get data from UCAS to make these decisions. NTU offers a student experience like no other and this approach helps us to find students who have the potential to succeed here but who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university. Find out how we assess your application.
Other qualifications and experience
We may also consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or beyond the beginning of a course where applicable, for example, into year 2. Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route.
Meeting our entry requirements
Hundreds of qualifications in the UK have UCAS tariff points attached to specific grades, including A levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more. You can use your grades and points from up to four different qualifications to meet our criteria. Enter your predicted or achieved grades into our tariff calculator to find out how many points your qualifications are worth.
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form
BA (Hons) Sports Photography
- 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
Other requirements
International qualifications
We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:
Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)
If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Foundation courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:
English language requirements
You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:
Advanced standing (starting your undergraduate degree in year 2 or 3
You may be able to start your undergraduate course in year 2 or 3 based on what you have studied before. This decision would be made in accordance with our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy.
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.
Fees and funding
Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.
Getting in touch
For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494
What's included in the course fees?
The School will cover the costs of any mandatory study trips.
In Final Year, the Nottingham School of Art & Design will provide infrastructure costs for your Showcase. If you’re selected to showcase your work at a graduate show in London, the School will cover the cost of transporting your work and the exhibition stand.
Additional costs
Print and copy costs
We advise you to budget between £50 - £250 (minimum) per year for printing costs.
The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.
Material costs
Depending on the materials you choose to work with, you should budget a minimum of £100 (Year One), £150 (Year Two), and £500 (Final Year) to cover the production costs associated to your course, including things like your final year work. Of course, you may spend less or more than this depending on the nature of your studies.
Stationery and reading materials
Most study modules will recommend one or more core textbooks, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary between courses and further information is available in the University’s bookshop, Blackwell’s.
A good supply of these essential text books are available in the University libraries, which students can easily borrow or access directly whilst studying in the library.
You should budget between £50 - £100 per year (minimum) for stationery and reading materials.
Field trips
All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may also be an opportunity to take part in an optional field trip to a European destination that will be tailored to suit your course.
Placements
If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.
You will have the opportunity to gain an extra qualification – a Certificate in Professional Practice on the Full-Time route. Or you may decide to switch to the Sandwich route in your second year, which includes a one-year Placement. Whether pursuing the Full Time or the Sandwich route you will need to budget for accommodation, travel and living costs whilst on Placement.
Costs will vary depending on whether the Placement is paid or unpaid, local or global. If you are working overseas, you will need to factor in the cost of setting up a bank account and visa applications; some companies pay for the visa as part of the Placement offer.
You should also budget £500 for interview/assessment centres in preparation for your Placement year.
Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.
You might be able to get a scholarship to help fund your studies. We award scholarships to those international students who can demonstrate excellent achievement, passion, and dedication to their studies.
Please take a look at our International students page for information about fees, scholarships for international students, visas and much more.
Getting in touch
For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494
What's included in the course fees?
The School will cover the costs of any mandatory study trips.
In Final Year, the Nottingham School of Art & Design will provide infrastructure costs for your Showcase. If you’re selected to showcase your work at a graduate show in London, the School will cover the cost of transporting your work and the exhibition stand.
Additional costs
Print and copy costs
We advise you to budget between £50 - £250 (minimum) per year for printing costs.
The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.
Material costs
Depending on the materials you choose to work with, you should budget a minimum of £100 (Year One), £150 (Year Two), and £500 (Final Year) to cover the production costs associated to your course, including things like your final year work. Of course, you may spend less or more than this depending on the nature of your studies.
Stationery and reading materials
Most study modules will recommend one or more core textbooks, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary between courses and further information is available in the University’s bookshop, Blackwell’s.
A good supply of these essential text books are available in the University libraries, which students can easily borrow or access directly whilst studying in the library.
You should budget between £50 - £100 per year (minimum) for stationery and reading materials.
Field trips
All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may also be an opportunity to take part in an optional field trip to a European destination that will be tailored to suit your course.
Placements
If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.
If you undertake work experience or a longer placement, you will have the chance to gain an additional Certificate or Diploma in Professional Practice, dependent on duration. The Diploma in Professional Practice incurs a fee for the additional placement year.
If you secure a placement for year 3, and transfer to the sandwich route then additional fees will apply and there will be implications for your visa status. It is critical to consult with the NTU International Student Support Team and the Home Office for updated visa regulations and requirements before making any changes to your course structure.
How to apply
Apply through UCAS.
We will ask you to provide a digital portfolio. Visit our webpage which has some advice on what to include to help make your portfolio stand out. After you have submitted your portfolio, we may also invite you to an online interview to help us make our final decision.
Optional Placement Year (Sandwich)*
Please be aware that all enrolments onto the Course will initially be for the full time 3-year route. There is however an opportunity for you to internally transfer to the 4-year SW route if you secure a placement. The placement would need to be confirmed and transfer agreed during your 2nd year to enable you to commence the placement in year 3. It is important that you seek advice regarding any funding and financial implications before making any changes to your course structure.
You can apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not applying to any other UK universities, you can apply directly to us on our NTU applicant portal.
Application advice
Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example. After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.
Writing your personal statement
Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:
Your portfolio
If your initial application is successful, you may be asked to upload a portfolio of your work and you may also be asked to attend an interview.
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.
Optional Placement Year (Sandwich)*
Please be aware that you will need to apply for the three-year full-time course. There is however an opportunity for you to internally transfer to the 4-year SW route if you secure a placement. The placement would need to be confirmed and transfer agreed during your 2nd year to enable you to commence the placement in year 3. It is critical to consult with the NTU International Student Support Team and the Home Office for updated visa regulations and requirements before making any changes to your course structure.
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