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Our Sports Officiating specialist pathway has been designed for practicing sports officials, those with an interest in sports officiating and sports management professionals worldwide.

  • Access to industry partners through course collaboration, knowledge sharing and continued professional development opportunities, including Sports Officials UK, The Referees’ Association and the Surrey FA
  • Flexible learning allows you to study at your own pace around your professional role
  • Access to academic staff involved in world-leading research and high-level consultancy

Why study Professional Development: Sports Officiating?

This Sports Officiating Master's degree ideal for anybody with an interest in sports officiating. This includes:

  • Practicing officials who are seeking to develop their skills,
  • Referee and umpire development leaders and executives who wish to offer their officials contemporary insight into training and progression
  • Academics who wish to pursue the investigation of sports officials as their chosen field of interest.

The degree aims to enhance not only your critical understanding of the sports official’s role, but also your research and application of training and development regarding sports officials. The course content has been carefully constructed following consultation with our partners and senior academics.

Sports Officiating is a fast-growing, contemporary area of interest, with 50% of research in this area having been completed between 2015 and 2020!

Why St Mary's?

This Sports Officiating course is taught by nationally and internationally renowned academics and specialist staff.

Teaching staff on the degree include academics undertaking research related to sports officiating. For instance, Stuart Carrington has published a book titled Blowing the Whistle: The Psychology of Football Refereeing.

The applied nature of the course ensures that you continually reflect on the course content in your professional practice.

Please note: Professional Development: Sports Officiating is subject to validation.

Professional Development Pathways subject talk and virtual visit

We've put together a bespoke virtual open day for anyone interested in studying Professional Development Pathways at St Mary's.

Next live event: Wednesday 21st April, 6pm

Register now

Entry requirements

2:2 Previous degree

Minimum 2.2 degree or international equivalent, preferably in a sports-related subject.

Additional requirement information

We invite applications from individuals with a high level or experience in the field of officiating, whether as a practicing official or as a stakeholder in the development of officials. We will review each application on merit.

Applicants are encouraged to hold or have the intention to work towards, an NGB L3 coaching award or international equivalent qualification and demonstrate continued commitment to coaching or professional practice.

Non-degree entrance

Applicants without formal degree level qualifications, but with significant relevant work or playing experience are encouraged to apply. We will assess your suitability and any support you may need for the non-degree entrance through a two-step process. For more information please check our entrance task details.

Non-degree entrants will have to take an additional module (Academic Introduction to Professional Development) in the summer before the degree begins. This module is not assessed and is designed to help prepare you for your academic studies.

Please note: the deadline for non-degree entrance will not be able to apply after the summer module begins.

International requirements

International students should check our country-specific pages for equivalents. If English is not your first language you will need to achieve an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with no less than 6.0 in any section (or equivalent).

We now accept IELTS Indicator test results as proof of your English language level.

Further information

For more information about entry requirements please email apply@stmarys.ac.uk.

Course content

Modules

  • Academic Introduction to Professional Development Core (Non-Degree Entrance Students)
  • Contemporary Approaches to Professional Development Core
  • Strategic Leadership in High Performance Core
  • Professional Development and Mentoring Core
  • Independent Project Core
  • The Psychology of Sports Officiating Core
  • The Holistic Official: Social, Cultural and Interpersonal Challenges Core
  • Ethics, Morality and Integrity in Sports Core

Please note: it is possible that a module listed on the website will not be able to run due to reasons beyond our control. For more information please refer to our course information disclaimer.

Career opportunities

As an MSc Professional Development with a specialism in Sports Officiating graduate, you will be highly sought after by employers in a rapidly growing market both nationally and globally.

With half of the academic research into sports officials occurring in the last five years, there is tremendous scope for future roles to be created for those with a bespoke specialism in sports officiating.

Employment areas include:

  • Practicing officiating roles
  • Training and management roles in sports officiating
  • Senior management roles at local and national sporting organisations
  • Sports development officers
  • Head of sport
  • Disciplinary lead
  • Safeguarding roles
  • A variety of roles that rely on responsibility and integrity (such as the armed forces or emergency services)

How the degree is taught

Teaching methods

You'll be taught on our beautiful and historic campus located in Twickenham, London.

Studying this degree full-time will take 12 months. The duration of part-time study is either 24 or 36 months.

The programme is delivered through our bespoke online learning platform and ‘touch-point’ sessions where the group can attend on-campus sessions. Attendance at these sessions is not mandatory as these activities will be captured and made available online to students. However, attendance is encouraged to provide you with an opportunity to network, collaborate and have individual tutorials with academic staff.

All weeks will be delivered online, and each module has a number of activities to complete, with each activity encompassing a set of learning tasks. We generally advise that students spend 2-4 hours per week per module.

The programme utilises a variety of teaching methods to enable you to learn from practical and theoretical perspectives. These include:

  • pre-recorded lectures
  • coach/player video analyses and feedback
  • discussion forums
  • quizzes
  • collaborative group tasks
  • case studies
  • presentations

There will also be online conferences and knowledge exchange events that students will be invited to attend. Frequent webinars and guest speakers from the world of officiating, development and leadership and academia will enhance your learning and demonstrate how the content of the degree can be applied.

We will also organise an online induction in September to welcome and prepare you for the course. In addition, we will allocate a personal tutor to guide you academically and provide support throughout your studies with us.

Assessment methods

Assessment methods on the course deviate from traditional ideas, the main aim for assessments is to capture learning within the realms of your professional contexts. 

Some of the assessment methods utilised on the programme are as follows:

  • Practical workshops
  • Critical evaluation
  • Presentations
  • Position statement
  • Critical reflection

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

September 2021

  • Home: £9,150
  • International: £13,950

Fees for EU applicants starting courses in 2021/22 academic year

Eligible EU applicants will pay the same tuition fees as UK students to support EU students during this transition period. These fees will be applied for the duration of the course. EU fees for 2022 entry are not yet confirmed.

View fees and funding information for EU students beginning their studies in 2021...

Part‐time fees

Part‐time students will be charged for the modules undertaken per academic year. Module prices are calculated as a percentage of credits against the total credits and cost of the degree.

Tuition fees are subject to an inflationary increase each year, meaning if your course runs over more than one academic year you may pay an increased fee per module for each subsequent year of study. Tuition fee increases for returning students will be capped at the higher of 5% per annum or the rate of Consumer Price Index inflation in the United Kingdom.

Funding

Government-funded loans of over £11,000 are available to many Home postgraduate students.

For guidance about financing your studies, including information about the government-funded loans, please check out Fees & Funding section.

International Students should check their eligibility for our International Scholarship.

Alumni discount

A 20% tuition fee discount is available for our alumni (undergraduate and PGCE) planning to study this Master's degree. Those studying for a PGDip of PGCert are not eligible for the discount.

Additional costs

Your tuition fees will cover the cost of all mandatory elements of your programme.

Additional costs could be incurred depending on optional modules chosen and other projects undertaken For further information about additional costs please contact stuart.carrington@stmarys.ac.uk.

Facilities

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Further information