Options with sport and leisure management
Sport and leisure management studies offers an excellent grounding in business skills, including:
These are all highly transferable skills and can lead to a management role in any sector.
Although sport and leisure management is a highly vocational course, the fact that you gain an understanding of issues relating to psychology, sociology and social policy also means you could move into roles within the public sector. These could include policy planning, community development and social work. Your course will teach you technical skills and the practical assignments and placements provide you with hands-on experiences in public, private and voluntary sector environments.
The content and structure of sport and leisure management courses encourages you to develop:
These are all transferable skills which are desirable for any job in any sector.
Sport and leisure management degree courses are designed to enable graduates to enter work at a managerial level. In reality, it is likely that first positions may be at assistant or trainee manager level until further experience is gained. Many graduates are ultimately aiming to manage their own leisure facility.
There is a crossover between the leisure/recreation industry and hospitality and catering. Roles in hospitality include accommodation manager (i.e. in conference centres and hotels) and restaurant manager, where your general understanding of managing a range of facilities will apply.
To increase your chances of finding work it can be very helpful to gain related work experience to complement your degree. This may involve, for example, working in the sport and leisure industry as a fitness instructor or in an administrative role. It may also be possible to gain marketing or events management experience, perhaps through university societies or voluntary work. Work experience and travel opportunities can also be combined over the vacation periods by working for organisations such as Camp America and BUNAC .
Portfolio working can help you to develop the skills and experience you need to progress and boost your CV. This can be achieved by working in a variety of short-term roles and at events such as the 2012 Olympics. Internships and volunteering are other valuable ways of gaining experience. For example, try youth sport volunteering if you are interested in coaching, or find an opportunity to staff a sports event if you want to pursue a management role.
Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it’s not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. Look at your degree... what next? for informed advice on career planning and graduate employment, or login/register with My Prospects to find out what jobs would suit you, a helpful starting point for self-analysis.
Explore types of jobs to find out more about the above options and related jobs.
The specialist focus of a sport and leisure management degree means that a career in the sport and leisure industry is the most obvious career direction for graduates. A 2012 HESA survey of 2011 graduates indicates that six months after finishing their course 14.9% of sports and leisure graduates were working as arts, design, culture or sports professionals, and almost a fifth were employed in retail and catering or working as waiting and bar staff, while over 17.7% were employed as commercial, industrial or public sector managers.
However, the skills you develop during the course are relevant to a range of possible occupations and previous graduates have found employment in fields as diverse as marketing, sales and IT. Employment is commonly found within the health, education and local government sectors.
Typical employers include:
Leisure facilities are owned and managed by both commercial companies and local government. Politically focused roles relating to developing communities through leisure, strategic planning, and implementing national policy are also available in local government.
Sport and leisure management graduates are also finding opportunities within:
Self-employment is also possible and after gaining experience some graduates establish sports consultancy businesses or set up sports camps or training centres. One to one personal training is also a popular option and can provide quite a lucrative and flexible working lifestyle. The downside of this type of arrangement can be financial unpredictability if client numbers decrease unexpectedly.
For an insight into employment areas, see hospitality, tourism and sport.
The sport and leisure sector includes both physical activities relating to spare time such as personal fitness and outdoor hobbies, and to professional level pursuits such as professional sports coaching and leisure facility management. It also covers entertainment provision such as cinemas, theatres, restaurants and cultural pursuits such as museums and galleries, reading, shopping.
The tourism industry covers provision for tourists, both in the UK and abroad. The travel industry is closely linked. Employers include tourist boards, tour operators and travel agents, tourist information centres and any business associated with a 'tourist attraction'.
The hospitality sector is dedicated to providing services that contribute to people’s enjoyment and comfort away from home, mainly in their leisure time but also in a work context. The sector includes organisations such as hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs, and catering services.
For further information on possibilities in other employment areas, see job sectors.
Statistics are collected every year to show what HE students do immediately after graduation. These can be a useful guide but, in reality, because the data is collected within six months of graduation, many graduates are travelling, waiting to start a course, paying off debts, getting work experience or still deciding what they want to do. For further information about some of the areas of employment commonly entered by graduates of any degree discipline, check out What Do Graduates Do? and your degree...what next?
Around 12% of sport and leisure management graduates pursue full-time or part-time further study, with half of those combining study and work.
Some take postgraduate courses in order to specialise in a particular area such as arts and culture, events management, or even such narrow specialisms as, for example, 'Lake District studies'. Others may take postgraduate courses to specialise in a vocational area such as teaching.
Some graduates choose to enhance their management qualifications or widen the scope of their understanding of the sport and leisure industry by undertaking postgraduate study. They may study for example, an MA, MSc, PGDip, PhD or MBA, in subjects such as international leisure management.
Many graduates who work within this area also choose to study for the professional qualifications offered by the Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (IMSPA) or those listed by the sector skills councils, People 1st and SkillsActive - The Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure, Learning and Well-being .
These trends show only what previous graduates in your subject did immediately upon graduating. Over the course of their career - the first few years in particular - many others will opt for some form of further study, either part time or full time. If further study interests you, start by thinking about postgraduate study in the UK and search courses and research to identify your options.
For details relating to finance and the application process, look at funding my further study.
