BSc (Hons) Sportsturf Science & Management

260 UCAS Tariff points from one of the following:

• 3 A-levels at minimum C or above

• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma at DMM

• BTEC Level 3 Diploma at D*D

• 4 Scottish Highers at minimum C or above

• 4 Irish Highers at minimum C or above

• International Baccalaureate Diploma at 24 points

AS levels and Scottish Intermediate 2s may be used to contribute to entry requirements but they are not sufficient for entry on their own. Alternative equivalent qualifications will also be considered positively.

Consideration will be given to non-traditional qualifications and relevant work experience. Applicants are encouraged to produce evidence of their potential to benefit from the course. Applicants who believe they may be eligible for Accreditation of Prior Certificated and/or Experiential Learning (APCL/APEL) for certain modules will be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for whom English is a second language must be able to demonstrate proof of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) at level 6.0 (with no component score lower than 5.5) or equivalent.

All offers may be subject to successful interview.

First Year

• Cultural Practices in Sportsturf: This module will provide students with the underpinning knowledge and allow for the acquisition of skills necessary to achieve the outcome of an effective playing surface.
• Sportsturf Mechanisation: This module aims to explore relationships between labour and mechanisation in sportsturf management. It allows the student to evaluate machinery and energy sources, and appraise optimum utilisation of power and equipment.
• Business Management: This module introduces key areas of management activity such as human resource management, leadership, marketing and finance to allow students to develop further knowledge and skills to improve future employability in land based industries.
• Essential Plant Biology (half module): This module aims to provide students with the essential knowledge of plant biology needed to allow successful management of their growth and development. Students will discover how plant form and function relates to their basic needs in terms of light, water, nutrients and reproduction.
• Plant Cell Biology (half module): Increasingly research into the biochemistry and intracellular functioning of plants is giving us insights into new management practices or allowing us to produce new and useful plant varieties. This module aims to give students a basic knowledge of plant biochemistry and cell function to allow them to start to interpret these new developments.
• Essential Soil Science (half module) :The module provides the underpinning knowledge and understanding of soil science, sufficient for students to be able to recognise soil properties (in both soil samples and in the field) and their influence on plant growth and development.
• Applied Soil Technology (half module) : This module promotes the progression of the student from an understanding of the essential principles of soil science to their application in soil management in a wide range of environments.
• Data Handling (half module) : This module provides a good grounding in methods of collecting and analysing data. Students will make use of spreadsheets to calculate descriptive statistics and display data in a variety of appropriate formats, as well as developing their skills in the interpretation of scientific results.
• Study Skills and Personal Development (half module): Students will participate in a structured and supported process in order to enable them to understand what and how they are learning and to review, plan and take responsibility for their own learning and personal development in preparation for the working world.

• Sports Surface Construction and Drainage: This module aims to give the student an understanding of the mode of action of different construction and drainage systems their related benefits and disadvantages and to introduce the management. The module will explore the design concepts between the range of sportsturf and golf construction and drainage systems currently available.
• Environmental Plant Physiology: To introduce you to the dynamic process of plant growth, metabolism and reproduction, and to encourage an independent approach to learning. Specific objectives are to use practical sessions to ensure competence in carrying out experimental work, in recording results, and in writing reports in scientific format, to ensure that you can use IT packages to analyse data; to expose you to original scientific literature.
• Research Methods: Experimental design and data analysis are core themes in this module. It will introduce concepts of statistical testing and further develop skills in presenting and interpreting results of scientific investigations. The module will give students vital skills in formulating research questions and designing an effective experiment.
• Environmental Management in Sportsturf: Golf courses and other sportsturf facilities cover extensive areas of land, frequently including woodland, semi-natural grasslands and water courses. This module explores effective management of this land to provide for first class sport and the development of “natural” areas which enhance local ecology. It also explores concepts of sustainability, resource efficiency and their practical application to the management of sportsturf surfaces.
• Pests, Diseases and Weeds: This module deals with all the agents who can interfere with plant growth and development. The importance of life cycles and nature of current control measures are studied.
• Sportsturf Technology (half module):This module explores the range of modern technologies including machinery, irrigation equipment and computer applications utilised in contemporary golf course/sports ground management. Analyses and evaluation of data produced when operating equipment and how this information influences management decisions is also considered.
• Career Development (half module), (option module):Students will be supported in acquiring the knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes that will equip them to manage their careers and being a lifelong progression in learning and work.

• Performance Testing for Sportsturf (half module), (option module):The effective management of sports surfaces requires a consistent, well planned approach. This module examines the development and use of surface performance measurements in the industry. Students will collect test data from a range of surfaces and consider scenario management of facilities based upon this data.

• Research Project (double module):Students will be given the opportunity to design and carryout a piece of investigative research into a topic that interests them. This will allow them to demonstrate the skills that they have developed throughout the course including the abilities to design an original investigation, to work independently, and to produce a coherent and critical report.
• Applied Plant Science and Biotechnology: This module will review recent advances in plant breeding, including plant tissue culture and molecular techniques, with an emphasis on specialist industry applications. Students will also develop their skills in carrying out laboratory analysis, using original scientific literature, communicating scientifically and learning independently.
• Rootzone Technology: This module examines the development and use of artificially constructed rootzones for the production of quality surfaces for a variety of sports. An evaluation is be made on a range of rootzone formulations for various uses, their constituents, their physical and chemical properties and the influence on these from a variety of management systems and environmental conditions.
• Sportsturf Specifications for Construction and Maintenance: Evaluation of design options cost and maintenance implications of sports turf construction and drainage specifications for surface development.
• Professional Practice and Consultancy (half module): This module will develop the students’ ability and professional competency in marketing themselves so as to deliver and manage consultancy services within a legal and ethical framework.
• Contemporary Issues within the Sportsturf Sector (half module): Students will be expected to discuss, analyse and evaluate a range of contemporary issues which affect the industry. There will be scope for individual project work, group work, presentations and external seminars within this module.