Practical Student's Guide - Certificate in Sports Governance

What are we offering?

The Certificate in Sports Governance is a Level 4 qualification provided by The Chartered Governance Institute. The Sports Governance Academy provides a limited number of bursary places on this course for individuals in the UK sports & physical activity sector.

The course is divided into four modules, each covering different aspects of sports governance in the UK:

1. Core Governance Knowledge and Skills
2. Introduction to Sports Governance
3. Challenges in Sports Governance
4. Risk, Compliance and Finance in Sports

The Certificate is assessed via:

• A written assignment (60%)
• A multiple-choice exam (40%)

You must pass all assessments to receive the Certificate. Places on this certificate are funded by the sports councils, and it is expected that all recipients will take the assessment unless there are significant reasons for them not to. If you wish to participate in unassessed training, please consult the SGA’s training section on its website. Please see the ‘Resits, Deferrals, Postponement, Absence and Withdrawals’ section of this guide for further information.

Timelines

Module/Assignment Period	Window	Course Details
Introduction & Module 1	October-December	Webinars & Self-Study
Module 2	January	Webinars & Self-Study
Module 3	February	Webinars & Self-Study
Module 4	March	Webinars & Self-Study
Written Assignment + Revision	March-May	Assignment Window
Multiple Choice Exam + Revision	June	Multiple Choice Exam
Total	October-June	Webinars, Self-Study, Assignment & Multiple-Choice Exam

 

Time Commitment

The recommended study time for the Level 4 Certificate in Sports Governance is 200 hours, which includes the online content, webinars, practice tasks and assessment exercises. 

This course is based around a self-study model and therefore requires a significant commitment to study, on top of the provided webinar sessions. You will, however, be part of a cohort of fellow learners with whom you can interact, engage and share ideas and experiences. 

The assessment is weighted equally between each module. The written assignment requires knowledge from all four modules, and the multiple-choice exam consists of 10 questions from each module. CGI recommends that you spend 50 hours on each module. This includes revision and assessment. We have suggested how you might want to spend your time over the period of the course and which parts will take place during office hours (in this case we are defining this as 09:00-17:00).

We recognise that, if necessary, the entire course can be completed outside of office hours by watching webinars on demand and completing all assessments during mornings, evenings and weekends. We recommend that wherever possible, you try to attend the webinars live to get the most out of the engagement, ask questions and partake in breakout activities. Once the exam date is released, you will need to book the time out in your calendar to complete the multiple-choice exam. Finally, we suggest that you put aside 1 or 2 days of study leave to supplement work in your own time on the assignment to ensure that you complete it in time.

The full suggested breakdown can be found below:

Window	SGA suggested breakdown
	Total Hours	Office Hours Study Commitment	Office Hours Study Details	Out of Office Hours Study Details
October-December	35 hours	9 hours	7 x 1hr15 webinars	Desk Study
January	35 hours	4 hours	3 x 1hr15 webinars	Desk Study
February	35 hours	4 hours	3 x 1hr15 webinars	Desk Study
March	35 hours	4 hours	3 x 1hr15 webinars	Desk Study
March-May	30 hours	1-2 days + 1 hour	1-2 days to complete assignment, 1 x 1hr webinar	Revision, Reading and extra time on the assignment
May-June	30 hours	3 hours	1 x 1hr webinar, 2hrs - exam + preparation	Revision and Reading
October-June	200 hours	4-5 working days	18 webinars, 1 Assignment, 1 Multiple-Choice Exam	Desk Study, Revision, Reading, Assignment

 

Resits, Deferrals, Postponement, Absence and Withdrawals

Whilst we expect students to complete the Certificate in the study period specified at the outset, we are well-aware that unexpected life events can get in the way of your studies. Before considering the effects on your bursary place, all students must comply with The Chartered Governance Insititute UK & Ireland’s Postponements, Withdrawals, Deferrals and Absence policy if they wish to take their assessment at a different time to the expected dates of their cohort. Please also consult the Reasonable Adjustments and Extenuating Circumstances Policy and Procedure in the case that unexpected circumstances affect your assessment. No matter what your case is, we would greatly appreciate it if you could contact us to either inform us or consult with us on your decision instead of being absent for the assignment.

Resits

Both Assessments Failed

If you fail both assessed elements, you are strongly recommended to study the course materials again. You must retake both assessments in the June assessment window and submit a new written assignment based on the current brief. 

Multiple Choice Exam Failed

If you fail the multiple-choice question exam you will be able to re-sit this in the next assessment window. The pass mark for your written assignment will be carried over.

Written Assignment Failed

Feedback on a failed written assignment will be provided, giving guidance on how this can be improved.  You are allowed to re-submit a failed assignment. A resubmission, which is a rewrite of the original assignment, is only allowed in a November assessment window when the original assignment was submitted in the June assessment window of the same year. Any other resubmissions of a written assignment will be based on the current assignment brief. You can only submit a re-written assignment once. If you fail the re-submission, you must submit a new written assignment based on the current brief. The pass mark for your multiple-choice question exam will be carried over.

Fees

If you fail one or both exams and are not marked as absent, the SGA will cover the cost of your first resit. If you are marked as absent, a funded resit can only be granted at the SGA’s discretion. You or your organisation can also pay the fee.

Deferral

Deferring your course will result in you dropping out of the course you are enrolled on and joining the next year’s course. An example of this would be that you may have started the course but due to unforeseen circumstances are unable to complete it in the year of enrolment.

You can ask to defer your course a minimum of two weeks before you are due to submit the written assignment however, we would greatly appreciate it if you can give us more notice than this.

Fees

The SGA will cover the cost of either one Deferral or one Postponement.

Postponement

You may request to postpone your assessment i.e. the written assignment or the multiple-choice question exam. You may do so up to two weeks before you are due to submit the written assignment. Postponements are granted at the Chartered Governance Institute’s discretion and are not guaranteed. An application for postponement must be supported by medical certificate(s) and/or other relevant documentation. Postponements due to work commitments are not permitted under any circumstances.

Fees

The SGA will cover the cost of either one Deferral or one Postponement.

Absence

An absence is where you fail to show-up for your exam or fail to submit your written assignment and did not formally postpone, withdraw or meet the requirements of an extenuating circumstances application.

If you do not attend your exam/submit your assignment without prior notice or explanation, it will be considered as a failed attempt and will count towards the maximum of four allowed attempts for the exam/written assignment.

Fees

If you are marked as absent, a funded resit can only be granted at the SGA’s discretion. You or your organisation can also pay the fee.

Withdrawals

If you are considering withdrawing from the Certificate, we ask if you could email us so that we can explore if it would be possible for you to complete at a later date. If you decide to withdraw, we would greatly appreciate if you could inform us as this will also mean that you are not marked as absent on your assessment.

Fees

There are no fees to withdraw however for those of you considering applying on the basis that you can withdraw if need be, we would like to remind you that bursary places are limited and by accepting a place, this would stop someone else from going on the certificate.