Sport Conditioning and Performance Analysis with Integrated Foundation Year

You’re inspired by how sporting success effects positive change in individuals and society, enriches lives and improves wellbeing. You have a true passion for sport and the drive to help others achieve their full performance potential and dreams of success in elite sport. That’s why, on this sport conditioning course with an integrated foundation year, we will give you the support and opportunities you need to become your best and set you on your way to achieving our full degree.

Our BSc (Hons) Sport Conditioning and Performance Analysis degree is designed to give you the industry knowledge, skills and employment prospects to work in an elite sport performance environment. What’s more, our sport courses are ranked 1st in the North West for continuation and 2nd in the North West for career prospects (Guardian University Guide 2023 Results).

If you are passionate about performance sport but do not have the required qualifications for direct entry, our degree with an integrated foundation year offers a supportive alternative route into higher education.

You will examine the science behind sport performance, conduct diagnostics, analyse an athlete’s fitness, technical performance and tactical play, make recommendations for appropriate training for improved performance and provide feedback to athletes, coaches and support staff.

This vocational degree provides valuable experience working with clubs and athletes during modules and on placement, preparing you to work within a performance environment in performance coaching or development, talent identification, sport science support and performance analysis. You’ll receive insight from industry professionals, gain additional qualifications and have access to our performance analysis suit, strength and conditioning room, human performance lab and sports facilities.

ON THIS COURSE YOU WILL...

• Gain a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of Sport Conditioning and Performance Analysis and its application in enhancing athlete performance at all levels of sport from grassroots to elite performers.

• Develop hands-on techniques and skills to conduct diagnostics and analyse an athlete’s fitness, technical performance and tactical play, and develop exercise training programmes for improving athlete performance.

• Positively contribute to sporting performance by applying academic theory and practitioner skills to practice in a real world environment through vocational experience on modules and undertaking a 100-hour placement.

• Learn the complex reality which is performance analysis and sport specific conditioning through working with athletes/players from sports including football, rugby, athletics, hockey, cycling, golf, dance and outdoor sports.

• Gain the Hudl Certification in Notational Analysis. On graduation, you can apply for the International Society of Performance Analysis of Sport (ISPAS) Level 1 accreditation.

• Be taught in small class sizes which means you get to know your class and tutors well, allowing you to feel supported during your studies.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

The foundation year allows you to settle into university life and gain the knowledge, confidence and skills needed to succeed in your degree. The following three years provide a high-quality profession-specific training, including how physiology, biomechanics and psychology are applied to the objective evaluation and analysis of athlete performance, utilising data and information gathered to inform exercise prescription and the development of sport specific conditioning training programmes. Highly developed communication and inter-professional skills will be applied to vocational contexts providing feedback to athletes, coaches and support staff. Strands running throughout this programme are sport specific conditioning and performance analysis with research and investigative techniques underpinning the academic study.

Year one

• Essential University Skills 1
• Essential University Skills 2
• Sport in Action
• Leading and Managing Individuals and Organisations
• Individual Case Study
• Contemporary Issues and the Media

Year two

• Personal and Professional Development
• Principles of Human Movement and Function
• Exercise Techniques and Training
• Developing the Practitioner Toolkit
• Introduction to Sport Psychology
• Introduction to Performance Analysis

Year three

• Investigative Techniques
• Strength and Conditioning for Performance
• Leadership and Relationships in Sport
• Field Based Conditioning for Sport
• Applied Movement Analysis
• Applied Notational Analysis

Year four

• Independent Investigative Project
• Practitioner Placement
• Sport Performance Testing and Prescription
• Applied Performance Analysis

Modules use formative and summative assessment so that you can progress through a module in a structured and constructive way and build knowledge for practice in a coherent and logical way. Formative assessments are designed so that feedback on your performance is provided before the submission of the final, summative assessment and will occur regularly to inform your progress and performance. Formative work does not contribute to the final module mark or the credit awarded. Formative tasks and assessments will feature in all modules and provide you with further learning opportunities, alongside skill development, for example, non-graded presentation skills, delivery and reflection.

A varied diet of summative assessment methods will be utilised to prepare you for further academic study and professional practice, reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of this programme and the increasing demand for employment-ready graduates. Assessment methods are specified in each module guide and will include:

• Academic essays and reports
• Projects
• Exams
• Reflective reports
• Presentations (individual and group)
• Practical skills assessments
• Data analysis and interpretation
• Portfolios
• Research project
  Portfolios may be comprised of several pieces of work which together provide evidence of learning and demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes in a variety of modes. For example, written pieces as well as video recordings, practical activities or presentations, PowerPoint slides, a series of reflections or online discussions are just some of the ways you may evidence your learning. Learning and Teaching Assessment (LTA) approaches will be continually evaluated and improved by using module evaluations, student feedback, peer review of teaching, and module development sessions. These will ensure an enhanced student learning experience and continuing professional development of the academic team to maintain best practice in learning, teaching and assessment.