Sport and Exercise Science

This practice-led degree is founded upon the underlying principles of physiology, psychology, strength and conditioning, performance analysis and biomechanics. The course combines these scientific principles with highly practical skills to give you a 360-degree understanding of an athlete within performance contexts, helping you to prepare you for a career in the sport and exercise science industry.

Modules and assessments have been created to develop key employability skills and to complement your degree studies, you’ll be encouraged to prepare for CASES and UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) professional accreditation.

To help prepare you for a career in the sports industry, an applied and hands-on approach is encouraged. Through professional placements and applied practice you will gain first-hand experience of working with teams and athletes in a high-performance environment. With support and mentoring from the course team, past students have provided sport science support to premiership rugby and football players, Olympic athletes, and national teams.

Throughout your degree, you’ll have access to a range of professional facilities such as our specialist CASES-accredited physiology laboratory and state-of-the-art biomechanics, sport and exercise psychology laboratories, our £28m sports complex, the award-winning Spark teaching building and a 24-hour library service.

Our academic team are all highly experienced within the industry and have extensive teaching, research and professional backgrounds. This ensures your learning experience will be informed by the latest evidence-based research and industry developments.

Industry professionals also regularly contribute to the course through guest lectures and workshops, providing insight into contemporary issues, career pathways, and emerging trends within the sport and exercise science sector. In addition, the course hosts an annual industry showcase, inviting employers, practitioners, and alumni to the University, providing you with valuable opportunities to network, present your work, engage with potential employers, and develop your professional identity.

If you’re looking to study our sport and exercise science degree but don’t have the relevant qualifications or experience, the sport foundation year will help you develop the core skills and knowledge to progress. Find out more about the sport foundation year.

This course also offers the option of a placement year. A placement year allows you to put what you've learned in your first and second years into practice in the workplace, gaining valuable real-world work experience before you graduate. Our course and placements teams will help you find the perfect industry placement in your chosen field.

Who is this course for?
This practice-led course is ideal for anyone with a passion for sport and exercise, in particular the science behind elite performance. Applications from mature students and those looking for a change of career are welcomed.

What does this course lead to?
The skills you’ll develop on this course open up a wide range of career opportunities in sport and exercise science, across every sport imaginable. You could work with professional, elite or Olympic athletes, ensuring they maintain peak fitness in world-class competitions, or with hospitals and health organisations to develop training and recovery programmes for patients suffering injury or disability. You could also work with schools or even teach, developing fitness programmes and encouraging the next generation of athletes to excel.

Whatever your chosen career path in this sector, you'll graduate well prepared for a career at the performance end of sport, working in applied, fast-paced environments where evidence-based decision-making and practical expertise are essential.