Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation (with Foundation Year)

This course trains you to be an exercise-based rehabilitation and fitness specialist, able to apply clinical reasoning to sport- and fitness-related injuries while you develop practical skills in rehabilitation. You complete at least 400 hours of practice placement in settings ranging from elite sports teams to private clinics and independent practitioners. You also put learning into practice via real-life opportunities at our on-site Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation MSK Clinic and Community Exercise Clinic.

Foundation Year
In the foundation year you will study three days per week. The focus will be on academic writing skills and numeracy, plus subject-specific content to prepare you for entry to an undergraduate degree. It provides a balance between content related to your chosen subject and the wider skills required for undergraduate study. You must pass the foundation year in order to progress to the first year of your degree. This course is ideal for those who do not meet our standard entry requirements or have a non-standard educational background. It will allow you to graduate with a full undergraduate degree in your chosen subject in four years.

Course accreditation/industry endorsement
This course is accredited by the British Association of Sport and Rehabilitation and Trainers (BASRaT), providing the academic foundation required to apply for BASRaT registration as a Graduate Sport Rehabilitator (GSR). Please note: successful completion of the degree alone does not automatically confirm BASRaT registration.

The course is endorsed by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), allowing you to gain additional qualifications as a Gym Instructor, Core Group Exercise and Working with People with Long Term Conditions. You can also take a subsidised Pre-Hospital Immediate Care in Sport (PHICIS) Level 2 qualification, one of the eligibility criteria required by BASRaT for professional registration..

Facilities and specialist equipment
State-of-the-art sports therapy and rehabilitation MSK centre with a sports injury clinic
Sport massage rooms
On-site community exercise clinic
Six CASES-accredited laboratories
Human Performance Centre
Purpose-built strength and conditioning facility
Free gym and Olympic weight room
Industry-standard equipment and techniques

Career-powered links
We are official partners of Luton Town FC and Bedford Blues RFC and have on-going collaborations with other sporting organisations in the region such as Bedford Tigers RLFC, MK Dons, Cricket East and Be Active, giving you opportunities to build your employability through work placements. We also collaborate with borough councils, academies and schools, Bedfordshire Police, Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue, the Stroke Association and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Your student experience
Benefit from on-campus opportunities to put your learnt skills into practice through our fully supervised, on-site Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation MSK Clinic and Community Exercise Clinic

Undertake at least 400 hours of supervised placement in settings from private clinics to elite sports teams such as Luton Town FC, Bedford Blues RUFC, MK Dons FC, Bedford Tigers RLFC and Cricket East.

Enhance your learning through field trips to destinations such as St George's Park, the home of England Football, and King’s College London's anatomy rooms.

Recent guest speakers have included Jack Wells (PGA); Tom Bromley (MK Dons); Jack Wells (PGA); Akash Modhwadia (Strength and conditioning coach at MK Dons); Mark Finney (former head of S&C at Northampton Saints; Phil Pask (former head of physio for England Rugby).

Benefit from the support of your own personal academic tutor.

Course modules

This four-year degree begins with a Foundation Year. Throughout the three-year core degree, you undertake 400 hours of placement. To prepare for your final-year dissertation, you also take two research units: Introduction to research methods (Year 1) and Planning and conducting research (Year 2).

Your subject-specific units are:

Year 1
Anatomy and biomechanics – Learn the basics of human movement, biomechanics and anatomy. Human physiology (rehab) – Understand how the body works and adapts to exercise. Sports massage – Learn essential manual therapy and soft-tissue techniques. Normal anatomical structure and function – Study bones, joints and soft tissues, and how they sustain movement. Structural assessment and professional practice (rehab) – Develop the key practical skills to practise as a professional within a range of placement settings. Gym instruction (rehab) – Develop skills in exercise prescription and coaching in a gym setting.

Year 2
Manual therapies – Build on massage skills with advanced techniques and joint mobilisations. Physiology of exercise and training – Understand how the body responds to training and different environments. Management of lower extremity injuries – Assess and manage injuries to the lumbar and sacral regions. Management of upper extremity injuries – Assess and manage injuries to thoracic and cervical regions. Altered anatomical structure and function (rehab) – Explore how health and lifestyle affect the body’s anatomy and movement.

Year 3
Advanced manual therapies - Confidently use advanced techniques like joint mobilisations and manipulations in modern sport rehab settings. Clinical practice and business – Complete supervised practice, and gain the business and clinical reasoning skills of a graduate sport rehabilitator. Corrective exercise – Use movement screening to design safe, effective corrective programmes. Clinical exercise – Develop advanced assessment skills for sport rehab and clinical practice. Sport injury prevention and rehabilitation - Identify and assess muscle or joint issues in injured athletes, then create effective personalised recovery plans. Dissertation – Conduct original research in your chosen area.

Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• British Association of Sport Rehabilitators