Sports Coaching and Physical Education

he foundation year is designed to reflect the needs of the sports industry. Students explore a variety of subjects from leadership to fitness foundations, sports business management, sport in the contemporary world and volunteering, before continuing on to the three-year full-time degree, BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching and Physical Education.

This hands-on course combines theory and practice to develop skilled educators and coaches. With a focus on employability, you will get the opportunity to engagage with work placements, gain professional qualifications, network with a breadth of organisations, whilst developing both your practical and professional skills.

The course will progress your skills in delivering coaching sessions to local athletes and community groups whilst developing a deeper knowledge of sport policy, sport development, and project delivery with an opportunity to devise, deliver, and evaluate a community-based initiative. Placements have taken place with Southampton Schools, Southampton School Games, Southampton Football Club and Hampshire County Cricket.

This degree has also been developed to help prepare you for a career in teaching. You will gain first-hand experience of teaching physical education across a variety of schools, the latest child development practices, and issues facing the education sector. Work placements spread across all three years of study ensure that you will graduate feeling fully prepared to undertake your initial teacher training with either a PGCE or School Direct training provider. This course also offers additional qualifications for you to obtain with your degree, including ActiveiQ, CIMSPA and 1st4sport. A free sports kit is provided to students in their first-year of study.

The placement year will allow you to put what what you've learned in your first and second years into practice in the workplace, while gaining valuable real-world work experience before you graduate.

We are proud to manage the Southampton School Sports Partnership, a scheme that was introduced to improve the quality of sports education within the city. Our involvement in the partnership gives sport development, coaching and physical education students access to 72 primary schools, 15 secondary schools and six further education colleges in and around the Southampton area. Working alongside these partner institutions will help you to put the theory you’ve learnt into practice.

We are also proud to be an associated partner with the Association for Physical Education (afPE). This partnership demonstrates the courses aim to develop critical practitioners who may wish to progress into teaching roles.

The aim of this course is to empower learners from diverse backgrounds to become responsible citizens and educators, advancing equality and social well-being within our communities.