Department of Sports, Coaching and Physical Education

Working in a Sport, Exercise, and Coaching Context

Ready to build skills that help you succeed at university and beyond? You’ll understand the importance of learning and development for continued lifelong success. Want to know about the different jobs in sport, exercise, health, or education? You’ll explore varied roles and find out what kinds of careers are out there. Plus, you’ll learn what employers expect and how to present yourself like a true professional. You’ll also get 50 hours of work experience in sport, health, fitness, or education. This hands-on placement helps you visualize your future career depending on your interests.

Physiology of the Human Body

You’ll start by learning the basics of human physiology and nutrition – how your body systems work and how they respond during exercise. In physiology, you’ll focus on how your body reacts right after exercise. For nutrition, you’ll learn the key principles about healthy eating and how to check someone’s nutritional health. You’ll also practice important skills like carrying out simple tests on the body and nutrition, and learn how to explain the results clearly.

Kinesiology and Biomechanics of Human Movement

You’ll build your knowledge of human anatomy and movement by studying the upper limbs, lower limbs, trunk, and neck through hands-on activities. You’ll learn to identify key bones, muscles, and nerves using anatomical models, images, virtual tools, and real people. You’ll also learn how to break down how the body moves using basic biomechanical principles. This means understanding how joints and muscles work together during normal and abnormal movements. On top of that, you’ll practice important skills like talking with clients and doing physical assessments – skills every health and performance professional needs.

Coaching Science and Psychological Skills

This module covers everything you need to know about coaching – from basic skills and history to sports psychology and how technology helps coaches today. Each week builds on what you’ve learned, giving you a full picture of sports coaching and the theory behind it. You’ll explore important ideas like motor skills, communication, practice, and feedback. You’ll also look at how coaches help athletes grow over time and how psychology can boost performance. You’ll learn how to use these ideas to understand and improve athletes’ performance. Finally, you’ll work with your classmates to create and give a group presentation.

Sport and Exercise Psychology

What part of sport psychology interests you the most? How would you support an athlete facing stress? This module helps you understand how sport psychology can boost athletes’ performance and support their mental health. You’ll learn how motivation, goal-setting, and confidence help athletes achieve their best. You’ll start by figuring out what athletes need from an initial assessment, then create and try out ways to support them. You’ll also learn how to deal with challenges like stress in high-pressure scenarios, motivational strategies, and tricky ethical dilemmas. Using real case studies and role-play, you’ll explore how psychology and sport science work together. You’ll also focus on taking care of your own wellbeing, with an emphasis on self-care and professional supervision.

Theory and Practice of Sport Coaching and Physical Education

Do you enjoy sport and want to help others learn and improve? In this module, you’ll learn the basics of coaching and teaching PE. You’ll find out how to build fun, safe, and inclusive sessions where everyone can take part and learn. What makes a great coach or PE teacher? You’ll start to discover that here. You’ll look at how giving feedback helps people get better at skills, and how to support those who might find it harder to join in. You’ll also learn how to plan lessons, work with people of different needs, and reflect on what went well and what could be better. We’ll also explore how new technology is changing the way we coach and teach. From apps to video tools, you’ll get hands-on with ideas to boost learning and motivation. You’ll even dive into sport psychology and ask: how can we help more people feel confident, stay active, and achieve their best?

Sports Science for Coaches

Are you ready to take your coaching knowledge to the next level? This module helps you build on what you learned previously and prepares you for your final year. It brings together the science behind sport and the skills needed to be a great coach. Have you ever wondered how top athletes train and perform at their best? You’ll explore how the body works in sport – learning about anatomy, biomechanics, fitness, and nutrition. These topics will show you how the body moves, builds strength, stays healthy, and recovers. Why do some training plans work better than others? How does food or rest affect performance? You’ll find out. To bring it all to life, you’ll look at real case studies from different sports taking what you’ve learned and applying it to real coaching situations.

Professional Identity and Practice

You’ll learn what it means to be a professional in sport and exercise. This includes understanding your role and how research helps you grow. You’ll also get real work experience through a placement that matches industry standards. During the course, you’ll work towards skills needed to become a Level 3 Personal Trainer or Strength and Conditioning coach. These are important qualifications if you want to work in fitness and sport. You’ll also discover how learning and developing new skills doesn’t stop after university – it’s a lifelong process.

Applied Coaching Practice

What does it take to be a great coach others can trust and learn from? In this module, you’ll learn how to plan, deliver, and review your coaching in a smart and effective way. You’ll build on what you already know and think about how coaches make good choices, work fairly, and always keep learning. You’ll explore advanced coaching ideas, like putting the athlete at the center, adapting your style, and using clear communication. You’ll also learn how to analyze performance, work with others in a team, and use mental skills to help athletes stay focused. Through real-life coaching tasks and examples, you’ll practice what you’ve learned and face challenges coaches meet every day. You’ll start to think like a professional – using theory in real coaching situations. Could this be the step that prepares you for your future career in sport?

Applied Project and Professional Development

This module will bring together everything you’ve learned to complete two projects. One is a research project, and the other is a work placement project. Both help you connect your academic skills to real-life problems and give you the chance to showcase your knowledge and skills. For your research project, you’ll choose a topic you care about, plan how to study it, collect your own data, and share your findings. You’ll even present your work at a Research Conference –possibly in front of the public and future employers. For your placement project, you’ll work with a real employer on a problem that matters in the workplace. You’ll agree on a project, complete it during your placement, and reflect on what you’ve learned and how it helps your future career.

Applied Psychological Skills

This module helps you turn psychology theory into real-world practice. You’ll learn how to handle tricky mental challenges that come up in sport and exercise – like staying calm under pressure or helping others stay motivated and confident. You’ll build on the skills you learned earlier in your degree and start using them like a pro. You’ll explore how coaching, psychology, and athlete wellbeing all connect. Want to be a performance coach or study sport psychology further? This module will help you get there. You’ll learn by working on real-life examples – like how to support a team during tough times or help an athlete bounce back from setbacks. You’ll use case studies, role plays, and group work to design plans that truly help others. How would you help an athlete struggling with confidence or pressure?

Physical Education: The Curriculum and Youth Development

What makes a great PE lesson? In this module, you’ll learn where PE came from, how it has changed over time, and why it matters so much for young people today. You’ll explore how PE links with other school subjects and how modern technology can make lessons even more fun and effective. You’ll dive into how young people grow – not just physically, but also in how they think and feel. You’ll learn about the science behind movement, like biology, nutrition, and how the body works. You’ll also look at how to plan safe and exciting lessons, and why it’s important to keep thinking about what’s going well and what could improve. By the end of this module, you’ll be able to design and deliver your own PE lessons – both in the classroom and in practical settings. You’ll practice making lessons that help young people enjoy being active and stay healthy for life. Could you be the teacher who helps the next generation love sport and movement?