We have graduates who run their own businesses, work for professional football clubs and national sport institutes, and who’ve landed jobs as far afield as the US and Australia. It all began with the skills, experience and connections they developed here at University of Staffordshire.
Our degree is also endorsed by the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES), which means we meet rigorous national standards.
What’s more, our industry links include associations with professional sports clubs, national governing bodies, healthcare providers and education and training providers.
Our Sport and Exercise Science course includes an exciting placement opportunity, giving students hands-on experience in real-world settings such as sports teams, health clinics, and community programs. This placement enhances practical skills and career readiness, bridging the gap between theory and professional practice. Our ultimate aim is to prepare you for a career in sport and exercise, and we will ensure you have regular opportunities to develop yourself as practitioners along with your CVs.
On the course, you’ll explore the fundamentals of exercise physiology and nutrition, sport psychology and biomechanics. It will involve practical studies in both laboratory and field settings, using our contacts with a wide range of organisations.
You’ll learn how to apply your skills and knowledge in different ways, so you could be working in elite sport, helping with rehabilitation, or improving health and wellbeing within the community or healthcare settings. You could be putting data to use or developing personalised intervention programmes and coaching regimes.
Our facilities include specialist labs for physiology, body composition, biomechanics, and strength and conditioning. From building muscle strength through applying appropriate training principles, through to understanding the science of movement and the physiological and psychological demands of human performance and rehabilitation, you’ll get to grips with lots of specialist equipment.
Other opportunities include working for our Peak Condition Service, where you’ll help real athletes under supervision from CASES-accredited staff.
Our CASES-endorsed programme also allows students to go onto an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology before pursuing the Sport and Exercise Psychology Accreditation Route (SEPAR via CASES) to become a HCPC registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist.
Additionally, you’ll be delving more deeply into how we get the body working better with exercise interventions. We cover all aspects of strength and conditioning, endurance training, and rehabilitation, while exploring how individuals can achieve optimum performance. We continue to develop ties with the International Universities Strength and Conditioning Association (IUSCA) who offer summer placements supporting athletes and university sport in the USA.
Our academics bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the degree, including world-class research in areas such as the biomechanics of movement and human performance, nutritional support of athletes, and psychological wellbeing and performance under pressure. You can get involved with supporting their research projects, as well as completing your own piece of research for your dissertation.
Work placements
We offer a placement module where students get to put their skills into action with real clients, such as athletes or individuals within community settings. We offer internal placement opportunities, with opportunities to support student athletes, elite athletes, members of the public, and visiting students within our science labs and strength and conditioning gym. We also have a selection of external placements thanks to to our growing network of connections, but students are also welcome to secure a placement opportunity of their own.
Some of our students have gained experience with professional clubs, such as Stoke City FC and Port Vale FC youth academies and women’s teams. Birmingham City FC, Sheffield Wednesday FC and Huddersfield Giants RLFC have also provided opportunities in recent years. In addition, some of our students have gained experience in healthcare settings such as cardiac rehabilitation.
Several of our Sport and Exercise Science students have secured competitive placements abroad, including working at the highest level of collegiate sport in the US. Destinations for work experience have included:
- Georgetown University in Washington DC
- University of California in Los Angeles
- University of North Carolina
- Nippon Sport Science University in Japan
- ILEPS in Paris
Students can also join our Sports Academy as a volunteer, helping to deliver physical activity and classroom-based workshops in schools and communities.