Dance and Fitness with Foundation Year
Entry requirements
UCAS Tariff
A typical offer will require a UCAS Tariff score between 32 - 56. Every application is considered on an individual basis. For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our General Entry Requirements pages.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
About this course
With this BA degree you’ll gain a broad understanding of the dance and fitness industry, and the ability to manage a successful career in this exciting field. With a focus on dance science, you’ll become a thinking practitioner in the world of movement, performance, and the human body.
There are many opportunities and potential career routes within the dance industry. This course will help you to extend your skills, nurture your talent and turn your passion into a fulfilling career, whether you want to become a fitness instructor, personal trainer or dancer and choreographer.
**Why study BA (Hons) Dance and Fitness at BNU?**
**Inspiring Facilities**
At BNU we ensure you have creative spaces to bring your ideas to life. On this course you’ll have access to a range of our state-of-the-art facilities on campus, including a well-equipped gym, dance studios, fitness studio and a Human Performance Lab.
Each space brings with it unique features, from sprung floors to fully equipped sound systems and full-length mirrors - our dance studios are fully equipped with everything you’ll need to practice and create routines.
We also understand that during your time at university, it is also just important to get involved with extra-curricular activities. Our Students’ Union offers a range of free societies and nights out for you to enjoy, from a dance society to our yearly festiball event, there is something for everyone.
Learn from industry-experts
Led by a dedicated and experienced course team, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge and the industry links they bring to the course. You will also have the chance to work closely with guest artists who are still active in the dance industry and who will further nurture your learning and professional development throughout your time at BNU.
**Flexible learning**
With our BA (Hons) Dance and Fitness course you share a first year with BA (Hons) Dance. During this year you’ll experience the core curriculum before you further into specialised learning. This also allows you to decide your preferred degree, and choose between BA (Hons) Dance and BA (Hons) Dance and Fitness.
These courses are also offered as four-year programmes, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme.
**What will I study?**
This degree puts a focus on both dance and fitness. You’ll explore movement in relation to the human body and performance, and you’ll discover the must-knows for anyone considering a career within the dance and fitness sector.
You will gain in-depth psychological and physiological knowledge and be confident in fitness testing and personal training other people. You will regularly work in the Human Performance Lab and university gym, planning fitness programmes, analysing movement and researching the effects of different fitness interventions. You will gain useful knowledge about injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Modules
**Foundation Year**
**Core Modules**
Preparing for Success: Knowledge and Creativity
Preparing for Success: Self Development and Responsibility
Inquiry Based Learning
Introduction to Dance Studies
**Year One**
**Core Modules**
Foundations in Dance Technique
Development in Dance Techniques
Dance Pedagogy & Practice
Psychology for Dancers
Movement for Screen
**Opportunity Modules**
You must choose 2 x 10 credit Level 4 Opportunity modules from the Opportunity module catalogue.
**Year Two**
**Core Modules**
Dance Progressions
Dance Repertoire
The Body and Performance
Fitness Instruction
The Dance Industry in Context
**Year Three**
**Core Modules**
Advanced Dance Techniques
Progressions in Dance Science
Exercise Programming and Testing
Personal Training
Independent Project
Assessment methods
This industry focused programme is delivered through a variety of teaching mediums, with a strong onus on combining theory and practice through studio classes, workshops, masterclasses, and seminars. These are all designed to provide a stimulating authentic learning environment.
Assessment has been designed to be as authentic as possible with a strong focus on practical skills and reflective practice. Assessment is ongoing and often focused on the process as well as the end point to best reflect real-world practice. The overall aim is to use innovative teaching and learning methods to guide you towards becoming more independent learners by the end of the programme, and to allow you to explore issues fully in the context of your work.
By your final year, we expect you to have attained a level of independent learning and the ability to apply the knowledge and theoretical understanding you have developed in the earlier years of the course to a particular case study or project of your own devising. Within this independent research project, you get the chance to focus in on a particular area of dance practice that interests you.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Buckinghamshire New University
School of Art, Design, and Performance
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Dance
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Sport and exercise sciences
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Dance
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Sport and exercise sciences
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
One of the fastest growing subjects in the country, the number of sports science graduates went from under 3,000 in 2003 to over 10,000 in 2013. Numbers have fallen slightly since 2015, but we still have over 9,000 graduates in the subject. However, the good news is the country's appetite for good health and fitness - and the adaptability of graduates in the subject - means that sports science grads are less likely than average to be out of work. Sports science graduates, not surprisingly, tend to get jobs in sport, fitness and health - coaching and teaching especially - but they're found all over the economy. Management and business are also popular options for graduates from this subject — and sports science graduates are particularly found where drive, determination and physical fitness are an advantage.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Dance
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£15k
£18k
£20k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Sport and exercise sciences
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£14k
£22k
£24k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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