Sports Performance and Coaching (Including Year Abroad)
Entry requirements
A level
Including Science or Mathematics grade B.
We will consider science based Access to Higher Education Diplomas. Advice can be provided on an individual basis.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Including Higher Level Science or Mathematics grade 5, plus Standard Level Mathematics or Maths Studies grade 4, if not taken at Higher Level. We are also happy to consider a combination of separate IB Diploma Programmes at both Higher and Standard Level. Please note that Maths in the IB is not required if you have already achieved GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above or 4 in IB Middle Years Maths.
Entry requirements for students studying BTEC qualifications are dependent on subjects studied. Advice can be provided on an individual basis. The standard required is generally at Distinction level.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Work with athletes, players and teams; refine their performance; boost their training, enable development. On our BSc Sports Performance and Coaching, you learn how science and practice underpins performance sport, and how you can use the skills you will learn to help improve it. Having a comprehensive knowledge of scientific theory and practical application is ideal for those who want to coach people of a variety of levels and ages.
Our excellent links with national governing bodies, such as the Football Association, Volleyball England, Basketball England, Rugby Football Union and the Lawn Tennis Association, give you real practical experience to enhance your learning. Our links also open up opportunities to gain experience working as a sports coach, and access coach education courses and workshops. You also have the option to work towards various, externally accredited, National Governing Body Sport and Coaching awards.
As well as gaining practical experience, you expand your knowledge and skills through studying topics including:
- Strength and conditioning
- Performance analysis
- Training and coaching techniques and methods
- Exercise programming
- Methods of assessing the fitness and training loads of sports teams and athletes
You can get professionally certified whilst studying as many of our modules have embedded qualifications incorporated in them. This means that you are equipped with the qualifications needed to work in the field. For example, we have embedded a Level 2 Gym instructors qualification into the first year Anatomy and Physiology module, so after term 1, if you have enrolled on this module, you will be a qualified gym instructor. You’ll also have the opportunity to take a personal trainer course in the summer.
You can also work with our Human Performance Unit based on campus, supporting our sports scholarship students and national league teams.
Being part of our School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences you will join a community focused on sports and exercise science, sports therapy and physiotherapy. We bring together our internationally recognised research, share knowledge, and enhance placement and vocational opportunities for our students and graduates.
We offer you one of the best student experiences around. You experience a lively, informal environment with many possibilities to pursue your own interests.
Modules
Many of our courses offer a choice of optional modules to tailor your learning experience. More information about these can be found on the University of Essex website.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Colchester Campus
Health and Human Sciences
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.
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.
Sport & exercise science
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.
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.
£19k
£22k
£30k
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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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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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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