Sports Coaching (Top-up)
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
English and Mathematics at grade C or above/English and Mathematics at grade 4 or above.
About this course
Sports coaches support, inspire and motivate athletes to reimagine what's possible.
If you can see yourself helping people fulfil their sporting potential and coaching professional athletes, sports teams, school or community groups, this BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching top-up degree will help you achieve it.
You'll turn your Level 5 qualification – such as an HND or foundation degree in a subject related to sports or business – into a full Bachelor's degree, ready for a career in high performance coaching environments, multi-sport coaching, coach education or within your own sports coaching business.
- Use specialist gym and fitness testing equipment to explore training techniques and injury prevention and assessment, including portable EMG technology and infrared motion analysis
- Gain sports coaching skills in technology, strategic management, digital innovation and analytics, and sports entrepreneurship – giving you the tools and skills to set yourself up as an independent sports coach
- Enhance your CV and professional network, and share your sporting skill in the local community through our coaching, mentoring and volunteering scheme
- Have the chance to take part in research programmes run by institutions such as UEFA, the FA and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
- Train and coach within our extensive sports facilities, including a 100-station gym, fitness studios, and a new sports centre featuring a ski simulator, climbing wall and 8-lane swimming pool
**Careers and opportunities**
On this BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching top-up degree, you'll explore contemporary, conceptual and theoretical research around the evolving nature of the modern sport coach practitioner and their role in the sports industry.
You'll learn strength and conditioning techniques, how to empower athletes to develop and retain new skills, and how to identify training needs and develop training programmes that optimise sporting performance.
Once you graduate, you'll be ready to enter the world of sports coaching in the community and at elite sport level.
**What areas can you work in with a sports coaching top-up degree?**
When you graduate, you'll be ready to enter a variety of commercial and non-commercial organisations such as:
- national governing bodies
- professional sports clubs
- the Armed Forces
- local authorities
- health and fitness centres
- charities and not-for-profit organisations
- schools
- community centres
- prisons
You could also go into areas outside of the sports coaching industry in roles such as sports journalism, finance or accounting.
**What jobs can you do with a sports coaching top-up degree?**
Roles you could take on include:
- community coach coordinator
- coach educator
- skills coach
- strength and conditioning advisor
- PE teacher
- sport development officer
- sports marketing executive
- sports agent
- stadium manager
**Work experience and professional development**
This sports coaching top-up course includes a core Professional Development module, providing the opportunity to work on your own career aims alongside industry experts. You'll complete a range of professional development activities, including work-based opportunities across a range of industry sectors related to sports coaching.
You'll be mentored by academic members of staff and take part in a masterclass series (workshops with academics and industry experts) focusing on the themes and challenges you'll encounter as a sports coach.
The masterclass series covers:
- Coaching contexts and methodologies for practice
- Coaching pedagogy
- Sports psychology
- Performance analysis
- Talent identification and development
- Governance and match officials
- Mental health awareness in sport
- Sports nutrition and coaching practice
- Sport for development (coaching focus)
- Current issues in sport coaching
Modules
Year 1
Core modules in this year include:
Advanced Strength and Conditioning – 20 credits
Applied Skill Acquisition – 20 credits
Professional Development – 20 credits
Project – 40 credits
Sport Entrepreneurship and Business Venturing – 20 credits
There are no optional modules in this year.
Assessment methods
You'll be assessed through:
Practical assessments
Client reports
Video submissions
Blog submissions
Infographic submissions
Essays
Portfolios
Presentation slides
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Portsmouth
Faculty of Science and Health
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 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.
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.
£17k
£23k
£29k
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.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here