BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science with Integrated Foundation Year

Biopsychosocial Foundations and Professional Knowledge for Health Care

This module will use definitions of health as an opportunity to explore concepts of ill-health and then proceed to look at healthcare options for those with health-related issues adopting a biopsychosocial basis. The notion of caring will be explored in light of the patient-centredness and students will also have the provision for use of Simulation Based Education in order to practise a baseline assessment of a patients. The module will also introduce a range of professional, personal, academic and employment-related skills.

Foundations of Science

This module forms the foundation of knowledge of exercise science. The module is designed to enable students to explore the complex nature of human physical activity and apply theory relating to physiology, biomechanics and psychology to enhance knowledge and build a firm foundation for subsequent study in a range of disciplines including sport and exercise science, sports therapy, physiotherapy and nursing. The module will introduce fundamental principles of the exercise sciences, basic anatomy and the practical application of measurement techniques.

Project

This module is an applied piece of work related to your chosen degree. It will require you to apply the knowledge and skills developed throughout the foundation year and will enhance your ability to work individually and as part of a team.

During the project, you will develop in-depth knowledge of your chosen future specialisation. You will be encouraged to demonstrate creativity in the design, planning and execution of a project.

Investigating Sport, Exercise and Coaching

This module will provide you with the research skills necessary to support your learning within sport and exercise. It will introduce you to the philosophies that underpin different types of research, and you will learn basic techniques of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis.

Anatomy and Physiology

This module introduces you to the fundamental concepts of anatomy and human physiology, focusing on their application to human movement and performance in sport and physical activity.

You will explore the structure and function of key body systems, including the musculoskeletal, neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, and understand how they influence physical performance.

Specific attention is given to energy metabolism, examining how the body utilises energy during exercise across different intensities. This module also covers qualitative movement analysis and data collection for evaluating performance.

Practical sessions will allow you to apply anatomical and physiological concepts in real-world contexts, enhancing your understanding of how these systems interact during physical activity.

Sport and Exercise Psychology in Action

This module will help you understand how psychological principles can improve physical activity participation, well-being, and performance. You will study a range of cognitive and behavioural psychological factors in the context of sport and exercise.

You will also investigate a range of key issues related to physical activity, exercise, sport performance, and well-being and learn strategies to build psychological attributes and improve performance in sport and exercise.

Developing Physical Fitness

In this module, you will develop skills in health screening, needs analysis, and goal setting for diverse clients and athletes by integrating principles from gym instruction, personal training, and sports performance coaching.

Key topics include anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and nutrition, alongside behaviour change techniques, injury prevention, and professional ethics. Additionally, the module explores business and marketing strategies for personal trainers.

You will gain practical experience in conducting health and fitness assessments, interpreting data to refine training programmes, and have the opportunity to obtain Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) qualifications, meeting professional standards for gym instructor and personal trainer roles.

Professional Skills

The Professional Skills module is designed to support your transition to university study and help you develop key academic, personal and professional skills in your area of study.

Throughout the module, you will enhance your communication skills, digital literacy and academic skills to ensure you have the tools to succeed at university and beyond. Emphasis will be placed on developing skills relevant to your future career, including interpersonal skills, problem-solving and self-reflection.

The module includes the creation of a portfolio to track your progress, demonstrating how you’ve developed skills that are transferrable to your graduate career.

Introduction to Sport Biomechanics

This module introduces you to the basic concepts of biomechanics as they relate to human movement and performance in sport and exercise. You will be shown how to examine human movement and sporting technique, as well as the forces involved in creating such motion or causing injury.

Whilst linking to functional anatomy, concepts such as Newton’s laws of motion, ground reaction forces, momentum, energy, projectile motion, friction and fluid dynamics will be explored.

Practical work considers the general principles of biomechanics and relates them to experimental methodology, data analysis and statistical analysis for practical investigations with athletes.

Researching Sport, Exercise & Health

You will further develop your skills in research methods and data analysis, with a broad focus on analysis procedures including the qualitative method of interviewing and quantitative methods of analysis of variance, correlation and linear regression. These methods are commonly used procedures in the sport, exercise and health sciences, and understanding of these will also provide a solid foundation for understanding more advanced research methods that you may learn in your future work including research projects or postgraduate study.

Developing and Monitoring Physical Performance

This module aims to provide you with the skills and knowledge to design interventions for improving both health and skills-related physical fitness. You will develop the ability to complete a health screening and needs analysis on clients and athletes, establish goals, select appropriate methods of individual physical performance assessments and design interventions to improve physical performance.

Psychology of Physical Activity and Health

The course will examine contemporary theories relating to the adoption and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. It will also examine the relationship between activity involvement and individual affective responses, cognitions of self and health-related behaviour. Specifically, theories of behaviour change and self-concept will be explored alongside an emphasis on the positive and negative consequences of exercise involvement.

Project Management

This module aims to equip you with the tools and skills necessary to manage sports projects effectively and to demonstrate the importance of following a prescribed project management methodology. You will explore the concepts of project management in a practical way including effective scoping, planning, resource allocation, risk and issue management, project monitoring, reporting and review.

Clinical Biomechanics

This module aims to build upon the core biomechanical principles underpinning the practical analysis of human movement. It will also consider the role of biomechanical analysis in sports therapy and the assessment of patients. It will serve to widen your knowledge base and show the integrative nature of the separate disciplines of therapy and biomechanics.

Nutrition for the Prevention and Treatment of Illness and Disease

This module will examine the combined effects of nutrition and physical activity on health, with particular focus on prevalent diseases associated with these factors.

Topics covered will include:

• dietary guidelines and analysis
• measurement of energy
• macro- and micro-nutrient intake
• digestion, absorption and metabolism
• the role of micro-nutrients
• nutrition, prevalent diseases and special populations e.g. diabetics.
• obesity, eating disorders and food allergies.

Accreditation

The Royal Society for Public Health accredits this module, so you know the content of it is relevant and up to date.

Clinical Exercise Physiology

This module explores the relationship of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with both the development and control of non-communicable diseases (NCD).

You will examine the physiological responses to physical activity, and methods to assess health and fitness for those individuals suffering from such disease states.

You will explore the application and appraisal of exercise prescription guidelines for NCDs, with consideration of those that are serviced by exercise/GP referral schemes.

This module is aligned to the CIMSPA professional standards Health Navigator and Long-Term Conditions.

Stress, Coping and Emotions

This module aims to examine the demands (i.e. stressors) of sport and how these are experienced by athletes, the appraisals and coping strategies employed by athletes when experiencing these stressors, and the subsequent emotional responses.

The Outdoor Experience: Emotions and Wellbeing

The aim of the module is for you to explore the experience of being in the outdoors from an emotional and wellbeing perspective.

The restorative and therapeutic benefits of immersive experience will be examined and these will include creative activities, understanding of place and connectedness to the environment and others.

Critical Issues in Health Promotion, Lifestyle and Exercise

The module aims to provide you with a critical appreciation of the principles, theory and practice of health promotion in the UK. This will involve the application of the knowledge of sport, health and physical activity in the context of the wider social, cultural and environmental issues facing agents of health promotion.

Reflection: Developing Your Teaching and Coaching

This module aims to provide an opportunity to select and develop specialist areas of interest.

You will be required to develop skills in introspection, reflection and reflective practice, drawing upon theoretical concepts relating to pedagogy of sport and education.

You will agree a suitable programme of work within a professional context of your choice, which will involve you immersing yourselves in the culture and practices of this working environment.

Sports Injury and Prevention

In this module, you will study basic musculo-skeletal anatomy, including features particularly prone to injury in sport e.g. ligaments; incidence of sport injury. You will explore common injuries to the body and their methods of occurrence, as well as first aid procedures and injury assessment. You will also study the role of biomechanics in predisposing factors, psychology and prevention of injury, as you consider treatment methods, rehabilitation and real-world case studies.

Sport and Exercise in Extreme Environments

This module aims to examine the physiological challenge of performing in extreme and hostile environments and to examine how the human can exercise, maintain homeostasis and survive.

It will explore the theoretical limits of human performance, looking to identify mechanisms of physiological acclimatisation and adaptation.

You will consider how this may be used to increase sporting performance and maximise safety e.g. competitions such as the Everest Marathon and Marathon Des Sables.

Cognitive Psychology for Sports Performance

Within the sporting domain, knowledge of cognitive psychology can promote efficient acquisition and effective performance of skill among athletes at all stages of skill development. This module critically examines the strengths and weaknesses of theory and research concerning the cognitive processes that underpin the acquisition and performance of skill.

Sports Injury and Prevention

In this module, you will study basic musculo-skeletal anatomy, including features particularly prone to injury in sport e.g. ligaments; incidence of sport injury. You will explore common injuries to the body and their methods of occurrence, as well as first aid procedures and injury assessment. You will also study the role of biomechanics in predisposing factors, psychology and prevention of injury, as you consider treatment methods, rehabilitation and real-world case studies.

Researching Sport, Exercise & Health

You will further develop your skills in research methods and data analysis, with a broad focus on analysis procedures including the qualitative method of interviewing and quantitative methods of analysis of variance, correlation and linear regression. These methods are commonly used procedures in the sport, exercise and health sciences, and understanding of these will also provide a solid foundation for understanding more advanced research methods that you may learn in your future work including research projects or postgraduate study.

Stress, Coping and Emotions

This module aims to examine the demands (i.e. stressors) of sport and how these are experienced by athletes, the appraisals and coping strategies employed by athletes when experiencing these stressors, and the subsequent emotional responses.

Developing and Monitoring Physical Performance

This module aims to provide you with the skills and knowledge to design interventions for improving both health and skills-related physical fitness. You will develop the ability to complete a health screening and needs analysis on clients and athletes, establish goals, select appropriate methods of individual physical performance assessments and design interventions to improve physical performance.

Physiological Limitations to Performance

This module examines the metabolic, neuromuscular, neuroendocrine and cardiovascular systems of the human body to develop knowledge on the nature of limitations to performance across this intensity spectrum.

Performance Psychology

This module will introduce you to the key theories and concepts in performance psychology, examining theory and research into a range of factors (e.g., confidence, motivation, emotional regulation) that have been proposed to contribute to performance in sport and other achievement domains.

The module content will seek to develop understanding of the importance of these concepts for performance, their determinants and how to change them.

Biomechanics in Sport and Exercise

The biomechanical principles underpinning performance in a range of sports will be considered in relation to practical performance of sport. The module content will include analysis methodologies and research, which has enhanced biomechanics knowledge of sports performance.

The biomechanics analysis and evaluation of selected sport and exercise activities will be considered e.g. golf, football, tennis, high jump, long jump, javelin, discus, gymnastics, cycling, swimming.

Performance Analysis in Sport

The analysis undertaken could relate to technical, tactical and/or physical aspects of performance. The use of sports performance analysis is paramount in light of the limitations of human memory, such as the volume of event recall and subjectivity. The module aims to introduce you to the key concepts, skills and techniques associated to performance analysis, and outline its place in the scientific support of individuals and teams.

Nutrition for the Prevention and Treatment of Illness and Disease

This module will examine the combined effects of nutrition and physical activity on health, with particular focus on prevalent diseases associated with these factors.

Topics covered will include:

• dietary guidelines and analysis
• measurement of energy
• macro- and micro-nutrient intake
• digestion, absorption and metabolism
• the role of micro-nutrients
• nutrition, prevalent diseases and special populations e.g. diabetics.
• obesity, eating disorders and food allergies.

Accreditation

The Royal Society for Public Health accredits this module, so you know the content of it is relevant and up to date.

Research Project

The research project provides an opportunity to apply appropriate knowledge, concepts, and techniques to an in-depth study of a particular question or problem relating to sport,  exercise or healthcare.

This module aims to foster a greater understanding of the processes to undertake a small-scale research project and marks the culmination of the student’s learning experience over their undergraduate programme of study.

Exercise Referral Clinic

This module aims to provide you with an opportunity to complete a unit of directed study incorporating experience in a practical-based setting, relevant to working with clinical populations. You will develop new knowledge and skills whilst in a practice-based setting, in addition to applying, consolidating and reflecting on the learning gained in their prior modules. You will gain experience that enables them to develop, apply and reflect on the clinical practice of exercise within the health service including, but not limited to GP/exercise referral, cardiovascular rehabilitation, the Obesity 4 Tier approach, and to draw on and review the profession’s evidence-base for lifestyle modification.

Cardiovascular Rehabilitation

This module critically examines the process of rehabilitation as it pertains to cardiovascular disease. It includes detailed exploration of the aetiology of coronary heart disease (CHD), lifestyle management and psychology of behaviour change in relation to lifestyle.

The evidence-base for exercise and nutritional interventions will be critiqued within the framework of primary, secondary and tertiary care, alongside the skills required to compile multi-disciplinary interventions for secondary prevention.

Contemporary Issues in Sport, Exercise and Health

This module will explore a selection of contemporary issues that may have ethical and moral considerations, in relation to sport, exercise and health.

Exercise and Physical Activity Interventions

This module applies health-behaviour-change theory and research to the promotion of physical activity in specialised populations, such as those with chronic health conditions or physical disabilities. It looks at different types of interventions, such as those targeting individuals, groups and national campaigns.

Occupational Health and Performance

The module aims to provide you with an understanding of how evidenced-based practice can be used to improve health and performance in occupational settings such as the military, emergency services and industry.

Work Placement in Sport and Exercise

This module offers an opportunity to complete a unit of directed study incorporating a work placement of 105 hours (three weeks) in a sport and exercise environment. This placement can take place in a wide range of environments including sports clubs, schools, colleges, private companies, clinical settings or within the community. The focus of the work placement should be relevant to your needs, the programme of study you are taking and career aspirations.

Advanced Biomechanics

This module aims to allow you to develop your conceptual biomechanics knowledge, knowledge of current practice and independent practical skills. It gives the opportunity to follow interests within the field that may have been stimulated by either the third year biomechanics techniques module, or by areas you have come across in the course of your independent project work and which you would like to investigate further. It aims to develop your independence in the laboratory.

Nutrition for Sports Performance, Physical Development and Health

Sports performance and the development of athletic ability relies on the individual being in peak health and having the correct nutrition support to fuel training adaptation and exercise performance. This module aims to examine the ways in which dietary intake influences energy metabolism, recovery of skeletal muscle after exercise, exercise performance, training adaptation, injury risk and immunity.

Adventures in Coaching

You will explore current issues within the coaching process and consider their application within specific adventure sport activities. You will examine the practical scientific assessment tools to identify performer needs.

Psychology of Injury and Rehabilitation

This module enables you to critically evaluate the psychological, social and cultural factors in injury risk, theories of psychological responses to injury, recovery and adherence to rehabilitation programmes. It will critically evaluate theory and research, and consider practical approaches to working with injured athletes to assist them with their response to and rehabilitation from injury experiences.

Delivering Sport and Physical Activity in the Community

This module examines the importance of staging community sport events or projects in the context of modern sports development. It addresses the role of the practitioner or manager in these types of events and further highlights the fluid and interconnected functions that exist between the coach and sport managers. In essence, the module seeks to allow potential coach and sport managers the opportunity to understand, in part through practical engagement, the complexity of staging community sport events or projects at all levels and the management and administrative processes associated with them.

Biomechanical Techniques

This module aims to enable you to develop experimental skills that may be of relevance, not only in biomechanics, but also in other scientific fields where accuracy of measurement is important.

Classroom Pedagogy

This module will use a series of lectures and workshops to explore curricula employed in classroom teaching such as:

• the national curriculum
• GCSE PE
• BTEC Sport
• A-level PE.

You will consider how schemes of work and lesson plans are developed for delivery in school and college classrooms.

Entrepreneurial (Business Setup)

This module focuses on the environmental factors that are directly relevant to a small business context, to allow you to develop a critical understanding of the entrepreneurial process. You will concentrate upon the planning that needs to be undertaken prior to the start-up of a small business.

Planning and Monitoring of Training and Performance

A focus on planning and monitoring training of athletes and how a programme of physiological support can be used to enhance performance.

You will engage in current literature identifying the physiological demands of the athletes chosen sport, key measures of physical fitness and how we can enhance them.

An athlete’s ability to focus on training to gain maximal physiological adaptations, and relax in competition, can represent the difference in making the podium or winning major tournaments.

Contemporary Issues in Sport, Exercise and Health

This module will explore a selection of contemporary issues that may have ethical and moral considerations, in relation to sport, exercise and health.

Biomechanical Techniques

This module aims to enable you to develop experimental skills that may be of relevance, not only in biomechanics, but also in other scientific fields where accuracy of measurement is important.

Group Dynamics in Sport

This module aims to examine and evaluate current knowledge of sport group productivity and functioning and evaluates current practice in developing and increasing the effectiveness of group functioning. It is important to have an understanding of group dynamics due to the potential impact that groups can have on an individual’s performance, life satisfaction and psychological wellbeing.

Applied Sport Psychology: Delivering Mental Strategies

Traditionally, sport psychologists have advocated the use of numerous mental training strategies that are purported to enhance the cognitive, affective and behavioural states of the performers that they work with. This module provides you with an understanding of the efficacy of these strategies, to provide opportunities to deliver these mental strategies and to reflect on the delivery of these strategies.

Advanced Biomechanics

This module aims to allow you to develop your conceptual biomechanics knowledge, knowledge of current practice and independent practical skills. It gives the opportunity to follow interests within the field that may have been stimulated by either the third year biomechanics techniques module, or by areas you have come across in the course of your independent project work and which you would like to investigate further. It aims to develop your independence in the laboratory.

Entrepreneurial (Business Setup)

This module focuses on the environmental factors that are directly relevant to a small business context, to allow you to develop a critical understanding of the entrepreneurial process. You will concentrate upon the planning that needs to be undertaken prior to the start-up of a small business.

Applied Sport Psychology: Professional Practice

The soft skills required by a sport and exercise psychologist are imperative to effectiveness as a practitioner. The aim of the module is to examine the nature of applied sport psychology practice and discuss and critique how sport psychologists work with clients in relation to initial assessment, case formulation, intervention planning and delivery, monitoring and evaluation.

Practical Pedagogy (Placement)

An opportunity to experience a placement within a practical setting. This module aims to develop and refine pedagogical skills so that you can enhance pupil/performer progress and learning within a practical environment.

Occupational Health and Performance

The module aims to provide you with an understanding of how evidenced-based practice can be used to improve health and performance in occupational settings such as the military, emergency services and industry.

Nutrition for Sports Performance, Physical Development and Health

Sports performance and the development of athletic ability relies on the individual being in peak health and having the correct nutrition support to fuel training adaptation and exercise performance. This module aims to examine the ways in which dietary intake influences energy metabolism, recovery of skeletal muscle after exercise, exercise performance, training adaptation, injury risk and immunity.

Research Project

The research project provides an opportunity to apply appropriate knowledge, concepts, and techniques to an in-depth study of a particular question or problem relating to sport,  exercise or healthcare.

This module aims to foster a greater understanding of the processes to undertake a small-scale research project and marks the culmination of the student’s learning experience over their undergraduate programme of study.

Work Placement in Sport and Exercise

This module offers an opportunity to complete a unit of directed study incorporating a work placement of 105 hours (three weeks) in a sport and exercise environment. This placement can take place in a wide range of environments including sports clubs, schools, colleges, private companies, clinical settings or within the community. The focus of the work placement should be relevant to your needs, the programme of study you are taking and career aspirations.