Sports Coaching BSc (Hons) with foundation year

Explore the core skills and ideas that help you plan and deliver practical coaching sessions. Learn to think about who you’re coaching, what activity they’re doing, and how to coach effectively. Understand the role of coaches and their key responsibilities like safeguarding, ethics and risk assessment.

Put theory into action by designing and leading sessions in real coaching environments.² Build key skills designed to support your learning and boost your future career in sport.

Compulsory

Discover how different teaching and coaching styles help people learn and improve in sport and physical education. Explore coaching models, learning theories and instructional/questioning techniques that support learning and keep participants engaged.

Focus on how your coaching approach shapes the learning environment. Through hands-on sessions and workshops, test out different ways to coach, backed by theory. By the end of the module, you should know how to design inclusive, effective, and exciting coaching sessions that suit different sports and participants.

Compulsory

Learn how exercise affects the physical development of children and young people. Explore how growth, maturation and training shape how young participants respond to exercise, and how to design safe and effective training programmes to support their development.

Look at key issues in youth sport, like talent selection, sport specialisation, relative age effects and key development models. Carry out field-based tests and learn how to judge how reliable and useful they are. This knowledge should help you coach young people in a way that supports both their development and well-being.

Compulsory

Explore what your participants need from a psychological and social point of view, and how the environment you create can support their development. Look at how factors like confidence, motivation and social support affect performance, development and well-being, and learn how to create a positive coaching environment.

Explore evidence-based strategies and behaviours that you can use to support your participants’ psycho-social development. Most importantly, learn how to apply this knowledge directly to your coaching, helping you better support the people you work with.

Compulsory

Explore how young people bio-psycho-socially develop and how this relates to sports coaching. Look at how to safely improve physical and psycho-social abilities in young athletes, taking into account growth, maturation and individual needs of a youth athlete.

Focus on your role as a coach within a wider support team, learning how to work with other professionals. Design, deliver and monitor physical development programmes, while also exploring key topics like overtraining, injury risk and planning long-term training and periodisation strategies for healthy development.

Compulsory

Early positive experiences with movement help the young stay active for life. Learn how school PE, after-school clubs and community sport shape how children move, feel and think about physical activity.

Explore the National Curriculum for PE and key policies that support young people's development through sport. Build your confidence in delivering engaging, high-quality sessions that support every aspect of a child’s growth - physical, emotional, social and mental wellbeing.

Look at how PE and sport can boost behaviour, school achievement, attendance, health, well-being and life skills - helping you shape meaningful experiences for young people.

Compulsory

Build your theoretical and practical coaching skills alongside your professional competencies and career confidence. Explore national and international coaching frameworks and current research, learning how they shape real coaching practice and how to create effective, engaging environments for participants across different sports.

Take part in a practical coaching placement to apply what you’ve learned and gain real experience.² You will be assisted by the academic team to source a placement opportunity. Focus on your future career—learning how to find and apply for jobs, showcase your strengths, and reflect on your goals and development.

By the end of this module, you should have the knowledge, practical experience and professional skills needed to take your next steps in the world of sports coaching and related professions.

Compulsory

Build the research skills you need for sports coaching. Explore both qualitative and quantitative methods, learning how to critically analyse information, solve problems and discover new insights in your field.

Practise designing your own research projects and learn how to communicate your findings clearly—whether through scientific reports or more creative formats. By the end of the module, you should be confident in using research to support your coaching practice and sharing your ideas with others.

Compulsory

This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved placement undertaken during your programme. A placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes.

Optional

This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved international study/work placement undertaken during your programme. A work/study placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes.

Optional

Explore how to promote sport and increase participation through effective events and long-term strategies. Look at key topics like equal opportunities, community engagement, health and wellbeing, and how sport can shape personal identity.

Learn how play-based activities and government-funded programmes can boost inclusion and encourage more people to get involved in physical activity. By the end of the module, you should be able to design and evaluate sports events that aim to make a real difference in people’s lives.

Compulsory

Explore the latest ideas shaping sports coaching today. Build a strong understanding of current theories and trends and analyse how they influence real coaching practice.

Look at a range of up-to-date coaching topics and think critically about how they can improve the way sport is taught and delivered. Practice sharing these ideas clearly with both expert and general audiences - helping you communicate confidently in different professional settings.

Compulsory

Deepen your understanding by focusing on nested planning, coaching delivery and critical reflection on coaching over short-, medium- and long-term durations. Explore different coaching theoretical frameworks and evidence informed practical methods to tailor your approach to the unique needs of your athletes and the coaching environment.

By integrating scientific and non-scientific knowledge you will design flexible coaching plans for the needs of the individual, using mental models, game models, bio-psycho-social development and curriculum principles. The course also emphasises coach decision-making and professional judgement in adapting your style based on context and challenges.

Through reflective frameworks, evaluate your own growth and coaching methods. By critically examining both scientific and practical knowledge, refine your coaching skills to better support your athletes’ development and performance.

Compulsory

Conduct, analyse, interpret and communicate, via a scientific research paper and oral presentation, a piece of investigative research in a specialised area of sport and/or exercise. You will be supported and guided by your supervisor throughout your research. However, you're expected to demonstrate increasing independence, along with high levels of organisational and time management skills. You will also need to show technical skills and an awareness of research ethics and/or health and safety.

Compulsory