Select your course options:
Summary:
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (C6FY)
Course Code: C6FY
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (NXF2)
Course Code: NXF2
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (NXF1)
Course Code: NXF1
Where Are You Applying From?
How Would You Like To Study?
When Do You Want To Start Your Studies?
Which Campus Would You Like To Study At?
Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?
Why choose the School of Sport Science and Physical Activity
Our Sports Science courses rank 3rd in their subject field for graduate/career prospects (Complete University Guide, 2024).
Over 95% of our full-time UK graduates are in employment and/or further study, 15 months after graduating (Source: HESA Graduate Outcomes data for 2020/21, pub 2023).
You benefit from placements with our official Education Partner Luton Town FC as well as other football organisations and clubs.
About the course
If you have a passion for the beautiful game and are keen to work within the industry this broad-based course explores three key areas of football - business coaching and development – to give you exciting options in your future career direction.
Football is one of the most important industries in the UK in terms of interest participation and consumer spending and its rapid growth has created opportunities to become a sports professional in an expanding borderless industry. This course is designed to give you a wide knowledge base starting with more general spheres such as sport and physical activity; sport management; and working in sport as well as an overview of the football industry and contemporary issues in football.
From your second year you can choose specialist units focused on building your knowledge and skills in football coaching; business and management; and football and player development.
Why choose this course?
- Enjoy the flexibility to choose your preferred pathway (business coaching or studies) giving you a unique chance to specialise after your first year
- Benefit from work experience placements with our official partners Luton Town FC and other local football organisations
- Learn through a combination of lectures and seminars field trips and practical experience including on-site events management operations
- Gain recognised awards such as FA Coaching Level 1 and 2.
- Learn from top-class professionals within the field working with governing bodies such as the FA UEFA and FIFA as well as experts from professional football teams
- Take advantage of off-site coaching opportunities at local schools as well as opportunities to volunteer with local Football Associations
- Develop transferable skills such as critical evaluation research and analysis and be able to apply these skills to become a self-directed independent reflexive learner
- Take the course over four years and include a fee-free year in industry (see below) gaining experience building your CV and making contacts for the future
- If you need to step up into higher education start with a Foundation Year (see below) which guarantees a place on the degree course
“I was able to learn and challenge myself”
Each year students travel to Club La Santa in Lanzarote to put their practical skills to the test: they help organise and assist with the Volcano Triathlon. One student's response:
“It was a pleasure and honour to have been part of this fantastic event working with elite athletes and gaining skills for life. We were able to interact with over 500 elite athletes and add towards our CV. The event has left me with lifelong memories such as riding a bike for the first time and travel distances of 10K and 25K. A great experience.”
![Luton Town FC official education partner](/media/jqlhewrk/uob-ltfc-partnership-logojpg.png?width=1036&height=583&format=auto&quality=65&rnd=133422035714770000)
Facilities and specialist equipment
- External 4G sports pitches
- Sports arena
- Purpose-built strength and conditioning facility
- Free gym and Olympic weight room
- Multi-use games areas
- Sports therapy and rehabilitation centre with a sports injury clinic, open to staff, students and external athletes/clients
- Sports massage rooms
- Industry-leading performance-analysis equipment, including a Nacsport camera system and Catapult GPS system
Industry links
![UoB & LTFC partnership](/media/jqlhewrk/uob-ltfc-partnership-logojpg.png)
We are official Education Partners of Luton Town FC as well as other football clubs and organisations across the region.
![CIMSPA logo](/media/akbcoifj/cimspa.png)
We are also a Higher Education Partner of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).
Your student experience
- Gain recognised awards such as FA Coaching Level 1 and 2 in addition to your degree.
- Take advantage of coaching opportunities with local schools.
- Take the opportunity for placements through our official partnership with Luton Town FC and other football organisations.
- Take part in behind-the-scenes tours and match-day experiences to football clubs such as Luton Town FC and MK Dons as well as local football organisations and non-league clubs.
- Field trips include St George’s Park, Burton-on-Trent, the home of England Football, and to football clubs around the country.
- Our graduates have gone on to work in roles across the football sector including FIFA and professional clubs in the UK and overseas.
- Our Bedford campus is a small, thriving academic community where academic staff get to know you well; you also have the support of your own personal academic tutor who will guide and support you throughout your student journey.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Simon Robinson
Before coming into lecturing, I worked as a Football Development Officer, Director of Sport and Recreation, Regional Training Unit Coordinator and as a Football Coach.
I enjoy playing and watching football and am a keen supporter of Barnsley Football Club. I also like to play golf, go skiing and I have ran the London Marathon raising money for Diabetes UK.
Course Leader - Simon Robinson
Before coming into lecturing, I worked as a Football Development Officer, Director of Sport and Recreation, Regional Training Unit Coordinator and as a Football Coach.
I enjoy playing and watching football and am a keen supporter of Barnsley Football Club. I also like to play golf, go skiing and I have ran the London Marathon raising money for Diabetes UK.
Course Leader - Simon Robinson
Before coming into lecturing, I worked as a Football Development Officer, Director of Sport and Recreation, Regional Training Unit Coordinator and as a Football Coach.
I enjoy playing and watching football and am a keen supporter of Barnsley Football Club. I also like to play golf, go skiing and I have ran the London Marathon raising money for Diabetes UK.
What will you study?
Studying our Football Coaching BA (Hons) course will equip you with the knowledge and skills around the sports industry, football ,coaching, business and management. You will gain a broad understanding of the football industry as well as its impact on contemporary society in our units in an Introduction to Football Studies, The Football Industry and Contemporary Issues in Football. Here, you will look closely at the causes of fandom and question what makes people support a particular team – successful or unsuccessful – while also examining how economic factors have shaped football into a global cultural phenomenon. The course also offers a range of optional units such as Sport Marketing, where you will examine how owners maximise revenue potential, or Football Finance, that outlines the financial and economic aspects of the football industry. In areas of business, you will explore the recent changes within the football industry such as stadium reconstruction and development, the relationship between clubs and fans, and the relationship between football and the media in The Business of Football unit. With this approach, you will also look at research into Football Governance to understand how football organisations operate at all levels. In areas of sport management, our unit in Sport and Physical Activity Management will allow you to consider the management and provision issues that arise from constraints and pressures of the commercial sector.
You will then learn to apply this knowledge within sport organisations in our Sport in Action: Management unit while examining the role of the state, non-profit and professional sectors in sport. Similarly, our Strategic Sport Management unit will expose you firsthand to the strategic management processes behind the development of sport and physical activity. In addition, you will also learn the discipline of Managing Elite Sport and the role of high-performance directors in athlete success as a developing area of study. In areas of the mind, you will look at the Social Psychology of Sport by analysing theories, principles and concepts to understand behaviour and its effects on performance and participation in sport and physical activity. You will also be exposed to units focused on individual performance and career, such as by developing practical coaching skills to provide positive learning environments for performers in our Foundations for Football Coaching unit. This closely links to our Football Development unit where you can assess youth development programmes in football from around the world to highlight best practice used to identify and support talented young players. You will then examine what Player Potential and Development looks like at various ages, how to identify this and the best ways to develop this potential.
In results-focused units, you will learn the fundamentals of Performance Analysis (Player and Match) and Performance Analysis for Football to equip you with the knowledge of a range of analysis techniques and the ability to provide feedback from your findings. You will also be exposed to units focused on individual performance and career, such as by developing practical coaching skills to provide positive learning environments for performers in our Foundations for Football Coaching unit. This closely links to our Applied Football Coaching unit where you will explore the relationship between understanding your role as a coach and understanding the player to apply your practical coaching knowledge. Building on this, you will also learn to understand the game and how to support individuals in a practical coaching setting in our Advanced Coaching for Football unit. To diversify your approach, our unit in Coaching Alternative Populations will provide you with the skills and knowledge to support the inclusion of disabled, hearing impaired or visually impaired players in football. You will also explore current biographies of famous sports figures and other research in sports sociology in our Sport, Physical Activity and Life Story unit.
Finally, you will have the opportunity to complete a Dissertation for Sport Science and Physical Activity where you will identify a key issue relevant to your study and examine it using the skills and knowledge gained from your academic study. To help you with this, our units in Dissertation Preparation, Research Methods for Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity, and an Introduction to Research Methods will support you in reading and understanding research, and to complete a proposal with ethical documentation. Alternatively, you may complete a Work Placement Project that will allow you to undertake work experience in the field that can be used to develop reflective practice, critical evaluation and work-based skills. To prepare you for your career, our Working in Sport and Physical Education unit will introduce you to multiple career pathways available within the sport & physical activity industry. To add to this, you can also undertake a Professional Practice Year (Sport Science and Physical Activity) that will allow you to gain work experience while developing your professional skills.
How will you be assessed?
You will be required to undertake a variety of assessment approaches that vary depending upon the learning outcomes of the unit delivered. The range of assessment styles includes: written reports and essays oral presentations e-portfolios phase tests collaborative projects. In addition you will undertake practical assessments related to the design planning and delivery aspects relevant to a wide variety of football business management projects.
Assessment of these activities will be based on tasks which develop vocational skills underpinned by subject knowledge requiring higher levels of cognition in the upper levels of the course. As you progress through the levels of study the marking criteria for all assessment styles undertaken will be that much more rigorous with the expectation you progressively demonstrate a more theory driven understanding of the football industry and business management issues and practices.
Careers
Career paths for graduates of this course include football and sport development; football and sport coaching; and specialised posts in the leisure sport and recreation industries including going on to pursue careers with companies like FIFA.
Jake Scott, who studied in the School of Sport Science and Physical Activity (SSPA), works part-time as a Sports Science Assistant at Luton Town Football club.
Jake’s expertise was required on the day of Luton’s Championship Play-Off final, which saw temperatures soaring higher than average for the time of year. This meant the Sports Science team needed to ensure the players were as prepared as possible for environment they were going to face, including implementing a number of cooling techniques and strategies.
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK 2024/25
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Merit Scholarship
We offer a Merit Scholarship to UK students, worth £2,400* over three academic years, which is awarded to those who can demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, through scoring 120 UCAS tariff points or more.
Bedfordshire Bursary
If you aren’t eligible for the Merit Scholarship, this Bursary is there to help UK students with aspects of student living such as course costs. The Bursary will give you £1,000* over three academic years, or £1,300* if you are taking your course over four academic years (including those with a Foundation Year).
Full terms and conditions can be found here.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2024/25 is £15,500 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK 2024/25
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Merit Scholarship
We offer a Merit Scholarship to UK students, worth £2,400* over three academic years, which is awarded to those who can demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, through scoring 120 UCAS tariff points or more.
Bedfordshire Bursary
If you aren’t eligible for the Merit Scholarship, this Bursary is there to help UK students with aspects of student living such as course costs. The Bursary will give you £1,000* over three academic years, or £1,300* if you are taking your course over four academic years (including those with a Foundation Year).
Full terms and conditions can be found here.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2024/25 is £15,500 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK 2024/25
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Merit Scholarship
We offer a Merit Scholarship to UK students, worth £2,400* over three academic years, which is awarded to those who can demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, through scoring 120 UCAS tariff points or more.
Bedfordshire Bursary
If you aren’t eligible for the Merit Scholarship, this Bursary is there to help UK students with aspects of student living such as course costs. The Bursary will give you £1,000* over three academic years, or £1,300* if you are taking your course over four academic years (including those with a Foundation Year).
Full terms and conditions can be found here.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2024/25 is £15,500 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Virtual Tour
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