Sport and Exercise Therapy
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above, including English and Maths.
UCAS Tariff
from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent), including a pass in Psychology, Physical Education, Sports Studies or a science subject.
About this course
Immerse yourself in the world of sport, exercise and injury rehabilitation. Get applied hands-on practice as a sport therapist in our Cambridge clinic and set yourself up for an exciting career using our extensive network in the sports and health community.
All sportspeople need support, and that’s where sport therapists come in.
Accredited by the Society of Sports Therapists, our course covers injury identification and management, the principles of rehabilitation techniques and exercise science, so you’ll graduate ready to work as a professional sports therapist.
We're proud to be ranked third in the country for sports science courses in the Guardian League Table 2022.
Join us, and train to work safely and ethically as a sport and exercise therapist in our specialist clinic space and sports science labs, accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). You’ll be learning a range of skills including; providing pitch-side first-aid, dealing with spinal injuries, delivering sport massage, diagnosing and rehabilitating injuries, planning and delivering strength and conditioning training, and more. Find out more about our approved and accredited courses.
You'll also gain an understanding of the range of populations you may be working with (e.g. young, older, minority groups etc). You'll additionally develop an in-depth understanding of exercise physiology, giving you an additional skill set to take forward into your career. No two days are ever the same.
Our Sport and Exercise Therapy degree course will give you the skills to work with a range of individuals, using evidence-based practice to bring them back to optimal levels of fitness and performance.
You're likely to find yourself working pitch-side, dealing with a range of emergencies, behind the scenes, helping athletes recover from injury and also advising on how to train for optimum performance.
But there are opportunities outside of professional sport too. Our course recognises broader concerns about low levels of physical activity, leading to poor health and an increased susceptibility to injury. We are all living longer, and with that, we need professionals to help support an increasing range of ages and not always working in the sports environment. There is an emerging and urgent need for qualified healthcare professionals to work with different groups or individuals in rehabilitation and exercise referral. This means you, as a sport therapist, will be busy when you graduate!
Our BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Therapy students are based in the Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences. Here, you’ll learn from expert staff who include practising sport therapists, coaches, psychologists, nutritionists and conditioning specialists. There’s the chance to hear from world-leading guest speakers too, through our Excellence in Sports seminars.
As you’d expect from a university that’s passionate about sport, you’ll find an array of sports clubs and societies here. And to top it all off, there’s financial support for talented athletes.
Modules
Year 1 Multidisciplinary Sport and Exercise Science 1; Foundation Skills in Sport and Exercise Therapy; Anatomy and Joint Assessment for Sports Therapists; Multidisciplinary Sport and Exercise Science 2
Year 2: Applied Research Skills; Physiological Profiling for Strength and Power; Physiological Profiling for Endurance Functional Rehabilitation - SST; Applied Sports Therapy; Applied Research and Employability; Strength and Conditioning; Professional Development - Level 5
Ruskin Module
Year 3: Rehabilitation for Performance – SST Contemporary Issues for Sport and Exercise Therapy Practice Professional Practice in Sport Therapy Undergraduate Research Project Advanced Strength and Conditioning
Assessment methods
We'll assess you using a combination of presentations, practical skills tests, scientific reports, case study critiques and online assessments. We’ll also encourage you to reflect on your work, and participate in peer assessment.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Cambridge Campus
School of Psychology and Sport Science
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
£26k
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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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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