Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Sport and Exercise Psychology

Entry requirements


From a minimum of 2 A Levels

Accepted when studied alongside other Level 3 qualifications

Access to HE Diploma

M:45,P:15

Pass in Access course with 60 credits overall including 45 Level 3 credits passed with a minimum of Merit.

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

Grade 4 / C in Maths and English.

HNC (BTEC)

P-D

HND (BTEC)

P-M

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

29-31

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma

D*D*

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DMM

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)

D*D*

Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)

DMM

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

D*D*

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

112-128

From a minimum of 2 A Levels or equivalent qualifications such as BTEC Extended Diploma or OCR Extended Diploma. For detailed information on accepted qualifications, please view our Course Entry Statement (https://www.solent.ac.uk/how-to-apply/documents/course-entry-requirement-statement.pdf) Solent University is a proud champion of widening participation. For further information about our contextual offer, please visit our website (https://www.solent.ac.uk/how-to-apply/what-next/contextual-offers)

This qualification is accepted when taken alongside other qualifications.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Sport and exercise psychology

Over the last few decades, interest in sport and exercise psychology has grown. More time and money is being spent on understanding what motivates people to exercise, play sport and live active lifestyles. Governing bodies and professional teams are hiring more sport psychologists than ever before, as increasing amounts of accountability is given to the mental aspects of physical performance.

Solent’s sport and exercise psychology degree, accredited by The British Psychological Society, is the ideal way to kickstart a career in this growing area. You will explore how people act and interact, and the thoughts and feelings that underlie their behaviour. You’ll develop an understanding of intervention techniques that can be applied in exercise and team settings. You’ll also gain an insight into the coach-athlete relationships.

The subject contributes to an understanding of the day-to-day problems faced by people all around the world. Psychologists use a wide variety of methodological techniques including experiments, questionnaires, observations, video analysis and interviews to investigate human behaviour and obtain reliable evidence. This evidence can then form the basis of potential interventions and recommendations.

Core areas of study include cognitive psychology, child development and social psychology. All of these can be applied within a sport and exercise context. We work closely with sport teams and health organisations in order to provide you with hands-on learning opportunities. The applied nature of the course ensures that you’ll develop the professional skills needed for work in the sports industry.

Work with academics who are both research and industry active – keeping you up-to-date with the latest developments in best practice.

**What does this course lead to?**
The scientific aspects of your psychology course - the application of a reasoned approach, problem solving and manipulation of data - provide useful tools for careers in healthcare, law enforcement, finance, IT and research.

Your knowledge of human behaviour and motivation, as well as your ability to critically analyse a problem, formulate a considered response and create a reasoned argument, will lend themselves well to careers in the creative industries, the legal sector, government administration and education.

To practise as a psychologist, further postgraduate training and supervision is required. Find out more on the British Psychological Society (BPS) website.

**Who is this course for?**
Our sport and exercise psychology programme is well-suited to students from a wide range of academic backgrounds.

You should have an inherent interest in human behaviour and a desire to apply this interest in sport, exercise and coaching contexts.

Modules

YEAR 1 - CORE MODULES
Thinking and Writing Psychologically
Beginning as a Researcher
Sport and Exercise Psychology
Developing as a Researcher
Health and Exercise Psychology
Skill Acquisition and Motor Learning

YEAR 2 - CORE MODULES
Behaviour and the Brain
Individual Differences and Social Psychology
Psychological Research Training
Psychological Research in Action
Assessment and Programme Design in Sport and Exercise Psychology
Sport and Exercise Psychophysiology

YEAR 3 - CORE MODULES
Advanced Counselling Theory and Practice
Conceptualising Psychopathology
Cognitive-Behavioural Theory and Practice
Applied Psychology Research Project

YEAR 3 - OPTIONS (please note that not all options are guaranteed to run each academic year)
Behaviour Change
Cyberpsychology
Animal Behaviour
Mindfulness-Based Practice and Approaches
Issues in Educational Psychology
Critical Psychology
Issues in Forensic

Assessment methods

Unit assessments have been designed to improve key employability skills such as communication, interpersonal relations, organisation and team work. By working with real athletes and exercise populations, you will learn how to overcome the everyday challenges sport and exercise psychologist face in the workplace.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£16,125
per year
International
£16,125
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Solent University offers a number of bursaries, grants and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.solent.ac.uk/finance/grants-bursaries-scholarships/bursaries

The Uni


Course location:

Solent University (Southampton)

Department:

Department of Social Science and Nursing

Read full university profile

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.

33%
Sport and exercise psychology

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.

Applied psychology

Teaching and learning

52%
Staff make the subject interesting
63%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
33%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

63%
Library resources
78%
IT resources
59%
Course specific equipment and facilities
26%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
63%
Male students
37%
Female students
71%
2:1 or above
18%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

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.

Applied psychology

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.

£16,618
low
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

15%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
12%
Childcare and related personal services
10%
Welfare and housing associate professionals

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Applied psychology

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

£17k

£21k

£21k

£26k

£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.

Explore these similar courses...

Share this page

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