Sport and Exercise Sciences with Foundation Year
About this course
**Study the science behind sport and exercise at Roehampton where you will learn how to optimise athletic performance, prevent injuries, improve well-being, and help athletes with recovery.**
This option includes a foundation year, which will provide you with a sound introduction to key elements needed to study the main degree. The Foundation year is carefully designed to build your confidence in your abilities, develop essential academic and study skills, and provide you with subject specific knowledge as a basis for success in your following three years.
The Sport and Exercise Extended degree is comprised of three areas – the biology and biochemistry of the body (physiology), the physical demands on the body (biomechanics), and the response of the mind (psychology). This course will help you gain in-depth knowledge of how these three sciences underpin sport and exercise and get you ready for a career in the sports industry.
You will learn about the latest sport theory and practice and gain hands-on experience working in lab settings with specialised modern equipment. This degree will give you a strong scientific knowledge basis to be able to address key contemporary issues in the sector such as how to optimise team performance, how to improve the recovery, and mobility of amputees, and how to cope with extreme environmental conditions. Our enthusiastic tutors provide lively interactive ways to learn, ensuring you will have the best possible experience.
You will develop a range of key skills, including the ability to analyse and understand scientific data and information. You’ll be able to apply what you have learned to a successful career in the sports industry or beyond. You will also have the opportunity to engage with a range of work experience opportunities, guest lectures and other industry-relevant experience. Roehampton has a range of partnerships with sports organisations, including being the Official Higher Education Partner of Premier League Crystal Palace FC.
Taught on our south-west London campus, on this degree you will have access to many opportunities for work experience through our Careers Team, and access to face-to-face and 24/7 online careers support, whether you choose to live on campus or commute to us.
**This course offers all students the option of a one-year paid work placement, to boost your employability even further. If you choose this route, you will take the placement following year two of your main degree, and then return to complete your degree. A placement year is the perfect opportunity to gain valuable work experience, to build on the career skills we will teach you on this degree. The connections you make on the placement will improve your career prospects further, and equip you with the skills you need to secure graduate-level employment.**
Modules
During the foundation year, you will complete core modules in English and Mathematics, as well as an extended project which will develop your skills in carrying out research, using scholarly sources, drawing comparisons between your own research and that of others and documenting your findings. You will study two modules in Life Sciences which will give you the opportunity to explore methods of scientific thinking and reasoning in an enquiry-based way. You will also be introduced to key concepts in human physiology that are common cornerstones of the different degree programmes.
In your first year, you'll be introduced to the three key academic disciplines that make up sport sciences – physiology, psychology and biomechanics – and you will develop a range of skills for studying sport and exercise. Modules might include: Introduction to Physiology and Fitness Assessment, Biomechanical Analysis of Movement, or Introduction to Sport and Exercise Psychology.
In your second year, you'll expand your knowledge of the subject area and spend many hours in the laboratory practically applying your knowledge and skills. Recent examples of modules available include Applied Sport and Exercise Physiology, Psychology of Peak Performance, and Applied Biomechanics.
In your final year, you'll have a choice of modules to enable you to tailor your programme to your own specific interests. In addition, there will be an opportunity to carry out an independent research dissertation in an area that interests you. Modules might include: Advanced Topics in Psychology, Biomechanics: Performance and Injury, or Training Programmes.
Tuition fees
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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
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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.
£16k
£27k
£27k
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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