Introduction to Critical Thinking for Sports Research covers the conventions of studying in higher education. You will be expected to reflect upon your previous experiences of education while also thinking strategically about your future study and work in sport and physical activity. This will facilitate a new and more critical approach to thinking about and studying sport and physical activity. You will develop the ability to use academic literature, research, concepts and arguments to provide a more critical and reasoned assessment of sport and physical activity related issues and topics. The aim is to learn to communicate your new critical thoughts about sport and physical activity using appropriate academic referencing and citation styles.

Introduction to Sport, Physical Activity and Healthy Lifestyles engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Health Navigator, Working in the Community Environment and Working with Inactive People professional standards. The module outlines the complex relationships between sport, physical activity and health. Initial focus will be on developing your understanding of health-related behaviours and markers of health (such as mental wellbeing, physical fitness and body composition) and how these can be measured. The remainder of the module will develop your knowledge of the potential contribution of sport and physical activity to all domains of health (physical, psychological and social) and specific health conditions. You will also reflect on how those working in the sport sector may seek to deliver sport and physical activity in a way that is inclusive and encourages participation among new and inactive groups.

Introduction to Coaching Practice engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach and Coaching Assistant professional standards. The module provides you with an introduction to key features of skill acquisition through sports coaching and the essential underpinnings needed to design practical coaching sessions. It will make you aware of the assumptions informing different practice designs, as well as developing your knowledge of how to set up different types of practice sessions and how to deliver them in a way that fits a specific rationale. You will become aware of the importance of practice scheduling and variability of practice in sports coaching. The module requires you to examine relevant theory in practice design, apply particular models and then reflect on your chosen activity set-up.

Introduction to Coaching Sports Performance engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach, Coaching Assistant and Strength & Conditioning Trainer professional standards. The module provides you with foundation knowledge in anatomy and physiology, as well as biomechanics in relation to coaching sporting performance and physical activity. You will gain an understanding and insight into a range of scientific principles and their application to sporting performance and human movement. In addition, you will develop your practical skills enabling you to evaluate and review participants and assess their suitability for exercise. Topics covered within this module include the structure and function of the circulatory system and respiratory system, the structure and function of the skeleton and joints, an overview of the muscular systems and energy systems, and the biomechanical principles of human movement.

Introduction to Sports Coaching engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach, Coaching Assistant, Entry Manager, Health Navigator and Working with Inactive People professional standards. The module equips you with an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of sports coaches in different contexts. You will apply basic sports coaching principles in developing your ability to plan, organise and deliver sports coaching sessions in safe, effective and ethical ways. You will develop an understanding of the theoretical and practical underpinnings of delivering sports coaching sessions and apply this knowledge by leading and supporting practical situations with peers and, where appropriate, with non-peer groups.

Introduction to Organisation and Administration of Sport and Physical Activity engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Entry Manager, Working in the Community Environment and Working with Inactive People professional standards. The module equips you with an understanding of the policy process and the realities that emerge from it in sport and physical activity. You will be introduced to how sport is organised and administered in the UK using examples from community and elite sport and physical activity provision. The role of volunteers and volunteer managers will be examined in relation to policy implementation and the provision of sport and physical activity. The module also introduces you to the ways in which sporting programmes address wider government objectives and considers how sporting events might be leveraged to achieve broader social outcomes.

Doing Real World Sports Research develops your ability to identify potential areas of interest to research. You will learn how to appraise literature to define appropriate research questions, discover how to select appropriate paradigms, designs, methodologies and methods of enquiry, and explore the best approaches to undertaking data analysis. Rather than present an idealised and simplistic picture of the research process, this module will highlight how research can often be a messy, complex process. You will learn how researchers carry out research projects, negotiate the practical day-to-day problems and ethical considerations encountered, and discover how difficulties and setbacks that are a normal part of the research process are managed successfully.

Managing Health Behaviour Change Through Sport and Physical Activity engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Health Navigator, Working in the Community Environment, and Working with Inactive People professional standards. Introducing you to health promotion theory in sport and physical activity,  the module considers the complex biological, social and environmental factors that influence and explain participation in sport and physical activity. You will examine theoretical approaches to understanding behaviour, explore the effectiveness of these theories and approaches in sport and physical activity contexts, and begin to apply them to real-world settings.

Facilitating Learning in Coaching engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach professional standard. The module provides you with an opportunity to apply your understanding of the pedagogical nature of learning for sports coaching (and associated philosophies) in real-life coaching settings. It will make you aware of the fundamental assumptions underpinning a selection of learning theories, values and beliefs regarding coaching, while also developing your knowledge of how these theories could be applied to facilitate learning in coaching settings with participants. You will also become familiar with the issues and practices surrounding the creation of different learning environments and philosophies around coaching contexts and be able to enact these in practice.

Performance Analysis and Assessment in Coaching engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach and Strength & Conditioning Trainer professional standards. The module provides you with an overview of the necessary theoretical and practical background knowledge needed to analyse and assess various components of athletic performance. You will be introduced to the assessment of skills, techniques and decision making, as well as observing aerobic and anaerobic fitness, using a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Where appropriate you will also be taught how to use industry-standard performance assessment methods, technologies and associated software. The module will not only require you to examine relevant performance assessment theory but to apply this knowledge practically to the analysis of athletic performance.

The Coaching Process engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach and Working with Inactive People professional standards. The module considers the pedagogical complexity of coaching and how to apply this to your own practice with groups and individuals. You will explore a number of topics related to motivational coaching climates and team cohesion, including the strategic management of practice conditions, as well as the development of individuals via specific methods and behaviours within practice. Learning will be underpinned by a problem-based approach that will encourage you to use both knowledge of theory and empirical research to address a variety of everyday coaching scenarios and issues in current practice.

Working with Diverse Populations engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach, Coaching Assistant, Health Navigator, Working in the Community Environment, and Working with Inactive People professional standards. You will look at how sports organisations are managed and how practitioners effectively engage with the populations they seek to develop. The module enhances your understanding of, and ability to analyse, approaches to facilitating the development of differentiated coaching practice with individuals and groups in a range of delivery contexts. It also prepares you to work in community and performance sport contexts in schools and national governing bodies, as well as club environments. You will be provided with opportunities to engage in real world coaching settings with participants. In doing so, you will become familiar with the existing policy context of community and performance (sport) development, and the relationships that exist between sports workers, other workers in the public, private and third sectors, as well as those working elsewhere in the sports industry.

Dissertation allows you to engage in an in-depth independent research project, specialising your focus on a relevant area of interest.

Coach Learning and Education engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach professional standard. The module considers the preparation and continuing professional development of sports coaches. You will assess the professionalisation of sports coaching and communities of practice while also reflecting on your own experiences of learning in formal, informal and non-formal situations. The module addresses coach learning, the purpose of coach education, the role of the coach educator and how coach learners acquire knowledge about practice. You will examine existing coach education and continuing professional development practices by reviewing policy and curricular documentation as well as empirical research evidence.

Performance Analysis and Programming in Coaching engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach and Strength & Conditioning Trainer professional standards. The module requires you to use your knowledge and understanding of performance analysis, as well as applied physiology and biomechanics, in the analysis of sporting performance and the construction of an appropriate periodised training programme. You will develop your knowledge and skills to design and construct an evidence-based periodised training programme, demonstrating an appreciation of the relevant sporting demands and potential training adaptations.

Work Placement enables you to obtain ‘real life’ experience of working with employers from local, national and international contexts to enhance your awareness and understanding of the needs of sport-related sectors. You will liaise with employers by pursuing a relevant work placement on this year-long module, have the opportunity to engage in a range of personal development activities, and use these as a means of enhancing your career aspirations.

Managing Health-Based Programmes in Sport and Physical Activity engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Health Navigator, Working in the Community Environment, and Working with Inactive People professional standards. The module enables you to obtain ‘real life’ experience to enhance your awareness and understanding of the needs of sport-related sectors. It explores how to design, deliver, evaluate and manage health-based programmes in sport and physical activity. You will conduct your own independent research to assess the need for, and expected outcomes of, a health-based sport and physical activity programme of your choice. You will also construct a theory for how your programme would seek to improve health, with this theory informing your design of a health-based sport and physical activity programme. The remainder of the module focuses on the issues associated with programme delivery and management, while also seeking to determine the effectiveness of sport and physical activity health promotion programmes.

Managing Wellbeing in the Sports Workforce engages you in activities that will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to work towards the CIMSPA Coach, Entry Manager, and Working in the Community Environment professional standards. The module enables you to obtain ‘real life’ experience to enhance your awareness and understanding of the needs of sport-related sectors. It examines the wellbeing of the sports workforce, how this can be promoted and compromised, and how this should be managed. You will explore the working and broader social contexts of sports workers’ lives and the associated implications for their wellbeing and organisational practice in relation to wellbeing and duty of care. More specifically, you will explore the various demands and expectations placed on the workforce, as well as how a networks of social relations can positively and negatively impact on a sports worker’s sense of self, felt emotions, and psycho-social wellbeing.

This programme is now accredited by CIMSPA, the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity. On successful completion of the programme, graduates can say to employers that their course was accredited against the professional standards of CIMSPA.

​Change of module titles from SPT1853 Skill Acquisition and Coaching (20 credits) to SPT1853 Introduction to Coaching Practice (20 credits), SPT1854 Coaching Sporting Performance (20 credits) to SPT1854 Introduction to Coaching Sports Performance (20 credits), SPT1855 Introduction to Fundamentals of Coaching (20 credits) to SPT1855 Introduction to Sports Coaching, and SPT1856 Introduction and Organisation and Management of Sport and Physical Activity (20 credits) to SPT1856 Introduction to Organisation and Administration of Sport and Physical Activity (20 credits) in Year 1.

Change of module title from SPT3852 Coaching Learning and Education (20 credits) to SPT3852 Coach Learning and Education (20 credits) in Year 3.

104-112 UCAS Tariff points are required to join this programme.