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Sports Coaching (Top-up) at University of Portsmouth - UCAS

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Course summary

Sports coaches support, inspire and motivate athletes to reimagine what's possible. If you can see yourself helping people fulfil their sporting potential and coaching professional athletes, sports teams, school or community groups, this BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching top-up degree will help you achieve it. You'll turn your Level 5 qualification – such as an HND or foundation degree in a subject related to sports or business – into a full Bachelor's degree, ready for a career in high performance coaching environments, multi-sport coaching, coach education or within your own sports coaching business.

  • Use specialist gym and fitness testing equipment to explore training techniques and injury prevention and assessment, including portable EMG technology and infrared motion analysis
  • Gain sports coaching skills in technology, strategic management, digital innovation and analytics, and sports entrepreneurship – giving you the tools and skills to set yourself up as an independent sports coach
  • Enhance your CV and professional network, and share your sporting skill in the local community through our coaching, mentoring and volunteering scheme
  • Have the chance to take part in research programmes run by institutions such as UEFA, the FA and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • Train and coach within our extensive sports facilities, including a 100-station gym, fitness studios, and a new sports centre featuring a ski simulator, climbing wall and 8-lane swimming pool
Careers and opportunities On this BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching top-up degree, you'll explore contemporary, conceptual and theoretical research around the evolving nature of the modern sport coach practitioner and their role in the sports industry. You'll learn strength and conditioning techniques, how to empower athletes to develop and retain new skills, and how to identify training needs and develop training programmes that optimise sporting performance. Once you graduate, you'll be ready to enter the world of sports coaching in the community and at elite sport level. What areas can you work in with a sports coaching top-up degree? When you graduate, you'll be ready to enter a variety of commercial and non-commercial organisations such as:
  • national governing bodies
  • professional sports clubs
  • the Armed Forces
  • local authorities
  • health and fitness centres
  • charities and not-for-profit organisations
  • schools
  • community centres
  • prisons
You could also go into areas outside of the sports coaching industry in roles such as sports journalism, finance or accounting. What jobs can you do with a sports coaching top-up degree? Roles you could take on include:
  • community coach coordinator
  • coach educator
  • skills coach
  • strength and conditioning advisor
  • PE teacher
  • sport development officer
  • sports marketing executive
  • sports agent
  • stadium manager
Work experience and professional development This sports coaching top-up course includes a core Professional Development module, providing the opportunity to work on your own career aims alongside industry experts. You'll complete a range of professional development activities, including work-based opportunities across a range of industry sectors related to sports coaching. You'll be mentored by academic members of staff and take part in a masterclass series (workshops with academics and industry experts) focusing on the themes and challenges you'll encounter as a sports coach. The masterclass series covers:
  • Coaching contexts and methodologies for practice
  • Coaching pedagogy
  • Sports psychology
  • Performance analysis
  • Talent identification and development
  • Governance and match officials
  • Mental health awareness in sport
  • Sports nutrition and coaching practice
  • Sport for development (coaching focus)
  • Current issues in sport coaching

Modules

Year 1: Core modules in this year include:

  • Advanced Strength and Conditioning (20 credits)
  • Applied Skill Acquisition (20 credits)
  • Human Resources for Sport Management (20 credits)
  • Practical Applications of Performance Analysis (20 credits)
  • Project (40 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Changes to course content We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies. Therefore, course content is revised and regularly reviewed. This may result in changes being made in order to reflect developments in research, learning from practice and changes in policy at both national and local levels.

Assessment method

You'll be assessed through: Practical assessments Client reports Video submissions Blog submissions Infographic submissions Essays Portfolios Presentation slides You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark. You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.


How to apply

Application codes

Course code:
C612
Institution code:
P80
Campus name:
Main Site
Campus code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Relevant HE study leading to a Level 5 qualification, for example an appropriate HND, foundation degree or Advanced Diploma or 240 credits from year 1 and year 2 of an undergraduate degree (BA/BSc), in a Sport related subject. Applications from individuals with non-standard qualifications, industry professional qualifications, relevant work or life experience and who can demonstrate the ability to cope with and benefit from degree-level studies are welcome and considered on an individual basis.


English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
Cambridge English AdvancedCambridge English: Advanced (CAE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
Cambridge English ProficiencyCambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
PTE Academic62An overall score of 62 with a minimum of 59 in each skill.
TOEFL (iBT)7979 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing.
Trinity ISEPassTrinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students

There is no data available for this course. For further information visit the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

EU £9535 Year 1
England £9535 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9535 Year 1
Scotland £9535 Year 1
Wales £9535 Year 1
Channel Islands £9535 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9535 Year 1
International £16200 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship Placement Year and Year abroad (at the time of publishing for 2024/25): UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £1,385 EU – £1,385 (including Transition Scholarship) International (Non-EU) – £2,875. Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice. All fees are subject to annual increase. For more information about fees, go to port.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-fees-and-student-finance/tuition-fees-living-costs-and-other-study-costs
Sports Coaching (Top-up) at University of Portsmouth - UCAS