The BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science degree at Cardiff Met is endorsed by the industry's professional body, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences [BASES] and focuses on the scientific basis of performance in sport and participation in physical activity and exercise. To fulfil BASES requirements, you will follow a dedicated pathway throughout the three levels that focuses on gaining an understanding of the core sport and exercise disciplines of
physiology,
biomechanics and
psychology as well as exploring the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary aspects of Sport and Exercise Science with a high level of vocational relevance and experience.
As part of studying on the Sport and Exercise Science degree, you can also develop your knowledge and skills in an additional option theme of study based on either
strength and conditioning,
sports nutrition or
exercise referral and fitness instruction with the opportunity to achieve additional vocational qualifications.
Throughout this Sport and Exercise Science degree you will gain practical experiences of laboratory-based activities as well as gaining opportunities to observe and be involved in applied practice. You will be afforded many opportunities to develop your practical contextual knowledge and skills in sport and exercise science, fitness testing, coaching, exercise prescription and performance settings.
Foundation Year
This degree can be studied as a three-year full-time degree or a four-year full-time degree that includes a year of foundational study. Our foundation year is intended to prepare you for your subsequent years of studying, offering you the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence.
The foundation year will be relevant to:
- Students who aspire to enrol onto the first year of a science-based honours degree programme within the Cardiff School of Health Sciences, who have not achieved the standard entry requirements to enter at year one of the chosen degree.
- Students who have not studied subjects that provide the necessary background within the scientific disciplines required to enter at year one of the chosen degree.
Find out more about the
foundation year.
Please note: You will need to apply using a specific UCAS code if you wish to undertake the 4 years including foundation. Please refer to Key Course Information at the bottom of this page.
Course Content
The Sport and Exercise Science programme is built around two main pillars. Firstly, ensuring students are knowledgeable in the underpinning scientific disciplines of physiology, biomechanics and psychology and secondly, how knowledge and skills in these disciplines can be applied to the sport and exercise context.
Each discipline is introduced in year 1 and this is built on in year 2 with compulsory modules that ensure a breadth of knowledge and understanding along with an appreciation of how the disciplines can combine to address sport and exercise-related problems. The final year of study enables you to focus on one or two of these disciplines ensuring that you develop advanced knowledge and application in a field that aligns to your future career aspirations.
Additionally, the Sport and Exercise Science programme explores the continuum from competitive sport through to exercise and physical activity. This will help you gain an appreciation of the different motivators for sport and exercise as well as the different training demands and responses and the different roles sport and exercise play within different populations. Years 1 and 2 introduce these different contexts from a disciplinary perspective with a final year option to focus on sport or exercise as a main theme.
In addition to the main disciplinary modules you will also undertake modules to facilitate your transition into studying at university level, develop your critical research and science skills, investigate other disciplines allied to sport and exercise science (e.g. sports nutrition, strength and conditioning and exercise referral) as well as having opportunities to gain recognised vocational and professional industry relevant qualifications.
You will able to undertake a major project in your chosen field of study alongside your chosen subject-specific content. The final year focuses upon developing you as an independent, driven learner that can take control of your learning and ensure that this aligns with your first step into graduate employment or further study. Mentoring is a significant part of the final year of study to allow individualised support in the development of your skills as an academic and practitioner within the fields aligned to sport and exercise science.
Year One
- Research and Scholarship
- Professional Development
- Biomechanics of Human Movement
- Fundamentals of Sport and Exercise Physiology
- Fundamentals of Sport and Exercise Psychology
- Subjects Allied to Sport and Exercise Science
Year Two
Core modules:
- Research Design and Practice
- Issues in Sport and Exercise Science
- Sport and Exercise Biomechanics
- Sport and Exercise Physiology
- Sport and Exercise Psychology
Options:
- Nutrition
- Fundamentals of Strength and Conditioning for SES
Year Three
Core modules:
- Final Project
- Interdisciplinary Sport and Exercise Science
Option modules:
- Sport Biomechanics
- Health and Rehabilitation Biomechanics
- Physiology of Sport Performance
- Exercise Physiology of Health
- Sports Psychology
- Exercise Psychology
- Sport and Exercise Nutrition
- Strength and Conditioning for SES
Learning & Teaching
Effective learning, teaching and assessment methods underpin the educational aims and the learning outcomes of all of our programmes and modules. Learning and teaching methods within the sport and exercise science programme may include lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, laboratory-based practical sessions, guest speakers and industrial visits. Our Virtual Learning Environment is also an integral aspect of the learning package that supports the needs of our students.
Lead lectures introduce key topics and concepts, whilst seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical laboratory sessions focus on the application of key concepts with the aim of enhancing the student experience and engagement. You will also meet tutors on a one to one basis. As a school, we work hard to provide student-centred learning opportunities that deliver a high quality and flexible learning environment.
Learning and teaching methods emphasise and facilitate the development of your critical reasoning, and encourage the integration of practice and theory. Throughout your programme, you will experience both tutor-led learning and self-directed methods of learning, increasing independence and reflection and encouraging you to develop a positive attitude toward lifelong learning.
Our teaching and learning methods embed the Cardiff Met 'EDGE' (Ethical, Global, Digital and Entrepreneurial) skills and you will be well equipped to demonstrate graduate attributes expected of you in an increasingly competitive world of work. We aim to help you to develop into scientists, reflective professionals and critical scholars.
In your sport programme at Cardiff Met, you will encounter a learning experience from induction to graduation that is coherent and develops your identity within your programme of study.
Specific features of the learning experience of the learning experience on Sport and Exercise Science include:
- Internationally renowned researchers that are integral to the learning package offered to our students.
- World-class sport and exercise science laboratory facilities and equipment to enhance the student learning experience.
- All aspects of Learning and Teaching utilise the most recent research literature and professional standards (e.g., BASES, CIMSPA, REPS). Widely recognised as an applied sport and exercise science degree and endorsed by BASES, the professional body for sport and exercise science.
Assessment
The assessment strategies for each module vary to ensure that most appropriate method is implemented for your area of study. Modes of assessment are designed to both enhance your learning experience and to acknowledge that you have fulfilled the learning outcomes linked to each module. Assessment also ensures that you have achieved the standard required to progress to the next stage or to qualify for an award (as articulated by the FHEQ and CQFW). Assessments support your learning experience by providing opportunities for you to engage in formative and summative assessments to test your knowledge, ability, skill, and critical understanding. The undergraduate modules are assessed by a combination of assessment types. For example:
- written coursework
- poster presentations
- oral presentations
- portfolios
- seen and unseen exams
- practical skills
- other activities designed to assess, develop, and enhance academic and employability skills.
You will be expected to complete a final project as part of the assessment of your honours degree. Final projects are major pieces of work that may be a research, innovation, consultancy or community project.
The nature of the sport and exercise science programme requires students to demonstrate both theoretical (evidence-based practice and critical thinking) and applied (practical, intervention development and referral skills), and therefore assessments within sport and exercise science modules include both theoretical assessments and practical assessments in applied settings.
Employability & Careers
The Sport and Exercise Science programme seeks to develop your employability from three perspectives. Firstly, as a graduate with a high standard of graduate skills developed through the Cardiff Met EDGE philosophy which supports you to thrive in the modern world. Throughout your degree you will experience a range of opportunities to develop your ethical, digital, global and entrepreneurial competencies through problem-based learning, real-world industry case studies and practical work experiences on-, and where appropriate, off-campus. Throughout your time at Cardiff Met we will ensure that you get a range of opportunities to develop transferable graduate skills such as communication, team work and leadership. Secondly, to develop you as a scientist, you will be encouraged to think and write critically; frame and present a reasoned argument; collect, collate, analyse and interpret data; and design, implement and evaluate an evidence-based intervention or programme. Finally, you will develop the necessary subject-expertise to become an effective sport and exercise science practitioner in your chosen field.
During your first year of study you will get the opportunity to undertake technical qualifications in a range of industry relevant areas including sport coaching, exercise referral, fitness training, safeguarding and doping. These opportunities will ensure that you have the appropriate qualifications and experience to prepare you for many work opportunities after graduation. We will also support you to seek opportunities to work or study abroad. Students who have graduated from the Sport and Exercise Science programme have gone on to work in careers both within and beyond the sport and exercise Industries.
Recent graduates from sport and exercise science are now working with professional sports teams, academy sports teams as well as with national governing bodies of sport. Many students also pursue opportunities in private practice, clinical environments or in the military, emergency services and fitness industry settings. Other students have continued onto further Master’s level study in the field of sport and exercise science or related disciplines such as sports nutrition, sports performance analysis, physiotherapy or strength and conditioning. Others have then further progressed to doctoral level studies towards careers as researchers or academics.
Entry Requirements & How to Apply
Typical Offers
The following requirements are based on typical offers relevant to entering year 1 of the degree.
If you do not meet these entry requirements, we also offer a
Foundation Year which allows progression to Year 1 upon successful completion.
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Tariff points: 120-128
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Contextual offer: See our
contextual offers page.
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GCSE: Five GCSEs at Grade C / 4 or above to include English Language / Welsh First Language, Mathematics / Mathematics – Numeracy and Science.
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English Language Requirement: Academic IELTS 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in all elements, or equivalent.
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A level subjects: Three A levels. Grades BB to include Science.
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Relevant subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, PE/Sport Studies, Psychology, Mathematics or Social Biology considered as the equivalent Science. Welsh Baccalaureate – Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate considered as a third subject.
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BTEC National / Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: DMM - DDM in Science or PE.
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T Level: Distinction in a Science subject.
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Access to Higher Education Diploma: 15 Level 3 credits at Distinction and 30 credits at Merit.
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International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: 1 Higher Level Grade 6 and 1 Higher Level Grade 5. H6 in Science.
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Irish Leaving Certificate: 3 H2 to include Science. Higher level subjects only considered with a minimum grade H4.
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Scottish Advanced Highers: Grades CC to include C grade in Science. Scottish Highers are also considered, either on their own or in combination with Advanced Highers.
Combinations of the above qualifications are accepted if they meet our minimum requirements. If your qualifications aren’t listed, please contact
Admissions or refer to the
UCAS Course Search.
Further information on Overseas qualifications can be found
here.
If you are a mature applicant, have relevant experience or
RPL that you would like us to consider, please contact Admissions.
How to Apply
Further information on how to apply can be found
here.
Contact Us