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Why choose the School of Sport Science and Physical Activity
Our sport science courses rank in the UK top 15 in their subject field for graduate prospects (CUG and Guardian, 2025).
Our sport science courses rank in the UK top 15 overall in their subject field (Daily Mail university rankings, 2024).
Complete at least 400 hours of practice placement in settings ranging from elite sports teams to private clinics and independent practitioners.
About the course
This course trains you to be an exercise-based rehabilitation and fitness specialist, able to apply clinical reasoning to sport- and fitness-related injuries while you develop practical skills in rehabilitation. You put learning into practice via real-life practice opportunities at our on-site clinic; work-based placement with industry experts; and student learning trips.
Course accreditation
This course is accredited by the British Association of Sport and Rehabilitation and Trainers (BASRaT). Once you have successfully completed the course, you can apply for graduate membership and use the professional title of graduate sport rehabilitator (GSR).
Gain additional free qualifications through our partnership with the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) including Gym Instruction, Group Exercise, Working with People with Long Term Conditions. You also have the option to take a further subsidisedÌýPre-Hospital Immediate Care in SportÌý(PHICIS) Level 2 qualification.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- A fully supervised, state-of-the-art sports therapy and rehabilitation centre with a sports injury clinic, open to staff, students and external athletes/clients
- Sport massage rooms
- On-site community exercise clinic
- Six BASES-accredited laboratories
- Human Performance Centre
- Purpose-built strength and conditioning facility
- Free gym and Olympic weight room
- Sports arena; Alexander Sport Centre; multi-use games areas and external 4G sports pitch.
- Industry-standard equipment and techniques
Industry links
We are official partners of Luton Town FC and Bedford Blues RFC as well as other sporting organisations in the region, giving you opportunities to build your employability through work placements.
We are a Higher Education Partner of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).
Your student experience
- Gain experience through our fully supervised, on-site Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Centre, open to staff, students and external athletes/clients.
- Benefit from the support of your own personal academic tutor who will guide and support you throughout your student journey.
- Enhance your learning and build your experience through field trips to destinations such as Northampton Saints physio centre and a ‘cadaver lab day’ at King’s College, London.
- Gain free, additional fitness qualifications endorsed by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) in gym instruction, group exercise and working with people with long-term conditions.
- Take further additional qualifications in sports massage and subsidised Pre-Hospital Immediate Care in Sport (PHICIS) Level 2 qualification.
- Undertake a minimum of 400 hours of supervised placement, with opportunities including our official partners and other sporting organisations such as Ampthill Rugby Club, MK Dons FC, Bedfordshire County Cricket, Oaklands College Sports Academies, Samuel Whitbread School and many others.
- Benefit from industry links that include schools and colleges; borough councils; Bedfordshire Police; Luton Town FC; MK Dons; Ampthill Rugby Club; Bedford Blues; Northampton Saints; and Bedfordshire County Cricket.
- Guest speakers have included Jack Wells (PGA); Tom Bromley (MK Dons); Jack Wells (PGA); Akash Modhwadia (Strength and conditioning coach at MK Dons); Mark Finney (former head of S&C at Northampton Saints; Phil Pask (former head of physio for England Rugby).
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
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with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
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Course Leader - Cheryl Barford
I have been in the health and fitness industry for 20 years. Originally inspired by a passion for enhancing health through fitness and understanding theoretical principles behind it, I have taught group exercise classes and coached personal training sessions throughout this time. I have had varied industry experience from working on cruise liners to teaching at local leisure centres and health clubs.
Course Leader - Cheryl Barford
I have been in the health and fitness industry for 20 years. Originally inspired by a passion for enhancing health through fitness and understanding theoretical principles behind it, I have taught group exercise classes and coached personal training sessions throughout this time. I have had varied industry experience from working on cruise liners to teaching at local leisure centres and health clubs.
What will you study?
Studying our BASRaT accredited (British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers) Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation BSc (Hons) course will equip you with the specialised knowledge and skills in the combined areas of sports rehabilitation, health and therapeutic treatment. Beginning with the basics, our unit in Normal Anatomical Structure and Function will introduce you to human anatomy and kinesiology. You will take an advanced approach to this in our Altered Anatomical Structure and Function unit where you will consider anatomical alterations caused by health and lifestyle factors. This is then explored in the context of sport science in our Anatomy and Biomechanics unit, which aims to introduce you to the principles of human movement, biomechanics and the role of anatomy in sport and exercise science.
This will be useful in areas of sports therapy & rehabilitation practice, it will also include possible pathways into strength and conditioning, personal training for both athletic and clinical populations. In addition to Anatomy, our Human Physiology unit will help you understand human physiological systems and how the human body adapts to exercise and injury recovery. This knowledge is built on in your second year, with the Physiology for Training unit where you will identify physiological factors that influence sport and exercise performance and how training methods can influence these. In more practical areas of learning, the course begins in year 1 with Gym Instruction where you will learn the fundamentals of exercise prescription and coaching in a gym setting, with a range of applied exercises. You will learn a range of exercises, progressing onto Clinical Exercise and Corrective Exercise in your final year that will allow you to safely and effectively design exercise programs and skills for sport rehabilitation.
You will learn fundamental manual therapy techniques, within the Sports Massage unit, that will provide you with the skills and knowledge to use a range of soft tissue techniques. Progressing to our Manual Therapies unit, this will provide you with an understanding of how to safely apply a range of peripheral joint mobilisations and advanced manual therapy in practice, and at an advanced level, our Advanced Manual Therapies unit will involve techniques for accessory joint mobilisation and manipulations. Another important area of study includes rehabilitation and injury management, and this is where our units in the Management of Lower Extremity Injuries and Management of Upper Extremity Injuries will teach provide you with the skills and knowledge to ensure safe assessment skills for injured athletes, identify and manage causes of pain and discomfort. This is explored further in our Sport Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation unit where you will learn to evaluate dysfunction, injury and rehabilitation needs to reduce the risk of injury and to rehabilitate an athlete back to performance.
Finally, you will complete a Dissertation for Sport Science and Physical Activity where you will investigate a focused and relevant research topic of interest to you and work under the guidance of a supervisor. To help you with this, our unit in Reading and Interpreting Research will introduce you to the research process into scientific literature. Similarly, our Planning and Conducting Research unit will allow you to take a critical understanding of research processes and enquiry in sports therapy & rehabilitation. To prepare you for your career, our unit in Structural Assessment and Professional Practice will support you in implementing your practical skills in a work-based environment with a reflective approach to practice. Similarly, our Professional Practice unit aims to prepare you for your placement experience inÌýSports Therapy & Rehabilitation, with a requirement of completing a minimum of 400-hours of supervised placement over the three years of study. Furthermore, you will be equipped with the business skills to successfully build a career as a Graduate Sport Rehabilitator in our Clinical Practice and Business unit. More importantly, you have the option to be able to undertake a Professional Practice Year (Sports Science and Physical Activity) as an opportunity to develop your employability skills and gain formally recognised work-based learning for a year.
How will you be assessed?
Lectures seek to provide students with underpinning theoretical research informed knowledge to allow them to critically justify their clinically reasoned injury treatment and rehabilitation strategies.
Careers
Sports Rehabilitator graduates will be trained to take on a rewarding career in environments that diagnose, treat and rehabilitate injury and clinical conditions. Sport Rehabilitators will be capable of working within multi-disciplinary health care teams, both private and public (NHS). In addition, careers in Sport and clinics are also common areas of employment for graduates.
The course also embeds wider transferable skills and qualifications, including those to work pitch side or in the health and fitness industry (opportunities to gain exercise coaching qualifications for referred and non-referred clients). Finally, the skills and knowledge to start and run a business are developed, which many of our students go on to do, along with many of the aforementioned roles or continue with post graduate study in Strength and Conditioning, Clinical Exercise Physiology or Physiotherapy.
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
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International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
Ìý
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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