Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences BSc

About the Course

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Sport Sciences at Brunel University are currently ranked as the best in London. As a Brunel student, you will enjoy research-led teaching of the highest quality; quality that will stand you in good stead in your future employment. Our great location in London, plus our strong links with sports personnel, organisations and institutions at local, regional, national and international levels, enables us to offer our students considerable opportunities for career progression.

As a student on our Sport, Health and Exercise Science programme, you will have the opportunity to select from a diverse array of topics, which encompass the contemporary and classic themes from Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, such as Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing, Sociology of Sport, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy – all of which are underpinned by a solid grounding in research skills and work-based learning. Thus, you can build a skills and knowledge portfolio to suits your particular strengths and needs – and to enhance your employability.

Aims

The first and foremost aim of our newly-revamped programmes is to give you the opportunity to build your degree to suit your preferences and needs. This is why we offer a range of bespoke pathways, all of which are designed to improve your versatility and confidence – and ultimately your employability.

Your employability after graduating is important to us, so we offer a range of opportunities and events throughout your course to prepare you for life after graduation. These include:

• sandwich placements in the UK and abroad
• employability workshops by the award winning Placements and Careers Centre
• sport science careers events and
• opportunities to study in America.

We have an international reputation for sporting excellence, offering sport scholarships and making flexible arrangements for high level performers. Up to 100 national sporting honours are achieved by our current students each year and we can boast many Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European champions amongst our graduates.

Enquiries

Julie Garner
Admissions Tutor

School of Sport and Education
Brunel University
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB8 3PH

Tel +44 (0)1895 266471
Email sse-ugcourses@brunel.ac.uk

Related Courses

• Physical Education and Youth Sport BSc
• Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences (Coaching) BSc
• Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences (Human Performance) BSc
• Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences (Sport Development) BSc
• Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences with Business Studies BSc

Special Features

Placement Opportunities

All Sport Sciences students can include a work placement year as part of their course. Current students are working at many different companies in the UK and overseas including Queens Park Rangers Football Club, the London Sports Trust and Quiksilver. We encourage all students to undertake a placement as research shows that these students secure better grades in their final year and earn significantly more upon graduation.

Brunel University Sport Scholarships

The purpose of the scholarship programme is to support and develop talented sportsmen and women studying at Brunel. The Sport Scholar Gallery shows the successful students awarded the scholarship.

Careers in Sport Conference

The annual National Sports Roadshow on the Brunel campus showcases all the possible careers open to sport science graduates.

American Exchange Programme

San Francisco State University is the destination for two of our undergraduate students every year. All undergraduate sport science students can apply for the exchange. If selected, you would study for one year in America then return to Brunel for your last year of study.

Facts and Figures

• We have some of the best sports facilities in the UK with include an indoor and outdoor sports and fitness complex.
  
  
• Facilities include:
  - The Indoor Athletics Centre an extensive indoor athletics facility
  - The Sports Hall and Indoor Netball Hall a bespoke netball training facility
  - A multi-use sports centre equipped with squash courts, basketball and netball courts, and a superb climbing wall
  - A members-only fitness suite incorporating treadmills, cycles and rowing machines and a weight-training area with free and fixed weights
  - The Athletics track has an international standard 400m 6-lane track with full field event facilities
  - Grass and all-weather third generation (3G) and synthetic pitches
  
  
• Outdoor hard tennis courtsOur staff have national and international reputations not only for their research and publications, but also their applied work. Many are accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), the British Psychological Society (BPS) or the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), which enables them to work with high performance athletes from a wide variety of sports – and many of them do so.

Course Content

All of our new undergraduate programmes comprise discrete study blocks, which enables students to draw on the knowledge and skills acquired from a combination of study blocks; such integrated learning is a proven cornerstone of effective learning. You only have to decide on your pathway at the start of your second year at Brunel.

Level 1

Compulsory study blocks

• Fundamentals of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences
• Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing
• Introduction to the Social Sciences of Sport
• Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy
• Research and Learning Skills I
• Synoptic Study I 

Level 2

Compulsory study blocks

• Research and Learning Skills II
• Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing in the Lifecourse
• Work Based Learning

Optional study blocks (choose one from)

• Applied Sport & Exercise Physiology
• Biomechanics of Human Movement
• Young people, sport and identity
• Delivery of Sports Development
• Theory and Application in Sport Psychology
• Physical Literacy and Child Development
• Pedagogy and Policy-Individual Needs
• Applying Sport Sciences to Practice: Coaching and Teaching Effectiveness

Level 2 – Sandwich placement

For all students selecting the sandwich option (40-week placement in third of four years), the following study block is compulsory

• Work Placement

Level 3

Compulsory study blocks

• Major Project and Project Management
• Issues in Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing
• Professional Practice-Based Learning III
• Synoptic Study III

Optional study blocks (choose one from)

• Physiology of the High Performance Athlete
• Biomechanical Analysis Techniques
• Applied Sport Psychology
• Sporting Communications
• Managing Sport Development
• Physical Literacy & the Learning Environment
• Pedagogy and Policy: Critical Issues
• Applying Sport Sciences to Practice: Training Principles

Teaching and Learning

How will we maximise your learning?

At Brunel, our emphasis is placed on students’ active involvement in learning; it is not a passive process, whereby you simply ‘absorb’ knowledge. The development of independent study skills is facilitated through set reading tasks, student-led seminars, group work/presentations, laboratory work and self-testing, and culminates in the writing of the final year dissertation. To this end, we regularly use formative assessment – the ongoing process whereby students reflect on their own learning – to foster a sense of confidence and independence.

In order to maximise your learning opportunities, we are committed to providing you with access to high quality resources (including those designed for students with special needs) and the best possible learning environment. We will introduce you to the services provided by the Library and by the Computer Centre as part of your induction programme and give you a library card along with a username and password allowing you unlimited access throughout your period of study to the library resources, the University intranet, email and the World Wide Web.

How will we teach you?

Teaching excellence is given a very high priority. Our teaching is enhanced by staff scholarship, research and involvement in sport performance and with national/international agencies and organisations.

We constantly review our teaching methods in response to students’ mid-module and end-of-module feedback. Developing innovative learning and teaching methods, including ‘virtual laboratories’ and use of the Internet, is an ongoing process.

Lectures – Lectures take place in a relatively formal setting. They aim to impart information and to provide you with a framework and the stimulation for independent study. You are encouraged to take notes to maximise this learning opportunity.

Seminars – Seminars are an integral part of the teaching process in Sport Sciences. Lecture material is examined in more detail, or theoretical concepts and/or data are analysed and discussed in small groups. Seminars give you the opportunity to engage with members of staff and other students to a greater extent than is possible in a lecture setting.

Tutorials – All our members of academic staff have published office hours during which time they are available to discuss academic matters relating to specific modules. Individual or small group tutorials are integral to the dissertation module.

Practicals – Practical classes are designed to give you hands-on experience of some of the experimental techniques relevant to particular Sport Sciences disciplines. They often give you the opportunity to use laboratory and field equipment while working with human participants, in order to collect, analyse, interpret, and present your results in an appropriate format. Importantly, there are also sport performance-based classes, where the emphasis is on linking theory with practice.

Computer-assisted sessions – Computer-assisted sessions are used to teach quantitative data analysis methods, during which you will be given the chance to practise analytical methods in a computer laboratory, equipped with sufficient terminals to allow everyone hands-on experience. Many of the laboratory practical sessions in physiology and biomechanics also incorporate the use of information technology in data collection, analysis and computer simulation.

How will we support and guide you?

Should you choose to study at Brunel you will be guided and supported from the admissions stage onwards. On entry to the University you will be allocated your own Personal Tutor who can give advice about any matter within their capability. If they can’t, then they can refer you to someone who can; for example, counselling, medical treatment or dyslexia support.

The tutor-student relationship normally lasts for the whole of the three-year period of your degree course. Hence on completing your degree and entering the world of work, there will be a member of staff ideally placed to write you an academic and character reference.

Assessment

In keeping with our passion for developing motivated and independent learners, we employ a broad range of assessment methods, including individual projects, oral presentations, group projects, essays, case studies, oral assessments, laboratory report writing, written examinations, computer-based tests and practical tasks (these include sports laboratory work and in-the-field performance). End-of-term formal written examinations frequently form at least part of the assessment of a module and may include a number of elements, for example multiple choice, written essays, short answers and data analysis questions.

Employability

We work closely with our award-winning Placement and Careers Centre to offer a broad range of opportunities for students to enhance their employment prospects while studying with us. Such opportunities include

• Sandwich placements in industry
• Sport-specific careers fairs – Careers in Sport
• study abroad at San Francisco State University
• Summer placements with members of teaching staff, as Research Assistants
• Internship opportunities (paid and unpaid) with local and national teams/organisations
• Local authority summer camp experience in coaching
• Links with professional bodies such as BASES and the BPS.
• Opportunities to gain coaching and personal trainer awards

On completion of their studies, students will be able to demonstrate proficiency in the following skills:

• Communication – written and oral (through assignments, research projects, and group presentations)
• Ability to work as part of a team through collaborative activity (eg group projects and presentations across all three levels).
• Ability to network: being able to form relationships and get to know people
• Ability to interpret different forms of data and work across different disciplines
• Willingness to learn and act independently when required
• Adaptability when confronted with different – and sometimes challenging - situations
• Ability to conduct research, analyse and interpret findings, both quantitative and qualitative independently
• Ability to prioritise workloads and work to deadlines/targets

Graduates have found positions with, among others, the UK and regional Sports Councils, national governing bodies for sport, international organisations, sports clothing/footwear companies, professional clubs and local authorities, as well as in the leisure industry, the pharmaceutical industry and the armed forces.

Careers

We prepare you for a broad range of career opportunities in a wide range of sport-related jobs, in such areas as coaching, consultancy, fitness testing and training, higher education and research, sport development, sport management, teaching, and youth work.

Graduates have found positions with, among others, the UK and regional Sports Councils, national governing bodies for sport, international organisations, sports clothing/footwear companies, professional clubs and local authorities, as well as in the leisure industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the armed forces.

Undergraduate study can prepare you for PGCert (Education) courses and Master’s degrees.

Placements

All Sport Sciences students can include a work placement year as part of their course. Current students are working at many different companies in the UK and overseas including Queens Park Rangers Football Club, the London Sports Trust and Quiksilver. We encourage all students to undertake a placement as research shows that these students secure better grades in their final year and earn significantly more upon graduation. In 2010 the difference in pay between graduates who had undertaken a placement and those who hadn’t was analysed. Graduates who had undertaken placements earned £4,412 more per year six months after graduating.

The main objective of the Work Placement is to give Sport Sciences undergraduates an opportunity to apply their knowledge of theory to practical problems in real-life situations. In this way the relevance of the theory becomes more apparent and often the application of knowledge leads to a deeper understanding of the theory itself.

Fees for 2013/14 entry

UK/EU students: £9,000 full-time; £6,750 part-time ; £1,000 placement year

International students: £13,500 full-time

We are introducing over 700 scholarships for 2013, meaning that one in five applicants who join Brunel next year will receive financial support from the University. See our fees and funding page for full details

Fees quoted are per annum and are subject to an annual increase.

Entry Requirements for 2013 Entry

• GCE A-level ABB, including a science or social science subject or PE at A-level (General Studies/Critical Thinking accepted).
• Irish Leaving Certificate AABBB, including a science or social science subject.
• Scottish Advanced Highers ABB, including a science or social science subject.
• Advanced Diploma Progression Diploma Grade A in Society, Health and Development, including an A-level at Grade C in a science, social science or physical education subject for Additional and Specialist Learning.
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma D*DD in a sport or a science subject.
• BTEC Level 3 Diploma DD in a sport or a science subject plus A in 1 A-level.
• IBDP 33 points.
• Access Complete and pass a related subject Access course with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 30 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. Applicants also need to demonstrate that they have substantial and relevant experience at a high level.

5 GCSEs or equivalent at Grade C or above are also required, to include English, mathematics and double or triple science (please note that these must have been gained by the time you submit your UCAS application).

A commitment to sport or exercise is expected from all applicants.

English Language Requirements

Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accept a range of other language courses. We also have a range of Pre-sessional English language courses, for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English.