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An example of the structure which will be followed by a full-time student normally would be:

Semester 1 (September – January)

• Applied techniques in sport physiology (15 credits)
• Training and conditioning for sports performance (15 credits)
• Physiological limits to human performance (15 credits)

Semester 2 (January – May)

• Training and monitoring in sport physiology (15 credits)
• Professional placement (30 credits)

Across Semester 1 and 2 (September – May)

• Advanced research methods (30 credits)

Semester 3 (May – September)

• Sports research project (60 credits)

Part time option

The course will normally take one academic year to complete. Part time students will complete the course over 2 years at least. The maximum registration periods allowed for the completion of these awards in part time mode (without credit on entry) is 6 years.

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of workshops, lectures, seminars, laboratory practicals and fieldwork, etc. Workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities.  Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures, and laboratory practicals are focused on developing subject specific skills and applied individual and group project work. In addition, postgraduate students will have a minimum of two meetings with their Personal Academic Tutors.

Contact time

Full time students are expected to study 60 credits per semester and have approximately 12 hours of ‘in-person’ contact time per week. Part time students are expected to study 30 credits per semester and have approximately 6 hours of ‘in-person’ contact time per week.

In addition, you'll attend two complete study days (16 hours) before their period of professional practice and are able to access 8 hours of tutorial support during the course of your Research Project study.  

Typically, class contact time will be structured around:

• 1 hour lecture
• 2 hours seminar or practical

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 7.5 hours of personal self-study per module per week. Typically, this will involve online study tasks, reading journal articles and completing formative assignments. The Sports Research Project requires substantial independent work and can be expected to require 600 hours of study. In addition, you are required to undertake 100 hours of placement activities as part of their Professional Placement in addition to the 16 hours of study days and 175 hours of personal self-study and assessment preparation. 

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including The Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Duration

• 1 year full time 
• Typically 2 years part-time

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments.  

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.  Assessment methods include a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations and a final research project.  

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to study pattern (i.e., part-time or full-time status) but a typical summative assessment pattern, for a full-time student, for each year of the course is:  

Semester 1  

• 1 Practical report file
• 1 Written athlete report
• 1 Individual presentation  
• 1 Unseen examination  

Semester 2

• 1 Video presentation
• 1 Placement portfolio  
• 1 Case study
• 1 Research proposal presentation  

Semester 3  

• Research project 

The precise assessment requirements for a part time student in an academic year will vary according to the modules selected. 

Feedback

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss this with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

Feedback on formal course work assessments is within 20 working days of hand-in.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics with research and consultancy experience, postgraduate students, laboratory technical staff and demonstrators. In addition, you can expect to receive sessions with guest lecturers who are currently engaged in sport and exercise science activities outside of the university. 

Teaching is informed by research and consultancy, and the majority of lecturers on the course have a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles. 

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment,