Becoming a highly employable strength and conditioning coach – developing your knowledge, skills and interpersonal attributes, alongside a holistic understanding of optimising athletic performance.
Critically understand the scientific principles underpinning strength and conditioning.
Develop your coaching expertise through pedagogical and experiential learning.
Gain real-world knowledge through live coaching and work experience.
Coach athletes to enhance your skills in programme design and implementation.
Advance sport and exercise science with cutting-edge independent research.
On this course you’ll explore exercise physiology, biomechanics and sports nutrition, while developing your practical coaching skills through experiential learning. You’ll prepare to identify and evaluate people’s physical needs – designing and implementing tailored strength and conditioning interventions. You’ll graduate with the knowledge and skills to work in various athletic sectors, from professional sports to private coaching.

Work placements

You’ll be able to arrange a work placement as a key component of your course. This gives you real-world experience to prepare you for your future career – and is an opportunity to undertake applied work to improve your practice in a relevant setting. Previously our students have worked in professional clubs and teams, in some cases at sporting organisations around the world.

Live projects

You’ll work with real athletes as part of your programme of study. This gives you the opportunity to develop your knowledge, skills and understanding – as well as your confidence as a practitioner in the field.

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

This course offers a progressive and challenging learning experience, grounded in real-world experiential learning. You’ll evaluate evidence-based coaching models and have a number of real-world practical opportunities to deliver them.

You’ll be taught by world-class practitioners and researchers with a wealth of coaching and applied experience. All the course content is developed specifically for this course – ensuring it’s cutting-edge, world-leading and practically applied.

You learn through

• practical workshops
• live coaching experiences
• seminars and lectures
• formative tasks and problem-based learning
• online activities and self-directed study
• projects

This course prepares you for a career in

• strength and conditioning coaching
• applied sports science
• research
• academia

Previous graduates have gone on to work for

• the English Institute of Sport 
• governing bodies such as GB Boxing
• professional sports teams such as Sunderland FC, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday
• higher education institutes such as Leeds University and Derby University
• themselves, as self-employed coaches in business

You’ll have access to a range of facilities and equipment to help develop your knowledge and skills in the delivery and analysis of physical education and school sport. These include:

• Sport-specific training facilities at the UK Sports Institute and the Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park

 

• Physiology and biomechanics laboratories, equipped with equipment to capture and analyse movement and physical activity data

 

• A bespoke strength and conditioning teaching laboratory
• Physical activity suites 
• A performance analysis suite, equipped with a range of equipment to analyse sport performance such as video analysis software and motion capture systems
• An environmental chamber
• Sport psychology consultation rooms

 

The following entrance requirements are expected of all learners:

• a good honours degree, at 2:1 or above, in strength and conditioning, sport science, exercise science, or:
• a good honours degree in a relevant science discipline, or:
• an alternative qualification with a suitable concentration of relevant science (at the discretion of the course leader)

Non-standard applications will also be considered on a case-by-case basis; the course leader will arrange an informal interview with applicants where this is appropriate. Applicants with formal experience of working in applied sport settings without an undergraduate degree will also be considered at the discretion of the course leader.

For international applicants, the following is also required:

• IELTS of level 6 or above, including a minimum of 5.5 in all areas (or equivalent).

Important notice:

 

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

Final Year Compulsory modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Advanced Testing And Monitoring In Strength And Conditioning	30	Coursework Practical
Applied Project In Sport And Physical Activity	60	Coursework
Coaching Of Strength And Conditioning	30	Coursework
Planning And Programming For Strength And Conditioning	30	Coursework Practical
Research Methods In Sport And Physical Activity	30	Coursework