Overview
Our BSc in Sports Coaching aims to produce exceptional coaches who are competent, confident and reflective, with strong practical application of scientific knowledge and theoretical frameworks. You will have a wide range of opportunities to develop your coaching practice with an emphasis on optimal youth development.
This course will provide a wealth of opportunities for you to develop your practical coaching skills and knowledge of coaching theories that underpin the development of participants in sports and exercise settings. A large element of the taught content and assessment will be practical to allow you to apply theory to practice. This approach will allow you to immerse yourself in the coaching process through developing knowledge of the needs of the participants, understanding how to create an engaging learning environment and developing your ability to reflect upon your coaching experiences.
Why Coventry University?
An award-winning university, we are committed to providing our students with the best possible experience. We continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach to education. Our students benefit from industry-relevant teaching, and resources and support designed to help them succeed. These range from our modern library and computing facilities to dedicated careers advice and our impressive Students’ Union activities.
To ensure an optimised and continual student experience, the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via emerging online technologies and methods across all courses.
Global ready
An international outlook, with global opportunitiesEmployability
Career-ready graduates, with the skills to succeedTeaching Excellence
Taught by lecturers who are experts in their fieldCourse essentials
A degree which offers you more, at no extra costOur Facilities
Sports Therapy Clinic
The Sports Therapy Clinic is run by final year Sports Therapy students under the supervision of qualified staff with second year students providing a supervised massage clinic twice a week..
SuperLab
The Alison Gingell building contains a state-of-the-art SuperLab, capable of holding up to 270 people at once. The lab's facilities include equipment for microscopy, DNA analysis and forensic testing.
Strength and Conditioning Suite
Our multi-purpose suite is equipped with multiple Olympic lifting platforms, a 20m gait analysis track, an anti-gravity treadmill and even a 3D motion capture system!
Course information
Sports coaching plays an important role in encouraging/inspiring people a range of abilities, backgrounds and ages to engage in sports and physical activity.
Throughout the course you will explore and apply various pedagogical approaches, applied sport science and sport development topics. The degree is designed to allow you to develop a holistic approach to coaching across a range of sports and exercise settings,for individuals and teams,at varying ages and ability levels, from grassroots to elite level sport. You will develop communication skills, leadership skills and adaptability, be able to recognise talent and to help participants to achieve their potential.
An exciting aspect of the course is not only a national governing body coaching qualification you are able to gain within the course (included in your course fees) but also the range of practical experience that is also offered both within teaching sessions and on optional work experience placements.
The course will suit students wishing to pursue careers in sports coaching, sports development, leisure management, teaching, and community programmes. We also have appropriate MSc courses that graduates would be well prepared to progress onto, enabling them to gain specialist skills relating to development of sporting potential or lifelong physical activity in children and adolescents.
Course Specification
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Modules
In more detail...
- Effective coaching is key to developing a strong personal interest, physical literacy and athletic development. With Coventry having been the European City of Sport in 2019 and Birmingham hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2022, this is a time for building great sporting opportunities and a legacy of not only an active nation but of sporting success. This course is designed to meet the demand for highly qualified coaches to support school and sporting organisations, both locally and nationally.
- Based in the state-of-the-art Alison Gingell Building, you can take full advantage of our cutting-edge facilities, including indoor running track and extensive exercise science laboratories. A high percentage of the staff delivering our current sport related courses within the School of Life Sciences have higher degrees and hold the Higher Education Academy accredited Coventry University Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education or an equivalent qualification. In addition, many staff are Fellows or Senior Fellows of the Higher Education Academy.
- Many of our staff members have competed or coached at a high level, working with both elite and amateur participants in sport. Most staff maintain membership of professional institutions, such as accredited sport governing bodies, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES), the Physiological Society, the British Psychological Society, the UK Strength and Conditioning Association, American College of Sports Medicine and/or European College of Sports Sciences. Importantly, we have a team of staff and students working with many local schools on physical activity research projects, which may enable you to be involved in research and projects designed to enhance your coaching skills. In addition to the coaching experience embedded in the course, we also have the ability to provide good quality placements/work experience connections for coaching opportunities in local sports clubs*.
*Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.
- Employability development will be a key theme embedded throughout the degree both implicitly and explicitly. The structure of the course allows you to continually develop your career plan.
- Expert guest lecturers specialising in a range of different areas related to coaching
- The course aims to give not only the skills to be an exceptional sports coach but a range of employment related skills such as leadership, teamwork and communication required to gain employment in the graduate job market.
- The opportunity to gain coaching qualifications in several sports embedded within the curriculum
- Research inspired teaching is a thread that runs throughout our courses at every level and opportunities for you to engage with ongoing projects will bring an added dimension to your learning.
- Staff teaching on the degree programme will be actively engaged in scholarship, creating an opportunity for you to explore and develop an understanding of current research in contemporary topics in sport coaching.
- The opportunity to gain international experience through a range of field trips and online projects
Your main study themes are:
- Sports coaching: Using scientific knowledge to plan, execute and evaluate coaching practice. Employing innovative and creative methods within coaching sessions to support participant development.
- Reflective practice: Develop self-awareness and a range of methods to allow an understanding of application and techniques used in coaching. Use of reflective practice to produce a change in practice.
- Professional practice: Professional competency in your ongoing professional development experiences related to knowledge, teamwork, leadership, management and international perspectives to inform your career journey.
- Sport and exercise science: The application of sport and exercise science principles to sports coaching, including exercise physiology, biomechanics and psychology.
The course is available as a three or four-year course, with the four-year incorporating a work placement or study year in a related field.
A variety of teaching methods including lectures, seminars, tutorials, group work and practical skills sessions will be used to develop experimental/practical techniques and develop the ability to design, implement and reflect upon coaching practice.
A series of workshops will be delivered during the first year of study with the aim of developing your scientific writing, research and sports laboratory skills. In sports laboratory sessions, you will learn key experimental techniques and develop essential experimental, data handling, reporting and broader scientific skills, such as literature researching, information technology, bioinformatics, data processing and the use of statistics.
Throughout the course, you will receive insight from the latest research and input from current practitioners.
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes. Assessments will include a variety of methods which could vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods include portfolios, coaching observations, coursework, tests, essays, group work, presentations/posters, reflections and practical or project work.
On successful completion, you will have knowledge of:
- A systematic understanding of key aspects of sports coaching theory and practice, including acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge informed by research at the forefront of the field
- An ability to deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry relating to sports coaching and performance
- Conceptual understanding that enables you: - to devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of sports coaching - to describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, relevant to your studies
- The ability to manage your own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, reviewed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to the discipline)
In a typical teaching week, you will have approximately 14-16 contact hours of teaching. This generally breaks down as:
- Personal tutorial/small group teaching
- Medium group teaching
- Large group teaching
Our sandwich degree option allows a full-year work placement, which can be taken abroad, or you can undertake a study year abroad*. The University runs several specific schemes to allow you periods of overseas study or work experience and the University offers multiple grants to enable such visits ( grants awarded by the University are subject to availability and competitive application). A number of students in our School have been successful in securing places on these schemes for example in Spain, France, Canada and the US.
The department has research links with organisations in Canada, Brazil and Australia, and you can apply to progress to postgraduate study with these organisations. Teaching staff also ensure that they bring their internationally rated research expertise into their teaching.
*Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.
Global ready
Did you know we help more students travel internationally than any other UK university according to data from the experts in higher education data and analysis, HESA?
In 2018/19, we were able to provide a total of 5,469 experiences abroad that lasted at least five days.
Much of this travel is made possible through our Global Leaders Programme, which enables students to prepare for the challenges of the global employment market, as well as strengthening and developing their broader personal and professional skills.
Explore our international experiences1st for
international experiences
Sending more students overseas than any other UK uni 2016/17
5,469
Student experiences
The number of student trips abroad for at least 5 days in 2018/19
12,000
and counting
The number of students we’ve helped travel internationally since 2016
12
global programmes
As well as trips, we offer other opportunities like language courses
Entry Requirements
Tuition Fees
We pride ourselves on offering competitive tuition fees which we review on an annual basis and offer a wide range of scholarships to support students with their studies. Course fees are calculated on the basis of what it costs to teach each course and we aim for total financial transparency.
For more information, please visit our Finance pages.
Course essentials at no extra cost
We're committed to communicating study costs clearly to make sure you're not faced with having to make any unexpected payments.
This is why our ‘Flying Start’ package provides you with a few course essentials. Your full-time fee for an undergraduate degree will cover the following:
UK field trips
Any mandatory site visits and trips within the United Kingdom.Key material
This can include core textbooks, software and equipment.Laser prints
1,000 A4 sides of black and white laser printing credits per year.Optional year
Pay no tuition fees for optional work placements or study abroad trips.This course may incur additional costs associated with any optional or international field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity which could include (but is not limited to), equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas).
Any optional training course and assessment fee to gain Coaching and Gym Instructor qualifications
Career prospects
Graduate Immigration Route visa
Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.
The course will suit students wishing to pursue jobs in teaching, sports coaching, sports development, leisure management, armed forces training, fitness trainer and community programmes. We also have appropriate MSc courses that graduates would be well prepared to progress onto, enabling them to gain specialist skills relating to development of sporting potential or lifelong physical activity in children and adolescents.
Disclaimer
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2020/21 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.
The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.
For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.
