Overview
On this sport and exercise course, you’ll look at the role that biomechanics, physiology, and psychology play in enhancing human performance and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. You'll look at how these disciplines interact, so you receive the complete education a multi-disciplinary sport and exercise scientist needs.
You will:
- Explore the breadth of sport and exercise science with the chance to study optional modules in performance analysis, strength and conditioning, nutrition, data analytics or chronic health conditions.
- Learn in our specialist SportsDock facility which has state-of-the-art laboratories, a performance analysis suite, a brain lab, and functional screening equipment. This will parallel the equipment you’ll use in your sport and exercise science career.
- Benefit from lived experiences of professional teams such as East London Phoenix wheelchair basketball
- Follow in the footsteps of previous Olympic and Paralympic sport graduates such as Adam Gemili, Aimee Willmott, Bianca Williams and Vanessa Wallace.
This course is in Clearing
Our LLM course is a top choice
UEL’s LLM programme has been recognised as a top choice in the latest PTES survey, achieving 1st place rankings for satisfaction, teaching and more.
Study BSc Sport and Exercise Science
Learn more about our BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science course with our students and academics.
What makes this course different
BASES accredited
This sport and exercise science course is accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES).
Learn about our accreditationWorld class sports facilities
You'll have unrivalled access to our £21 million sporting hub, Sports Dock. Our facilities include industry standard sports science laboratories, equipped with technology commonly used by elite sporting organisations.
Highly rated by our students
Ranked second in London for Assessment and Feedback. Additionally, 100 per cent of respondents were positive about the Teaching and Academic Support provided. - NSS 2024
Accreditation
BASES Accredited
This course is accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, which will benefit your career in sport and exercise science.
Course modules
These modules will form a foundation of knowledge at the start of your sport and exercise science degree.
The beauty of sharing a first year with your colleagues from our Sports Coaching and Sport, Physical Education and Development courses is that you can swap to one of those courses at the end of year one if you wish.
In year two of your sport and exercise science degree, you'll complete a mixture of compulsory and optional modules. The options include Disability, Sport & PE, Principles & Practice in Teaching & Coaching and Inclusion in Youth Sport & PE.
For your final-year project, there's more scope to specialise, allowing you to focus on areas of sport and exercise science that are of particular interest to you.
NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.
Download course specification
Your future career
Many exciting careers in the sports, exercise and health fields are available to you. We will showcase these through live experiences in our teaching while you study. Every sport and exercise science student has the opportunity to take work placements either paid or voluntarily and build relationships with sports organisations and schools before they graduate. Our placement officer has close links with organisations like West Ham United and Millwall, giving you the sport and exercise science skills to become a highly distinguishable graduate when you enter your future career.
Industry links
We have strong links with industry leaders in sport, exercise and health which we make the most of through working with real people in real situations in the field. Many organisations use our student-led clinics in SportsDock where you gain hands-on experience working with elite athletes, army personnel, Parkinson's patients and our own East London Sport teams. This experience will help you in your sport and exercise science career.
Graduate employers
Our sport and exercise science graduates have gone on to work for employers as varied as the NHS, the National Basketball Association (NBA), Arsenal FC, Leyton Orient FC and the London Borough of Newham. The number of roles in exercise and health settings working with specialist populations in referral programmes or behaviour change is ever-expanding offering an increase in graduate-level opportunities.
Job roles
Sport and exercise science graduates enter the workforce in any number of roles including; strength and conditioning specialists, performance analysts, exercise physiologists, and private and community coaches and teachers. We encourage our students to think creatively about their future careers and as such we have a significant number who go on to be self-employed or set up small and midsized enterprises.
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.
Further study
Sport and exercise science graduates may choose to move on to one of our postgraduate courses in Strength and Conditioning, Sports Psychology, Sport Analytics or Sport & Exercise Physiology.
UEL Sport and Exercise Science graduates have also gone on to study in areas such as cognitive neuroscience and medical physiology at some of the most prestigious institutions in the UK. Some of our graduates go on to a career in teaching via our PGCE Physical Education course with our School of Education & Communities where as a UEL student we provide support for your application and interview technique.
My placement with Colchester United helped me be confident in applying for my dream job. I now work for FIFA as a Tournament Analyst"Jack Little
BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science
How you'll learn
Our innovative Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) approach enhances face-to-face learning by providing students with scheduled on-campus contact hours and additional learning opportunities. Through our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), students can access course materials and resources beyond their scheduled hours. We offer access to industry-standard technology and specialised spaces to prepare students for their future careers. Dedicated time for activities and development, along with a holistic approach to learning, fosters academic, personal, and professional growth. Students benefit from career support through on-campus and virtual Career Zones, personalised support services, and a dedicated online portal, Track My Future (TMF).
Guided independent study
When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, specialist facilities, such as game labs, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.
Academic support
Students are supported with academic or subject-related queries by a programme director, module leaders, academic advisors (you’ll have an academic advisor from the teaching team as soon as you arrive with us), and university central support services.
Dedicated personal tutor
If you need a bit of extra help with certain skills such as academic writing, English, maths, or statistics, academic tutors offer workshops, drop-in sessions, and one-to-one appointments to help you achieve your potential.
You can receive advice and guidance on all aspects of the IT systems provided by the university from our IT Service Desks located on all three campuses. Our Student Support hubs feature centralised helpdesks.
UEL provides support and advice for disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties (SPDs).
Workload
Each of the sport and exercise science modules is worth 20 credits which equates to 200 guided learning hours. This includes 4 hours of face-to-face contact per week which would typically be made up from lectures, seminars, practicals and tutorials.
Your timetable
Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.
Class sizes
The sport and exercise sciences degree benefits from the inclusion of shared modules in term 1 of the first year so that students can get a grounding in some of the general principles and study skills that underpin the course. From there the course has optional modules each year that complement the core programme of study. As such, class sizes in year 1 are larger than in the final year where you would typically expect to be in a group lecture of around 50 students. The seminars and practical sessions are broken down so these sessions run with approximately 25 students offering more focussed teaching and a lot of time to ask questions and check understanding.
How you'll be assessed
We'll assess you with a mixture of coursework and exams. Coursework includes essays, research reports, group and seminar presentations and a final-year project. Most of the assessment in your first year is by coursework and we'll give you as much feedback as possible. The balance of coursework and exams in year two will depend on your optional choices. In your third year, half of your assessment will be based on research coursework and a work placement.
Breakdown of assessment:
- Year 1 = Exam (35%), Laboratory or Practical Assessment (33%), Portfolio/Coursework (15%), Presentation (8.5%), Report (8.5%)
- Year 2 = Portfolio/Coursework (42%), Laboratory or Practical Assessment (18%), Presentation (17%), Report (15%), Exam (8%).
- Year 3 = Portfolio/Coursework (60%), Presentation (17%), Exam (15%), Report (8%)
Campus and facilities
Our campus and the surrounding area
Our waterfront campus in the historic Royal Docks provides a modern, well-equipped learning environment.
Join us and you'll be able to make the most of our facilities including contemporary lecture theatres and seminar rooms, art studios and exhibition spaces, audio and visual labs and a multimedia production centre.
Features include our 24/7 Docklands library, our £21m SportsDock centre, a campus shop and bookstore, the Children's Garden Nursery, cafés, eateries, a late bar, plus Student Union facilities, including a student lounge.
The University of East London is one of the few London universities to provide on-campus accommodation. Our Docklands Campus Student Village houses close to 1,200 students from around the world. We are well connected to central London and London City Airport is just across the water. We also run a free bus service that connects Docklands with Stratford campuses.
Who teaches this course
This course is delivered by School of Health, Sport and Bioscience
The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.
- Course leader
Richard Mark Buscombe
Department of Bioscience and Sport, School Of Health, Sport And Bioscience - Course leader
Dr Andy Galbraith
Department of Bioscience and Sport, School Of Health, Sport And Bioscience - Course leader
Dr Gary Doyle
Department of Bioscience and Sport, School Of Health, Sport And Bioscience - Course leader
Dr Alireza Monajati
Department of Bioscience and Sport, School Of Health, Sport And Bioscience - Course leader
James Beale
Department of Bioscience and Sport, School Of Health, Sport And Bioscience - Course leader
Richard Avery
Office of the Health Campus, School Of Health, Sport And Bioscience
What our students and staff say
I chose UEL because they offered the course I wanted to study and saw the progress they were making in sports. Previous students told me how good the lecturers were at delivering the course. Being at UEL opened up some great opportunities for me, including working with the US Olympic team and placements at Leyton Orient Football Club and Mile End Hospital."
Samuel Amponsah
Sport and Exercise Science, BSc (Hons)
What inspires me is the idea of paying it forward…throughout my education I had many people support me along my learning journey and seeing current and former students that I have taught do the same for other young people is extremely humbling."
Mo Jafar
Senior lecturer in Sport, PE and Development