Overview
Our BSc Sports Therapy aims to provide you with the knowledge base to underpin your practical skills and expertise in order to become eligible to register as a sports therapist. Our course focuses on employability and self-development, supporting you to become an autonomous practitioner upon graduation, confident in your practice yet aware of the need for continuing professional development.
Our course builds on the experience of delivering sports therapy. You develop a range of treatment options including electrotherapy, exercise therapy and manual therapies. In your final year, you will complete 200 hours of supervised clinical placements in our Sports Therapy Clinic and through external teams and clubs. During these placements, you will work and be supervised as Sports Therapists, practising elements of the profession that you have been taught.
A high proportion of our specialised teaching is practical-based in small classes and upon graduation you are eligible to register with the Society of Sports Therapists, allowing you to work independently in a clinical setting or with a team or club.
Being part of our School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences you will join a community focused on sports and exercise science, sports therapy and physiotherapy. We bring together our internationally recognised research, share knowledge, and enhance placement and vocational opportunities for our students and graduates.
We offer you one of the best student experiences around. You experience a lively, informal environment with many possibilities to pursue your own interests.
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
If you spend a full year abroad, you’ll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won’t pay any tuition fees to your host university.
Placement year
Alternatively, you can spend your third year on a placement year with an external organisation. These are usually sports teams or clubs and provide the opportunity for you to apply your academic knowledge in a practical working environment and develop your personal skills.
Organisations our students have recently been placed with include West Ham United Football Club, Colchester United Football Club, Colchester Rugby Club and Royal Hospital School.
If you complete a placement year, you’ll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.
Specialist facilities
Our School is based in our Essex Sport Arena at our Colchester Campus, where you’ll also find purpose-built accommodation to meet the needs of a growing and lively School.
We have a range of specialist clinical laboratories and IT facilities to assist you with the effective learning and acquisition of new skills. You also have access to the Centre for Sports and Exercise Science, which has five fully equipped Sports Science laboratories, state-of-the-art analytical equipment, and access to the equipment used by the Centre for Brain Science.
We offer excellent physical and online resources in terms of libraries, computer labs, datasets, archives and other research materials. You can take advantage of our links with the Institute of Social and Economic Research, which conducts large-scale survey projects, many for Government, EU and other public agencies, and has its own library. The UK Data Archive is also based at our Colchester Campus and stores national research data.
Your future
Graduates will be eligible to register as a sports therapist with the Society of Sports Therapists working as an independent private practitioner, with a team or in a sports and leisure club. There is an increasing emphasis on the use of exercise in health promotion which offers other opportunities.
The course also prepares students for postgraduate study, which could be in a range of areas including sports science, other healthcare professions (including nursing and physiotherapy) or teaching (PGCE teaching qualification) for example.
We also work with our University’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- Take advantage of having easy access to our brand new multi-million pound Essex Sport Arena and new lab facilities
- Work with elite athletes and gain experience in our renowned Human Performance Unit
- 91% of our School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences students are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2020)
Structure
Course structure
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
