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“At the University of Bolton, we take great pride in providing a quality, supportive learning environment for our students.” Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
“...tutors are very supportive and you’re not just a student ID number, at this university you are an individual with a name.” Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
Want to champion sport and physical activity? If you’ve already completed a related foundation degree or HND, our BA (Hons) Sport Development and Coaching (top-up) course offers you honours-level skills and knowledge ready to boost your prospects for a career encouraging and enabling people to get active.
Key information
Award:
BA (Hons)
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
1 year
Location:
University of Bolton
UCAS code:
C608
Start date:
19/09/2022
Course Details
Sport isn’t just for elite athletes – it’s for everyone. Passionate, effective and inspiring sport and physical activity development professionals and community coaches are needed to get people moving, help them gain skills and confidence in their physical abilities, develop their sporting potential and adopt active lifestyle habits. Our BA (Hons) in Sport Development and Coaching (top-up) course seeks to enhance your existing foundation degree or HND-level knowledge and skills, and expand your opportunities in this varied and rewarding sector.
Expertly combining theory and practice, our dedicated team will guide you as you explore the principles, theories and methods of sport and physical activity development and coaching, as well as social, economic, and political factors affecting the industry. You’ll learn about the ways in which organisations work together to provide opportunities for sport, and different approaches used to engage and sustain physical activity among different inactive groups of the population.
You’ll have opportunities to support and deliver practical coaching sessions and sport and physical activity projects with community groups, gaining the skills, knowledge and confidence to organise your own coaching projects, sports and activity events. Our ambition is to help you become a skilled sport and physical activity professional, ready for a career helping disadvantaged groups enjoy physical activity and wellbeing benefits.
Highlights
Our Sports Science courses are ranked seventh in the UK and first in the North West of England by the Guardian University Guide 2022.
Also, The Times and the Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 ranks our Sports Science courses as first in the UK for teaching quality.
We offer a highly qualified and experienced team of sport, physical activity and coaching practitioners and academic staff with links to global sport and physical activity employers in the public, private and commercial, and voluntary community sectors.
You’ll be encouraged to attend our insightful guest lectures from renowned sports professionals and field trip visits. These will enhance your learning, help you make contacts in the industry and contribute to your professional development.
You’ll have the chance to gain further applied experience within the university’s vibrant sports culture, volunteering opportunities and links with community sport and physical activity programmes.
Key Features
Our on-campus facilities are based in the £31 million Bolton One building, including a multi-use gym, climbing wall, swimming pool, fully-equipped sports science laboratories, strength and conditioning suite, rehabilitation suite, and specialist classrooms.
We prefer to keep lecture and practical classes relatively small so that you have plenty of opportunities to ask our friendly, supportive staff for help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
We’ll support you to develop valuable transferable skills such as communication, independent and group working, research and critical evaluation, and project management that are highly sought after by employers.
Professional recognition
The University of Bolton is a leading HE Partner and seeking endorsement of this course with the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).
For direct entry to level HE6 (top-up), you need to have successfully completed either a foundation degree (FdSc) or an HND in Sport Development and Coaching, or a similar sport-related course.
You'll be required to attend an interview as part of the application process.
This course involves working unsupervised with children and/or vulnerable adults and all students must gain an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Disclosure certificate for a Child Workforce including Child Barred List checks, before starting their studies. Charges are payable to cover the cost of the DBS Enhanced Disclosure application and annual registration with the online Update Service.
It will be mandatory for you attend and complete an accredited First Aid and Safeguarding course within your first year, as these subsidised minimum standards for deployment are a University requirement of Fitness to Practice.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Sport development and coaching is one of the largest sectors of the sport and active leisure industry. Sports development and coaching careers involve making sure that people have the chance to take part in sport and ensure that all sections of the community are aware of available activities and where they can go to get involved.
This degree offers you the skills, knowledge, and ability to run your own coaching sessions, activity programmes and sports events. You’ll have the opportunity to develop a range of key employability skills, such as making decisions under pressure, written and oral communication skills, the ability to work with individuals and groups, self-motivation and the ability to motivate others, leadership, teamwork and planning.
Completing your honours-level studies should prove valuable in helping you achieve your career goals.
What can I do with this qualification?
Graduates seek employment in local authority sport and physical activity development units, schools, FE colleges, universities, fitness centres, county sport partnerships, and private sector organisations. You may choose to work with athletes on an individual basis or analyse team performance. Some of the more typical roles include teacher, sports development officer, sports coach, sports activity coordinator, sport events manager and fitness centre manager. Some graduates also go into self-employment by establishing their own coaching business.
If you are interested in teaching, this course allows you to move into primary or secondary education-based courses. Many graduates also undertake a PGCE and master’s qualification in sport management disciplines, developing specialist skills and experience.
Alternative career options
Many sport development and coaching graduates pursue opportunities outside the sport sector in industries such as business, finance, marketing, education and sales. Some roles require further study and work experience. Possible alternative roles include:
Sports centre management
Active leisure amenities management
Teaching and education
Youth work
Research and analysis
Community engagement
Public health promotion
Behaviour change and active lifestyle
Public relations/consultancy
Sports promotion and sponsorship
Elite and high-performance sport
Parks and recreation
Course fees
Home Fees
Year of study
Total
Entry year
2022/23
2023/24
2022
£9,250
-
£9,250
International
Year of study
Total
Entry year
2022/23
2023/24
2022
£12,950
-
£12,950
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2021-2022 academic year:
EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for ‘Home’ fee status.
If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for ‘Home’ fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
Please read the
student finance eligibility 2021-2022 policy on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student’s course of study will be set for the
normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in
March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
For 2021-2022 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year.
The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2021-2022 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
If you wish to apply for multiple institutions or multiple courses at Bolton for September entry, then appy through UCAS
You can apply for up to 5 courses through UCAS (at the same or different institutions) for a fee of £26.50.
Alternatively, if you only wish to apply for a single course at a single institution then a reduced applicant's
fee of £22 is applicable.
The online application form and guidance notes are available on the
UCAS website.
You will need the following information to complete your UCAS application form:
If you wish to apply for a single course offered by the University of Bolton for any intake, you can apply directly
If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best option for
you, you may apply directly to the University using our online application form shown below.
A direct application to Bolton provides the following features:
Free of charge to apply
Secure, simple and streamlined
Contact us directly for any admissions queries
Regular updates on your application directly from the University
Invites to offer holder events and taster sessions where you can meet your future tutors and get a flavour of university life
NOTE: You cannot apply both through UCAS and directly to Bolton. Submitting an application to any university through UCAS during
the same academic year will void any direct application you make to Bolton.
For courses starting in September, please be aware that we are required to share your information with UCAS if we accept you on this course.
We will create a simplified UCAS acceptance record on your behalf and return this to UCAS. By submitting your application directly to the
University of Bolton, you agree to these terms.
If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.
Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.
If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select
the correct application link from the list below.
Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format.
Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page.
If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or
UGadmissions@bolton.ac.uk
The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world.
We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.
How you apply is determined by your current location and what you are choosing to study:
Apply direct to the University. Links for the next available intakes of this course are shown below.
Please click the link which will direct you to the online application form. Please read the user
guidance before completing this.
Apply via one of our approved in-country referral partners. A list of our partners may be found on the
International pages of this website.
Apply via UCAS for courses starting in September only – visit
www.ucas.com.
Should you have any queries please contact the International Team on +44 (0) 1204 903110 or email
international@bolton.ac.uk
Bolton College
University Collegiate School
Alliance Learning
University of Bolton
For valued members of the University of Bolton Group and progressing students, we try to make our application
process as simple and as fast as possible.
If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best
option for you, you may apply free of charge to the University. By selecting the appropriate link from the
list shown below, you will be taken directly to our online application form. Please read the user guidance
before completing this, and ensure you upload all supporting documents such as certificates and your
personal statement when you apply.
When you are asked to add a contact email address, please ensure you add your college/university email
account address as well as your personal address. If you do not add your college address as your contact
address, we will be unable to identify you as a partner and offer you the benefits of being part of our group.
NOTE: You cannot apply both through UCAS and directly to Bolton. Submitting an application to any university through UCAS during
the same academic year will void any direct application you make to Bolton.
For courses starting in September, please be aware that we are required to share your information with UCAS
if we accept you on this course. We will create a simplified UCAS acceptance record on your behalf and return
this to UCAS. By submitting your application directly to the University of Bolton, you agree to these terms.
If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.
Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.
If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select
the correct application link from the list below.
Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including email addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format.
Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page.
If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or
UGadmissions@bolton.ac.uk
We look forward to receiving your application and you continuing your academic journey with us!
We use a combination of face-to-face teaching, and directed and independent study. Knowledge, skills and understanding are developed through a wide range of teaching methods including lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops, live projects, coaching practicals and tutorials. You’ll also have access to our virtual learning environment, with online learning resources.
Presentations and masterclasses by guest speakers are used throughout the programme to enhance employability and to make the link between theory and practice.
In terms of assessment, you can expect coursework (usually essays and reports), written examinations, practical assessments (particularly for coaching modules), skills portfolios, oral or poster presentations, a final year dissertation, and others. Some of these will contribute to your final marks and allow you to demonstrate that you’ve met the learning outcomes for the course. Other assessments will help you learn, provide you with feedback and inform your development, though these will not count towards your final marks.
You’ll also receive feedback on assessment drafts. These will help to identify any areas which would benefit from extra attention on your part, or where you need extra support from your tutor.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
Sport and Physical Activity Dissertation
International Sport for Development
Enhancing Physical Health and Wellbeing in Local Populations
Physical Education and School Sport
Assessment methods
Level
Assesment method
Level one
Coursework 70%, Practical exams 20%, Written exams 10%
Learning activities
Level
Learning activity
Level one
Guided independent study 78%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 22%
Disclaimer
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
