Applied Sport & Exercise Science MSc

Coach or athlete? Sports support staff? Recent graduate in this area? Whatever your role, wherever you want your career to go next, boost your employability in sport and exercise science with real-world experience, research expertise and applied skills.

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Overview

Course length:	1 year full-time 2 years part-time
Start dates:	September 2025 September 2026
Location:	Edge Hill University
Example offers:	2:1 or above (or equivalent) in a relevant sports-related discipline View full entry criteria
Subject(s):	Sport and Physical Activity
Faculty:	Arts and Sciences
Department:	Sport and Physical Activity

Sport and Exercise Science students make notes on a sheet of A2 paper during a workshop.

Designed for recent graduates and practitioners, our MSc Applied Sport & Exercise Science will help you explore the sciences underpinning performance. This course is a great match for anyone working in community or professional sport, including coaches, current and former athletes, and sports support staff.

Becoming confident in the lab is important, but we know it’s equally valuable to look at different factors in the real world. At Edge Hill University, you’ll benefit from our applied approach – carrying out a mix of lab and field-based activities. You’ll also learn how different disciplines share ideas to understand performance.

Boost your understanding of biomechanics, physiology and psychology in theory and practice. Hone transferable skills that support career development. Enhance your employability and show you’ve got the skills for the role you really want.

You’ll study a combination of core and optional sport and exercise science modules. This will help you combine knowledge and practical techniques with the opportunity to explore strength and conditioning, or mental health awareness in community or elite sports.

Course features

International students can apply
Professional practice placements

What you'll study

Your postgraduate study in applied sport & exercise science is all about improving your knowledge of theory while mastering practical skills. Benefit from placement opportunities and build your expertise in specialist research.

With optional modules, you can gear the course to your goals. Pick from strength and conditioning, mental health awareness in community sport, or mental health awareness for performance sport athletes.

Completing a research project will give you the chance to focus on what interests you. You might even get the opportunity to present your findings to academics, practitioners, and other representatives of relevant organisations in the field.

Compulsory modules:

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Advanced Research Project enables you to engage in an in-depth advanced research project specialising your focus on a relevant area of interest. The project will be written-up in the form of a journal article based on the styles and conventions of an international peer-reviewed journal. You may also have the opportunity to disseminate your findings to external audiences. This might provide the opportunity to engage with academics, practitioners, and/or other representatives of relevant organisations in the field.

Module code: SPT4901

Credits: 60

Assessment

80% Coursework

20% Practical

Advanced Work Placement in the Sport and Exercise Sciences draws together key aspects of professional and applied practice to enable you to apply theory to practice in applied and vocational settings. You will undertake a concerted period of professional experience within a sport and exercise environment, where you can apply the knowledge and skills acquired in lectures, workshops, practical sessions and previous professional practice to real-life situations. The module enables you to increase your awareness of work-based culture, enhancing your practical competencies and building your self-confidence and adaptability. You will also develop transferable skills such as team working, communication, time management, organisational skills, initiative, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.

Module code: SPT4403

Credits: 40

Assessment

70% Coursework

30% Practical

Critical Competencies for Applied Exercise and Health equips you with the advanced knowledge, skills and abilities that are essential within exercise and health settings. Within exercise science, the competencies required of a practitioner have evolved over time and there is an increased need for an appreciation of the core areas of clinical, exercise and health. The module will equip you with a range of competencies that are essential for ensuring safe and effective client outcomes and health interventions, consistent with current guidelines. You will gain experience of applying your expertise to different populations and develop a range of transferable skills in planning, time management and organisation.

Module code: SPT4402

Credits: 20

Assessment

70% Practical

30% Coursework

Critical Issues in Research provides you with the knowledge and skills to complete a research based project at Master’s level. You will engage with the essential considerations of research design, developing the competencies and skills specifically relating to your research project, for example in data collection, analysis and interpretation. You will gain a detailed understanding of the application of research to sport and exercise settings, systematically evaluate dominant methodologies and their application in research, and comprehensively review and evaluate the research literature in a chosen area of study.

Module code: SPT4903

Credits: 20

Assessment

60% Coursework

40% Practical

One of:

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Mental Health Awareness for Community Sports Participants and Practitioners will develop your awareness of mental health and illness among community sports participants and practitioners and examine how mental health can be understood in community sport settings. In particular, the module explores the ways in which groups including coaches, volunteers, staff members, managers and other community sport providers can effectively address the mental health needs of sport participants for whom they are responsible, whether in sports programmes or other areas of organisational life. The module reflects upon the opportunities and challenges of promoting positive mental health in community sports organisations, in addition to the workplace setting more broadly, and discusses the role of mentoring, education and peer leadership in developing mental health awareness among those who seek to promote mental health in community sport organisations and settings.

Module code: SPT4736

Credits: 20

Assessment

100% Coursework

Mental Health Awareness for Performance Sport Athletes and Practitioners will develop your awareness of mental health and illness among performance sport athletes (throughout their careers and post-sport lives) and practitioners. The module will consider how mental health can be understood in performance sport settings and explore the ways in which groups including coaches, welfare officers, performance and support staff, and managers can effectively address the mental health needs of the performance sport athletes for whom they are responsible. Whether in performance settings or other areas of lifestyle management, the module reflects upon the opportunities and challenges of promoting positive mental health in performance sports organisations, as well as in the workplace setting more broadly. The role of mentoring, education and peer leadership in developing mental health awareness among athletes and other performance sports workers will also be discussed.

Module code: SPT4737

Credits: 20

Assessment

100% Coursework

Critical Issues in Strength and Conditioning involves the critical analysis and application of contemporary practices in strength and conditioning research. The module will explore the need for different strength and conditioning approaches and programmes, depending on athletes’ needs. This will include the issues of strength and conditioning training for young athletes, senior athletes, and those with particular physical (dis)abilities. You will gain a comprehensive understanding of the empirical foundations of contemporary training methods, systematically design an original planned training programme in a selected sport, and enhance your overall understanding of performance assessment in sport.

Module code: SPT4832

Credits: 20

Assessment

70% Coursework

30% Practical

How you'll study

The course takes a hands-on approach, with practical experience gained in our purpose-built and well-equipped laboratories. Teaching strategies include lectures, small group seminars, tutorials, workshops, taught practical sessions and ICT-based learning. In addition, there will be fieldwork, directed independent study, and supervised individual research. You can also gain experience of professional practice in sport and exercise science. For each module you will have a detailed booklet that tells you what sessions are about, what to read, how you will be assessed and coursework guidance.

How you'll be assessed

You will be assessed through a range of methods including essays, projects and lab reports, oral presentations, poster presentations, practical activity, portfolios and an independent research project.

Who will be teaching you

The Sport & Exercise Science team are highly experienced and enthusiastic and have a real commitment to teaching sport and exercise sciences. Dynamic, friendly and supportive of your individual needs, staff are actively involved in national and international research and publish on a regular basis in international, peer-reviewed journals. Staff also regularly undertake consultancy projects that influence the development of sport and exercise science on a regional and national basis and directly feed into the course.

You can expect to receive your timetable at enrolment. Please note that while we make every effort to ensure that timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day or evening of the week.

Where your course includes optional modules, these are to provide an element of choice within the course curriculum. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by timetabling requirements. Some restrictions on optional module choice or combinations of optional modules may apply.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements (2025 / 2026)

You should have a degree equivalent to UK first-class or upper second-class honours (2:1 or above) in a relevant sports-related discipline. GCSE English Language and GCSE Mathematics at Grade C or Grade 4 or above (or equivalent) are also required.

Relevant professional qualifications and/or appropriate work experience will also be considered and assessed on an individual basis.

English language requirements

International students require IELTS 6.5, with a score no lower than 6.0 in each individual component, or an equivalent English language qualification.

If your current level of English is half a band, one band, or one-and-a-half bands lower, either overall or in one or two elements, you may want to consider our Pre-Sessional English course.

How to apply

There is an online application process for this course. The application links for 2025 entry will be added here when they are available.

Apply for September 2025 Full-Time

Apply for September 2025 Part-Time

Should you accept an offer of a place to study with us and formally enrol as a student, you will be subject to the provisions of the regulations, rules, codes, conditions and policies which apply to our students. These are available at www.edgehill.ac.uk/studentterms.

Facilities

Wilson Centre The Department of Sport and Physical Activity places a strong emphasis on practical work underpinned by outstanding facilities. There are dedicated laboratories in performance analysis, biomechanics, physiology, psychology, musculoskeletal, biochemistry, vision analysis, sleep, exercise and performance, and functional rehabilitation, as well as a sports therapy clinic.

Extensive use is also made of the on-campus leisure facilities which include top-of-the-range 3G football and rugby pitches, hockey pitches, tennis courts, competition-standard athletics track and an athletics field. Our sports centre boasts a 25-metre swimming pool, double sports hall for badminton, basketball, netball and squash, a 100-station fitness suite, aerobics studio and a health suite with sauna and steam rooms.

Where you'll study

Learning resources

The biochemistry laboratory enables you to collect and accurately analyse a wide range of metabolites, using the latest technology, to determine the physiological responses of athletes and others, to a variety of exercise stresses such as running, cycling and rowing.

Additional learning resources include high quality eye-tracking systems in a specialist vision analysis laboratory where you can measure hand-eye coordination, ocular-motor control, reaction times, cognition and other mechanisms associated with visual perception.

Musculoskeletal assessment tools combine with a dedicated strength and conditioning area in our MSk laboratory, while in the Sleep, Exercise and Performance laboratory you can measure the responses of individuals to sleep, sleep deprivation and changes in the circadian rhythms of a variety of biological processes.

Finance

Tuition fees

£9,250

for the course

£51 per credit

for 180 credits

£17,000

for the course

The University may administer a small inflationary rise in tuition fees, in line with Government policy, in subsequent academic years as you progress through the course.

EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as Irish nationals, may be eligible for the UK tuition fee rate.

Financial support

Please view the relevant Money Matters guide for comprehensive information about the financial support available to eligible UK students joining postgraduate courses at Edge Hill University.

Money Matters

EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme may be eligible to apply for financial support. Irish nationals can ordinarily apply to Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). If you are an EU student who does not have settled or pre-settled status, or are an international student from a non-EU country, please see our international student finance pages.

Your future career

What jobs can you get after studying sports and exercise science? Armed with our MSc Applied Sport & Exercise Science, you’ll be ready for a range of roles in the health and fitness industry including:

personal trainers
fitness and health consultants
the GP referral scheme
physical activity programme coordinators

Specialised sports science support and performance managers are increasingly being sought by universities and commercial ventures too.

Alternatively, you could work in applied sports sciences for national governing bodies of sport or the British Olympic Associates.

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