Sport Science

Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation - BSc (Hons)
with a Foundation Year

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Make a difference to people's lives through sport therapy. From diagnosis, treatment and the prevention of injuries, to treating elite athletes or teaching specialist exercise groups. Whether you're looking for a change of career, or may not have the scientific background or entry requirements for a degree in Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation, our Foundation Year offers the opportunity to fill any knowledge gaps and build your confidence.

Overview

Sports therapy is one of the fastest-growing careers in the sports and healthcare sector and at Kent we are dedicated to giving you the best start to a career in this exciting field.

Get hands-on experience in our excellent facilities including laboratories and custom-built teaching spaces, or complete a placement for the chance to put your learning into practice. Together with our dedicated careers and employability support, studying at Kent gives you the edge in pursuing a career in a range of areas including research and development, within a sports club and sports rehabilitation.

Reasons to study Sport Therapy and Rehabilitation with a Foundation Year at Kent

  • Our foundation year offers you the flexibility to progress to degrees across our Division of Natural Sciences. You may choose a degree in Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation, but equally you could opt for a degree within another area of Sport and Exercise Sciences, or Biosciences, Chemistry or Forensic Science.
  • You’ll complete professional placements to put into practice the skills you learn and make valuable industry contacts.
  • Benefit from our new Kent Sport Clinic - the largest in the South East - where under the supervision of a fully qualified member of staff, you’ll get real-world experience supporting athletes and the general public.
  • Our expert lecturers have vast experience in sports training, treatment of injuries and rehabilitation.
  • You will benefit from the wider Kent Sport facilities on our Canterbury campus, such as the fitness suite, dance studio and indoor halls and outdoor sports pitches - as well as our new Kent Sport Clinic, which will be the most comprehensive sports performance clinic in the South East.
  • Team Kent, funded by the students’ union, runs more than 60 different sports clubs and our large green campus is a great place for morning/evening runs or cycling.
  • If you have competed at county level, you can apply for one of the University’s sports scholarships.
  • This course is accredited by the British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT). Graduates can apply for accreditation and full membership of BASRaT, the UK regulator for sport rehabilitation.

What you’ll learn

In your foundation year, you study compulsory modules in biology, chemistry and scientific methods, plus a choice of optional modules. On successful completion of the foundation year, you will have reached a standard above A level and so be fully equipped to tackle a BSc degree course.

Then for your degree, you’ll begin by covering topics such as functional anatomy and biomechanics, sports and remedial massage, introductory techniques in therapy and rehabilitation. You then move on to study more advanced modules covering these topics as well as exercise testing and prescription for special populations and techniques for research analysis required for your dissertation.

You gain the academic, clinical and professional skills required of a sports therapist, whose role it is to diagnose, treat and prevent sporting injuries. You also learn how to create exercise and training programmes tailored to individual clients.

You have the option to gain extra professional experience by working on placement in the sports and leisure industry, or supporting ‘centre of excellence’ athletes.

See the modules you'll study

Entry requirements

The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications. All applications are assessed on an individual basis but some of our typical requirements are listed below. Students offering qualifications not listed are welcome to contact our Admissions Team for further advice. Please also see our general entry requirements.

  • medal-empty

    A level

    DDD including either a Science subject (i.e. Biology, Chemistry, Physics), Sport, Psychology or Mathematics at grade D

  • medal-empty GCSE

    Maths and English Language at grade 4/C

  • medal-empty Access to HE Diploma

    The University welcomes applications from Access to Higher Education Diploma candidates for consideration. A typical offer may require you to obtain a proportion of Level 3 credits in relevant subjects at merit grade or above.

  • medal-empty BTEC Nationals

    MMP in Applied Science, Biomedical Science, Medical Science, Sport or Sports Coaching. All other subjects are considered on a case by case basis. Please contact us for further advice on your individual circumstances.

  • medal-empty International Baccalaureate

    24 points overall or 11 points from three HL subjects including HL Science subject, Sport, Psychology or Maths at 4 or SL Science subject, Sport, Psychology or Maths at 5

  • medal-empty International Foundation Programme

    N/A

  • medal-empty T level

    The University will consider applicants holding T level qualifications in subjects closely aligned to the course.

Please contact the School for more information at studynats@kent.ac.uk.

International students

If you are an international student, visit our International Student website for further information about entry requirements for your country, including details of the International Foundation Programmes. Please note that international fee-paying students who require a Student visa cannot undertake a part-time programme due to visa restrictions.

Please note that meeting the typical offer/minimum requirement does not guarantee that you will receive an offer.

English Language Requirements

Please see our English language entry requirements web page.

Please note that if you do not meet our English language requirements, we offer a number of 'pre-sessional' courses in English for Academic Purposes. You attend these courses before starting your degree programme.

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Course structure

Duration: 4 years full-time, 7 years part-time

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.  

The modules for Stages 1-3 of the degree course can be viewed on the Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation - BSc (Hons) page.

Fees

The 2023/24 annual tuition fees for this course are:

  • Home full-time £9,250
  • EU full-time £16,400
  • International full-time £21,900
  • Home part-time £4,625
  • EU part-time £8,200
  • International part-time £10,950

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.

For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* 

Your fee status

The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.

Additional costs

Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.

Funding

We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.

Search scholarships

Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details. 

The Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence

At Kent we recognise, encourage and reward excellence. We have created the Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence. 

The scholarship will be awarded to any applicant who achieves a minimum of A*AA over three A levels, or the equivalent qualifications (including BTEC and IB) as specified on our scholarships pages.

Teaching and assessment

The programme involves taking part in practical therapy sessions, clinical practice, designing training, small group seminars and private study. You are taught by a combination of lectures, practical sessions and seminars each week. You also spend additional time developing your clinical skills and experience through placements and in the student clinic.

The methods of assessment vary and predominately involve coursework, observed assessment, practical tests and clinical assessments. Some modules also feature written examinations.

Contact hours

For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours.  The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Programme aims

The programme aims to:

  • enable students to implement prevention strategies, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for injured athletes and exercisers
  • provide students with a multi-disciplinary education and an insight into being part of a multi-disciplinary team in sporting environments
  • present a valuable educational experience with the opportunity to learn through the integration of theory and practice
  • ensure that our graduating sports therapists have developed the level of knowledge and professional competencies to meet professional regulatory requirements.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

You gain knowledge and understanding of:

  • anatomy, nutrition and physiological principles related to sports and exercise
  • current developments in the practice and theory of sports therapy
  • the theoretical basis of qualitative and quantitative research
  • concepts of sport and exercise therapy relevant to becoming an autonomous sports therapist
  • the underpinning theory of prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries.

Intellectual skills

You gain intellectual skills in the following areas:

  • academic study including critical evaluation
  • how to plan, design, execute and communicate a piece of independent work that shows critical engagement with the relevant data
  • the use of knowledge to solve familiar and unfamiliar problems in order to develop reasoned arguments and challenge assumptions
  • self-appraisal and reflection on practice
  • how to recognise and respond to moral, legal, ethical and safety issues related to sports therapy.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in how to:

  • undertake competent, evaluative and reflective sports and exercise therapy
  • make judgements from the verbal and physical presentation of an athlete
  • apply and evaluate methods and techniques to prevent, treat and rehabilitate commonly-occurring sports injuries
  • demonstrate safe, appropriate, confident and competent patient-handling skills.

Transferable skills

You gain transferable skills in:

  • communication, presentation, numeracy and IT
  • interactive skills and group-work
  • problem-solving
  • the ability to self-appraise and reflect on practice
  • the ability to plan and manage your own learning.

Independent rankings

Sports Science at Kent scored 88% overall in The Complete University Guide 2023.

Careers

You graduate with an excellent grounding in rehabilitation knowledge and extensive hands-on experience. In addition, you also develop the key transferable skills sought by employers, such as:

  • excellent communication skills
  • work independently or as part of a team
  • the ability to solve problems and think analytically
  • time management.

This means that our graduates are well equipped for careers across a range of fields and have gone on to work for companies such as The King’s School, NHS, and for Oxford United Football Club. You can read their stories, and find out about the range of support and extra opportunities available to further your career potential here.

Professional recognition

This programme is currently accredited by the British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT). Graduates can apply for accreditation and full membership of BASRaT, the UK regulator for sport rehabilitation graduates.

Apply for Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation with a Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)

If you are from the UK or Ireland, you must apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not from the UK or Ireland, you can apply through UCAS or directly on our website if you have never used UCAS and you do not intend to use UCAS in the future.

Find out more about how to apply

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Apply now for part-time study

Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation with a Foundation Year - BSc (Hons) - part-time at Canterbury

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T: +44 (0)1227 823254
E: internationalstudent@kent.ac.uk

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