Sports Science

[ihearttc]

DS1 is in Y12 and thinking about University next year. He is currently studying A level PE, Psychology and Geography. He wants to do Sports Science at Uni. I have a feeling he will eventually end up being a Secondary PE teacher as I very much doubt his dreams of working in football industry will actually happen and PE teacher is his next option!
I never went to University despite doing A levels so just trying to get my head around what happens.
So Im assuming predicated grades are put on UCAS form and you “chose” courses based on that? He really wants to go to Loughborough but the grades are AAA at the moment and he thinks he is more likely to get AAB. He has also looked at Nottingham Trent.

Any other suggestions of Uni’s with excellent Sports Science courses? We’ve got through all the courses available and tbh I think he is overwhelmed with choice at the moment and doesn’t know where to begin.

Does his school use Unifrog? That is excellent for showing all the choices - aspirational and realistic.

Loughborough is extremely competitive for sports science. It looks like you are in the Midlands so if that is the case and he wants to stay within a reasonable distance , worth looking at Leeds Beckett and Oxford Brookes perhaps.

Yes his school does use Unifrog…all they have said though is to work your way through which ones you like which tbh isn’t massively helpful.
I think I almost need a parents idiot guide if that makes sense? Appreciate it’s all down to him at the end of the day but I’d like to understand the process.
We are actually in East Anglia, Norfolk/Suffolk border. Ideally I’d like him to go to UEA so he can commute (I’m struggling with the idea of him being miles away!!) but it doesn’t do the exact course that he wants. Plus I think he does need to have the full Uni experience.

I will get him to look at Leeds and Oxford Brookes. He also mentioned Sheffield.

Unifrog is really good if used properly and in combo with uni websites and league tables so his school may not have shown him its full wonders.

Given where you are, Lincoln might also be a possibility?

I wouldn't suggest commuting to UEA - it's a proper campus uni and has very few 'homegrown' students.

Hull is massively underrated and is excellent for sport.

Thank you that’s really helpful.

DD2 did her undergrad at Nottingham Trent @ihearttc and loved it there. A lot of her friendship group were doing Sports Science (she wasn't but had a lot of contact with them as she represented the university at a couple of sports) and all seemed to enjoy the course. 2 years later most of them are working in sport in some capacity.

That said, @Piggywaspushed's suggestions of Hull or Leeds Beckett are good too.

Take a look at UFCB. They do some really interesting sport-related degrees.

www.ucfb.ac.uk/your-degree/undergraduate-degrees/

My neice did sports science at Loughborough. It's a more academic course than you might expect. Her dream was to teach PE but teacher training and jobs are super competitive and she didn't find a place. She was however offered a place teaching biology because of the science element in her degree.

What sports does your DS enjoy? It’s worth looking at the provision eg number of teams, whether they’re open to all of whether you need to be county standard plus to take part.
In addition to Loughborough, it might be worth looking at Bath and Exeter. Both have high level sports teams and strong reputation for sports science.

That's very true about PE teaching. If that is a 'back up plan' he really does need to be aware that there is a glut of PE trainees.

All food for thought, thank you!

He plays football, but not to any high standard. It’s the theory/psychology/biology side of things which he excels at. He has just got an A* for the theory side of his mock exam…the practical side has lowered his grade though. So he definitely wouldn’t be competing with elite sportsman anywhere.

He’s looked at UCFB before but they seemed to be more business based than sport.

The is a Sports and Medical Science at Kings in London which he likes the look of..so he’s going to investigate?

There’s more to Uni than getting a good degree though. It’s 3 years they’ve got to do it in so 1/6 of their life so far. It’s important that the Uni suits them as well as getting the right course -. would he enjoy a party College or a more academic one. City vs campus is a good starting point. How they sort accommodation too - some have really good allocation policies and some you need to act quickly once you know. Obviously London/Bristol/Oxford are expensive places to live whilst others are going to be much cheaper. It’s the same loan outside of London.

You get to put down up to 5 uni’s. The Uni’s will give you an unconditional offer (if they think you’ll benefit the course), a conditional offer (this can be higher or lower than their stated course requirements) or a rejection. DS can then pick one to “firm” and one as an “insurance”. They invite you to offer holder days for individual courses once you firm.

Mine didn’t discuss it with me or College and put down rather random choices. I would absolutely recommend him visiting his favourite unis on their open days. They are all so different and it will help to get a feel for the place he’d be happiest.

That's fine, you don't have to be good at sport personally to be interested in sports science. You have to understand the mechanics of it, and the psychology behind competitive sport, but play it yourself? No, that's not a requirement. DH and DS both work in sport – though neither did a sports science degree – so I do know something about this.

UCFB courses are highly regarded but they are definitely geared more to the business side. I think your DS will be able to narrow his options down a bit once he has looked at courses in more detail/visited some universities.

Birmingham? The more Alevels from the 'acceptable sciences' list, the more likely that it is that he would get a lower offer, it woukd seem.
www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/sportex/sport-exercise-health-sciences-2.aspx#EntryRequirementsTab

Ah that’s interesting. He is doing PE and Psychology from that list…he’s aiming for A in both of those and a B in geography.

Liverpool John moores?

My DS is hopefully just about to graduate from UEA with a BSc in Physical Education (one final piece of work to submit). He has a place on a school based initial teacher training with PCGE/QTS lined up for September, as do lots of his course mates. Many others are staying at UEA to do a traditional PGCE. He has absolutely loved it.

Thank you. I’d love him to go to the UEA for my sake (we are about 40 minutes away!) but I’m not sure it would give him the uni experience he actually wants. If he does a Sports Science degree can he then do a PGCE after that?

@ihearttc yes, he absolutely can do a PGCE after that (Uni based or a SCITT with PGCE). There are quite a lot at UEA who come from East Anglia - most still live in halls/get student houses in Norwich. I can totally understand wanting to spread his wings further though!

My advice though is for him to make sure the course is right. My DS knew he wanted to go into teaching, so chose a course that has that focus - he didn't want to overly focus on the science aspects. If your DS wants to work in a professional sport club setting then Sports Development or Sport Business could also be of interest.

if he loves the theory/science/psychology side and is heading for good grades would he consider physiotherapy? Loads of good routes in nhs and private practice/sport.
He'd be qualified after his degree and could go on to lecturing/research too.

I’d love him to go into physiotherapy…will have to investigate further. He spent most of Y11 trying to decide between psychology/biology a level so he’s definitely that way inclined.

I think he is aiming for A in PE, A in Psychology and a B in Geography…decent grades but not 3 A*s

Physiotherapy use to be hellishly competitive . I think this may have changed now there is a plethora of sports science related degrees. However, I do know most people who go into physio degrees want to be sports physios at top clubs and these jobs are like hen's teeth. The reality may be more NHS/clinic based - nothing wrong with that but not quite as glamorous!

I haven't looked it up but not having the biology may be a barrier to some physio degrees. Biology is the third most popular A Levels at the mo so plenty of applicants will have it. Your DS will do some anatomy etc via PE A Level.

Apologies OP. Bad advice from me if he doesn’t have biology A level. I take back everything I said 😖

Actually most physiotherapy courses will accept PE instead of biology, though you would need an A and as @Piggywaspushed says, you would be competing against lots of people who do have biology (and possibly chemistry too).

If it is something DS might want to look into, Southampton, Birmingham and Liverpool are all highly thought of for physiotherapy, or for slightly lower grades Coventry, Brighton and Oxford Brookes are all good.

The best way to get into sports physiotherapy specifically is to gain experience at a local football or rugby club – you cover matches at the weekend (that's post-qualification obviously, though they might let you assist while you're training).