(BA Hons) Coach Education & Sports Development - Department of Education

BA(Hons) Coach Education & Sports Development

(from September 2012 this programme will be delivered under the new name of BA (Hons) Sport & Social Sciences)

The BA in Coach Education & Sports Development provides an innovative, interdisciplinary and critical social science approach to understanding sport and physical activity, healthy lifestyles, coaching, teaching, sport policy and development. You will discover a breadth of academic work on sport, exercise and physical activity all underpinned by a strong emphasis on research. The degree draws on a wide range of subjects including the sociology of sport and physical activity, pedagogy (teaching, coaching and learning), the psychology of sport and exercise, and policy, management and development. As you progress through the programme, you will specialise in a field of your choosing through optional strands, the optional placement year and the completion of a research-intensive dissertation.

Optional strands
Placements
Career opportunities
Why choose Bath for BA Coach Education & Sports Development?
Further information

When I was looking for a university with the right combination of sporting excellence and achievement in the academic arena, I thought the University of Bath and the Coach Education degree ticked all the boxes. I wasn't wrong! World class facilities and top class teaching have combined to provide a stimulating and truly life enhancing university experience.

Ash Quinlan, current student

Student discussion on video

What will I do on the course?

Linking the disciplines of sociology, education, psychology and management, you will develop theoretical understanding as well as the investigative and analytical skills needed to carry out effective research. In addition to a strong research and social science core, the programme allows you to specialise in various aspects of sport and physical activity. These optional strands are based around the key themes of sport management, policy & development; sport coaching; physical education; and sport psychology.

The first year of your degree offers a broad introduction and provides you with an understanding of how sport relates to the social sciences. In your second year you will begin to specialise by focusing in more depth on two of the main strands. For year three you will have the opportunity to take a placement in an appropriate organisation in the UK or abroad. In your final year, complementing the core units, you will focus your studies on one of the optional strands chosen in your second year and produce a research-based dissertation on a topic of your choice.

Optional strands

Sport management, policy & development
Within this strand you will address key issues related to the management of sporting events, the organisation and delivery of sport, and how sport, health and physical activity policy is constructed and impacts upon society.

Sport coaching
This strand offers you an opportunity to critically reflect on your own, as well as others’, coaching practices. You will have the opportunity to undertake various coaching practices, which, underscored by theory, allows for new perspectives and knowledge to inform
the ways in which athletes and children are coached.

Physical education
In this strand you will have the opportunity to explore in theoretical terms the various practices of teaching and learning. This knowledge will be supplemented by critical reflection on teaching practices and experiences.

Sport psychology
This strand draws on key psychological theories relating to personal relationships, motivation, and personality to help you examine how the psyche of individuals, teams and leaders impacts upon and is impacted by sport and physical activity.

For more detail see the Programme Structure.

Placements

You will have the opportunity to spend up to 12 months on work placement between your second and final years of study. Placements give you valuable hands-on experience and help you decide where your specific interests lie. Your placement experience will develop your knowledge and understanding and allow you to consider more deeply your interests and preferences in preparation for future employment. The placement year can also give you a competitive advantage when applying for jobs.

These are just a few of the organisations at which students spend their placement year*:

PLACEMENT	PLACEMENT ROLE
Auckland University of Technology (AUT)	Working on coaching research projects.
Blundells School, Tiverton	Assisting the PE & Games Department. Also, lunchtime and evening Boarding House duties.
Bristol Academy of Sport	Working with the Female Football Academy
British Olympic Association	Working with the events and communications teams to organise fundraising events and to promote Team GB and the Olympic movement
Gloucester County Cricket	Working with the Performance Analyst on match day coding, opposition analysis, special research projects and using technical systems to aid skill acquisition.
Rostrevor College, Adelaide, Australia	Assisting deliver of learning task with the Faculty of PE and Health to both Senior and Lower School. Boarding House duties also included in the role.
Sunday News, Auckland, New Zealand	Researching and writing sports articles for publication in the newspaper.
TeamBath	A variety of roles: working with sport-specifc teams on planning and delivery of sports events at Bath and across the region or working with the events team.
The British School of Beijing	Teaching and boarding assistant.
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games	Branding and Marketing assistant.
Warminster School	Assisting and delivering for the PE and Games Department as well as boarding house duties.
Watford FC Community Sport & Education Trust	Delivering sports activities and healthy living programme in Primary schools on behalf of the trust as well as working on one-off projects.

* please note, there is no guarentee that these opportunities will be available every year.

Career opportunities

The majority of graduates from the BA in Coach Education and Sports Development choose careers in one of the programme’s main strands. Several choose to study at Masters or PhD level on courses such as Sport Psychology, Sociology of Sport or Sports Coaching. A smaller proportion of our graduates choose to continue with high performance sport and commence full-time training and competition after completion of their degree.

See Career Destinations for details of what our recent graduates are doing now.

Why choose Bath for BA Coach Education & Sports Development?

World class sports facilities
The University of Bath is a top 10 UK university (The Sunday Times University Guide)
Lecturers in the forefront of research in the fields of sports development and coaching.
Friendly, safe and welcoming campus