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Postgraduate taught

Professional Practice in Sports Coaching MSc

What is Professional Practice in Sports Coaching?

The course is designed to help you build on your existing experience to refine your coaching. You’ll develop a deeper appreciation of theory and research related to sports coaching and will consider how best to apply this in practice.

You’ll explore a range of contemporary issues and practices – using modern methods and approaches in developing expertise, pedagogy, reflective practice, mentoring, sport psychology and talent identification. An emphasis is placed on the relationship between practice and theory, with students supported to develop reflective, analytical and critical thinking skills in order to develop their professional practice.

Study style

Given the expectation that students are working in a relevant professional role alongside their studies, the professional practice nature of this course has led us to run it as a part-time Master’s that typically takes 33 months.

This course benefits from a blended delivery, with a mix of face to face teaching on campus and online delivery, involving both synchronous and asynchronous content. In this way we balance the imperative for collaboration, social learning and networking, with the practicalities of studying whilst remaining active in the workplace.

You’ll study in a collaborative environment alongside fellow professional practitioners and aspirant level 4 coaches from National Governing Bodies, who in many cases are operating as full-time professional coaches. You’ll learn from teaching staff with excellent professional experience and research profiles in their respective fields.

Assessments, including written assignments, research projects, presentations and reflective writing, are designed to allow you to relate theory to your own practice and the context in which you coach – and for practice to inform theory and the interpretation of academic sources. You’ll be encouraged to engage in research within your own context to promote higher levels of evidence-based practice.

 

Get Professional Practice in Sports Coaching MSc, PgDip course updates and hear more about studying with us.

Entry requirements

    • You should hold at least a  2.2 Bachelors degree with honours.

    • Those with a non-sport degree or without a 2.2 honours degree will be considered on an individual basis.

    • You are a practising coach

    • You will be required to attend an interview. Please refer to our interview guide for further information.

    • EU and international students need IELTS 6.5 overall (with a minimum of 6.0 in writing and 5.5 in any other component) or equivalent.

Course modules

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Fees and costs

See the further details of fees and potential extra costs when studying a course at the University of Gloucestershire.
Start date Location Course code Total Fee (UK) Total Fee (international)
Sep 2023 Oxstalls, Gloucester £7,500 £15,900
Jan 2024 Oxstalls, Gloucester £7,500 £15,900
Sep 2024 Oxstalls, Gloucester TBC TBC
Jan 2025 Oxstalls, Gloucester TBC TBC

Ready to apply?

Possible careers

There’s a range of employment markets for graduates, including professional sports clubs, coach education and policy, commercial and social enterprises, community sports programmes and national governing bodies (NGBs).

Graduates from this course can go on to work as:

  • Academy Coach
  • Specialist Technical Coach
  • Coach Educator
  • Coach Manager
  • Lecturer or Researcher, eg PhD.

Industry links

There’s a valuable opportunity to develop connections with a number of National Governing Bodies during the course, with particularly strong links existing with The British Equestrian Federation, British Rowing, Table Tennis England, The FA and The ECB.

In addition to widespread specialist support from within the sport sector, content delivery also benefits from a multi disciplinary network of experts who bring diversity and challenge to the degree. Drawing upon the fields of business, education, emergency services and leadership, students are exposed to innovative ways of viewing familiar issues.

Become a high performing coach

You’ll develop reflective, analytical and critical thinking skills. You’ll have opportunities to join the wider professional community – connecting with aspirant level 4 coaches from a range of sports, benefiting from guest speakers and sharing best practice across disciplines with extensive networking opportunities.

Learn from professional experts

You’ll study in first-class teaching facilities, brand new international-standard sports hall and a collaborative environment where you learn from other coaches and teaching staff with excellent professional experience and research profiles in their respective fields.

Endless possibilities with a master’s degree

Increase your pay potential, specialise in the subject you love, or pursue your passion and switch careers.

UoG students can benefit from an alumni discount. Receive 20% discount on your postgraduate tuition fees as a 2022 graduate.

Discover your next step.

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