Football Coaching and Performance
Immerse yourself in elite sporting environments, building real-world experience, industry insight, and professional confidence. Develop the skills, mindset, and networks needed to progress into football coaching and applied performance support roles across the professional game.
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UCAS Code
Start Date
September 2027
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
UCAS Code
C613
Start Date
September 2027
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
International students: £17,600*
UCAS Code
Start Date
September 2026
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
Fees
Home students: £804*
UCAS Code
C613
Start Date
September 2026
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
Fees
Home students: £9,790*
International students: £17,200*
Course Overview
Designed to push you forward in the game and transition seamlessly into the performance football industry. An inspirational environment that enables you to explore the challenges of real-world multi-disciplinary performance teams.
This course prepares you to reach your potential in an elite football environment. Whether you aspire to coach at professional clubs, grow the grassroots game, or unlock the game’s secrets through performance analysis, you’ll gain the technical knowledge and personal qualities to succeed.
In partnership with the Football Association of Wales, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, CIMSPA, CASES, UK International Soccer and EFL in the Community.
Our Partners
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We have a number of partnerships available, please see course overview for details.
Why study this course?
What you'll study
In your first year, you will develop core coaching principles, technical, tactical and physiological understanding of athlete development, supported by performance analysis, and leadership application.
You will build competence and confidence to operate effectively in grassroots and community football environments.
Learn the foundations of football coaching, from planning and delivering engaging sessions to reflecting on your practice. Build your coaching identity, develop key skills, and gain the confidence to lead and inspire players.
Explore leadership in football, developing self-awareness, communication, and ethical decision-making. Learn to lead yourself first, reflect on your values, and gain the skills and confidence to guide players, teams, and organisations.
Explore how coaches, analysts, sport scientists, and psychologists work together to improve football performance. Through practical challenges and real scenarios, you’ll learn how performance insights shape coaching decisions and player development, building the confidence foundations needed to operate confidently effectively within modern football performance environments.
Explore how football talent is identified, recruited, and developed within academy and grassroots pathways. You’ll learn how coaches recognise potential, understand growth and development factors, and apply ethical, evidence-based approaches to supporting young players, building the foundations to work confidently in talent identification and player development environments.
You will advance your coaching knowledge within adolescent and academy settings, exploring talent identification, player development frameworks and periodisation.
This is supported by performance analysis, player appraisal and organisational leadership, enabling you to understand how football organisations operate and develop players.
Build on your Level 4 learning by further adapting your coaching craft to manage the demands of real football environments, in an adolescent performer context. Develop inclusive, technical, tactical and participant-focused sessions, reflect on your coaching identity, and gain the confidence to lead, motivate, and support player development.
Explore how football organisations operate and how leaders manage systems, people, and processes. Develop the skills to coordinate teams, improve workflows, and lead clubs and programmes effectively in real football environments.
Apply performance analysis, psychology, and physical performance methods to real football scenarios, learning how to design and evaluate player-support interventions. You’ll develop the skills to turn data and observations into practical performance solutions, preparing you to contribute confidently within professional multi-disciplinary team environments.
Examine how football academies recruit, develop, and support players through each stage of their journey. You’ll learn to design and manage Individual Development Plans, monitor progression, and make ethical, evidence-based decisions that balance performance and player welfare, preparing you for roles in talent identification and player development environments.
You will operate at an advanced coaching level, aligning with UEFA B Licence principles and tactical periodisation approaches.
You will develop expertise in analysis, scouting and leading teams while navigating complex technical and tactical performance demands. The emphasis shifts toward leading teams and enabling high-performance environments.
Take your coaching further by applying your skills in real football environments. Design inclusive sessions, adapt to players’ needs, reflect on your coaching identity, and lead confidently across grassroots, community, and academy football.
This module develops your ability to lead and integrate football performance services. Analyse data, coordinate interdisciplinary teams, and design strategies that improve team cohesion, wellbeing, and on-pitch performance in high-level football environments.
Take the lead in high-performance football. Learn how trust, motivation, communication, and culture shape elite teams, and apply your skills to create resilient, cohesive, and successful environments under real-world pressure.
Examine how elite clubs identify, recruit, and transition players into senior football. You’ll learn to build evidence-based player profiles, assess readiness and potential, and make informed recruitment decisions, developing the analytical and professional skills required to operate confidently in elite scouting and talent recruitment environments.
We regularly review our courses to keep pace with changing skills and employer needs. If a review leads to significant changes, we’ll contact you to explain what’s changing for the coming year.
Teaching and Assessment
The course focuses on both football and leadership related knowledge needed to develop professionals for the football industry. Developed in partnership with professional coaching organisations, this football coaching course allows you to study and gain work placements across the globe.
You’ll learn by doing, tackling real football challenges that develop your coaching, leadership, and performance skills.
Each year builds on the last, from leading yourself in community settings to managing teams and systems to shaping high-performance culture.
Through applied tasks, industry projects, and reflective practice, you’ll gain the confidence and experience to make an impact in professional football environments.
Assessment is designed to reflect real football practice and help you grow as a coach, leader, and performance professional.
You’ll tackle practical coaching tasks, reports, presentations, and leadership projects that build from foundational reflection at Level 4 to managing teams, systems, and high-performance environments at Levels 5 and 6.
Tasks are connected, scaffolded, and supported with feedback so you can develop confidence, critical thinking, and professional judgement.
By applying what you’ve learned to authentic challenges, you’ll demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and behaviours needed to thrive in modern football environments.
USW has strong connections with football organisations across Wales, giving you the chance to gain real-world experience through placements in academies, backroom teams, and community programmes.
You’ll work alongside professionals, develop your skills, and boost your employability. Opportunities include summer placements with US partners and our annual employability conference, where you can network with employers and experience the recruitment process, helping you prepare for a career in football coaching, performance, and leadership.
You’ll develop your skills at USW Sport Park, our purpose-built performance centre. Train on our full-size indoor 3G pitch, built to FIFA Pro standard and regularly used by our partners, professional teams and the Welsh international squads.
You’ll also work in our specialist strength and conditioning centre and high-spec performance analysis suite. Outside, we have five floodlit pitches and a wide range of grass and artificial surfaces for practical coaching, training, and match-play.
Our facilities give you the space, equipment, and professional environment to practice, experiment, and develop your coaching and football performance skills.
Team Spotlight
You’ll learn from a team connected to every level of the game, from grassroots to international elite football performance.
Jayne Ludlow brings insight as a former international manager, FIFA consultant, TV pundit, Pro Licence coach and Champions League winner with Arsenal. Jonathan Jones adds national team experience and coaching knowledge, while Dr Lee Baldock explores performance psychology through applied practice. Liviu Cristea offers insight shaped by Newcastle United, and Ioan Paval links the course to analysis and coaching support. The team includes Professor Brendan Cropley, who leads the Football Research Centre in Wales.
"One of the best aspects of my course has been the immediate industry exposure. Within weeks of starting, I secured a voluntary placement with Pontypridd United."
Shubham Trivedi, Football Coaching and Performance student
Entry Requirements
Additional
GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on the Child Workforce and Child Barring List and subscription to the DBS Update Service is required. (Overseas equivalent required for non-uk applicants).
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
How to applyContextual admissions policyAsk us a question112 UCAS points or above
Typical qualification requirements
A Level:
BBC to include a Science subject or PE and to exclude General Studies. Level 1 in football coaching or equivalent foundation level football coaching qualification from a football (NGB) (this is equivalent to 112 UCAS tariff points)
Welsh BACC:
Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C in the Skills Challenge Certificate and BB at A Level to include one Science (which may be Mathematics, Physical Education or Psychology) but to exclude General Studies. Level 1 in football coaching or equivalent
BTEC:
BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Merit Merit in a relevant subject. Level 1 in football coaching or equivalent foundation level football coaching qualification from a football (NGB) (this is equivalent to 112 UCAS tariff points)
Access to HE:
Passing an Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject (mathematics, science or psychology) and obtain a minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points
International applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.
International studentsPre-Sessional EnglishEnglish language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
Fees and Funding
per year
per 20 credits
Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).
*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.
Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy. We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
DBS *
This fee includes £40 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee. £55.42
DBS Updating Service *
Subscription required for each year of the course for a yearly fee of £13. Please note the service has to be joined within 30 days of receipt of your enhanced DBS certificate. £13
Travel to Placement
Cost is dependent on placement location.
per year
Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).
*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.
Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy. We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
DBS *
This fee includes £40 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee. £55.42
DBS Updating Service *
Subscription required for each year of the course for a yearly fee of £13. Please note the service has to be joined within 30 days of receipt of your enhanced DBS certificate. £13
Travel to Placement
Cost is dependent on placement location.
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Explore our facilities
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How to apply
All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS
You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).
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Apply direct
Football Coaching and Performance
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Full-time, 3 years
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September
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Pontypridd
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Apply direct
Football Coaching and Performance
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Part-time, 6 years
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September
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Pontypridd
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Apply direct
Football Coaching and Performance
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Full-time, 3 years
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September
-
Pontypridd
-
-
Apply direct
Football Coaching and Performance
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Part-time, 6 years
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September
-
Pontypridd
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If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.
Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.
International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
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