Sport and Exercise Therapy
Combining medical expertise with the sports and exercise environment, this course offers budding Sport and Exercise Therapists the perfect balance of theory and hands-on experience.
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UCAS Code
BC96
Start Date
September 2026
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
Fees
Home students: £9,790*
International students: £17,200*
UCAS Code
BC96
Start Date
September 2027
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
International students: £17,600*
UCAS Code
Start Date
September 2027
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
UCAS Code
Start Date
September 2026
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
112
Fees
Home students: £804*
Course Overview
Prepare to work in the medical, performance, sports and exercise industries with our accredited degree at the unique Sport Park Campus. Learn to diagnose and treat injuries, work first-hand with athletes, and come away with vocational awards throughout your degree.
Aimed at students with an interest in working with sports and exercise injuries, this degree offers a holistic approach to musculoskeletal injury management. Gain practical experience through industry placements to give you a head start on your career and consolidate your learning.
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
You’ll start your clinical studies with pitch-side first aid and basic life saving, functional anatomy, plus an introduction to clinical assessment, screening and soft tissue techniques.
You’ll gain experience working with our university sports teams and through our popular sports massage clinic.
Learn to assess a range of movement, test muscle strength, palpate anatomical landmarks and develop a working knowledge of musculoskeletal anatomy and pathology.
Learn movement screening theory and practice, sports injury prevention, and recovery methods. Develop basic first aid skills and soft tissue injury management.
Develop anatomical language and deepen your understanding of human musculoskeletal anatomy, crucial for exercise physiology and biomechanics.
This module can be studied 100% through the medium of Welsh.
A deep dive into areas of measurement, data retrieval, analysis and interpretation, health and fitness assessment, and exercise prescription.
Gain expertise to design, deliver, and assess gym-based exercise programs for healthy populations. This module leads to CIMSPA Level 2 Gym Instructor and Level 3 Personal Trainer certifications.
Familiarise yourself with patients' perspectives on sports-related musculoskeletal injuries, developing empathy and teamwork skills within a multidisciplinary setting.
At level five, you’ll learn how to assess and diagnose injuries to the spine and peripheral joints, use several treatment methods to reduce pain and improve range of movement and function.
By the end of your second year, you’ll be competent in early to intermediate-stage rehabilitation.
Master clinical assessment. Interpret findings using subjective and objective methods, specialist musculoskeletal testing and functional assessment.
Build knowledge of safe and effective treatment methods for musculoskeletal injuries. Learn manual therapy for joint issues, advanced soft tissue techniques, and neural techniques.
Develop an understanding of early and intermediate rehabilitation for common musculoskeletal injuries. Topics cover tissue mechanics, stress-strain curves, and exercise selection/prescription.
Explore the interplay between exercise and the cardiovascular system. Gain insight into cardiovascular physiology measurements and proficiency in performing them.
This module is available to study fully in Welsh.
Build on your research skills, expanding your understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods. Deepen your appreciation for various research approaches.
Develop your understanding of sports and exercise injuries and biomechanical elements to movement for angular kinematics and kinetics.
Understand the physiological and medical issues of special populations’ physical activity. Design and assess personalised exercise programs for diverse needs.
Complete an independent research project alongside a range of placements to gain valuable industry experience.
Expand your rehab knowledge and develop sports trauma management skills. Combine clinical study with BASES-endorsed modules to develop broad and transferable skills.
Gain 250 hours of supervised clinical practice. Assess strengths, plan your career, prepare for applications and interviews, developing into an autonomous practitioner.
Learn to address life- and limb-threatening sports injuries. Study advanced trauma life support, airway manoeuvres, bleeding management, cervical spine injury assessment, and emergency action planning.
Boost your practical skills in late-stage rehabilitation and understand how to make objective return-to-play decisions. Focus on prescribing speed, acceleration and plyometric exercises as well as injury prevention strategies for individual and team sports.
You’ll have the freedom to design and conduct an independent study and critically evaluate scientific data and literature.
Explore the exercise-cardiovascular system relationship. Gain an understanding of cardiovascular physiology measurements and proficiency in conducting them.
Learn how Newton’s laws apply to angular kinematics and kinetics, mechanics, and energetics of walking and running. Develop your analytical skills using Quintic Biomechanics software.
Learn the essential scientific knowledge for delivering effective strength and conditioning programs.
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
Supported by experienced staff and a dedicated Clinical Skills Tutor, you will work with real patients, helping you develop and evidence the competencies required to become a graduate sport therapist.
You will be assessed through a combination of practical and theoretical methods designed to reflect real-world practice. This includes practical exams to demonstrate clinical skills, alongside written exams, coursework, portfolios, and presentations.
In your final year, you will complete 250 hours of placement, either internally or externally. Throughout the course, you will have regular opportunities to build placement hours through the university’s sports massage and injury clinic, as well as supporting pitch-side at external events.
Work placement is central to all levels of this degree. At level 4, you’ll support university sports teams as pitch-side first aiders and practice your new skills in our massage clinics. You’ll gain valuable experience on placements with partners at level 5 and 6, supervised by experienced therapists. Extra opportunities have included covering events like the London to Paris cycle, with all expenses paid. Our staff's experience with professional, semi-professional and international sport and other professional clubs provides valuable industry connections.
USW’s Sports and Exercise Therapy degree features BASES-endorsed, state-of-the-art facilities at the Treforest Sport Park. These include an indoor FIFA-standard 3G pitch with GPS tracking, clinical teaching spaces, advanced rehab and testing equipment, plus all-weather and grass pitches used by local and professional teams.
Course Leader
Leighanne Kelly
Meet Leighanne Kelly, Course Leader for the BSc Sport and Exercise Therapy and an experienced Graduate Sport Therapist with a strong background in professional sport. Leighanne leads this hands-on course with a focus on real-world application, drawing on years of industry experience and evidence-based practice. Students are given a practical, hands-on learning environment, supported by a team of qualified sport therapists. Together, they create a collaborative and immersive experience designed to prepare students for professional practice.
Entry Requirements
Additional
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 & Adult Workforce and Child & Adult 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
Welsh BACC:
Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C in the Skills Challenge Certificate and BB at A Level to include one A Level in Science, Mathematics, Physical Education, Public Services or Psychology but to exclude General Studies
BTEC:
BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Merit Merit in a relevant subject
Access to HE:
Pass the Access to HE Diploma 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. *Obligatory
DBS Update Service
The course will include working with children and vulnerable adults, and so you will be required to complete an enhanced DBS check. Annual automatic renewal is recommended for £16 per year if purchased within the first 30-days of receiving the certificate. £49.50
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. *Obligatory
DBS Update Service
The course will include working with children and vulnerable adults, and so you will be required to complete an enhanced DBS check. Annual automatic renewal is recommended for £16 per year if purchased within the first 30-days of receiving the certificate. £49.50
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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
Sport and Exercise Therapy
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Full-time, 3 years
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September
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Pontypridd
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Apply direct
Sport and Exercise Therapy
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Part-time, 6 years
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September
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Pontypridd
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Apply direct
Sport and Exercise Therapy
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Full-time, 3 years
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September
-
Pontypridd
-
-
Apply direct
Sport and Exercise Therapy
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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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