Foundation Degree Community Football Coaching and Development
Are you passionate about a career in the football industry? The Foundation Degree in Community Football Coaching and Development provides you with an opportunity to gain an industry-recognised coaching award while being affiliated to your local EFL Trust football club.
This award-winning community football coaching course, designed in conjunction with the English Football League Trust, develops the skills and qualities that are required to work within professional football clubs community departments or national governing bodies in areas of growth such as social inclusion, community coaching and football development.
You’ll learn about children and youth coaching, football coaching, football development, social inclusion, and sports management skills. You will be based predominantly within your local EFL Trust football club, with an additional 6 days a year at the USW Sport Park, spread across 2 residential study visits in August & May. Whilst on your residential visit to USW you will access and utilise our £15m state-of-the-art coaching and performance development centre with full size indoor 3g pitch, equipped with the latest GPS, Video and Audio technology to support your coach education development.
A key part of this degree is the amount of placement hours you will experience throughout the duration of your studies. You will undertake 4-8 hours per week in year 1 and 7-14 hours per week in year 2, which will be organised by your supporting Club Mentor. The placement opportunities could be in settings such as schools, local clubs, community settings or in formal club events delivering on a range of projects and initiatives agreed by yourself and the club. This will provide you with vital practical experience of working within the football coaching and development industry.
Get a glimpse of what it's like to study at USW before you apply
'Introduction into Football Coaching' - Free Online Taster Course
The Foundation Degree Community Football Coaching and Development will be based within the student’s football club, and lectures, seminars and tutorials will be delivered on site and via provided material.
Our football coaching course allows students to study all sub disciplines of coaching and gain valuable industry recognised qualifications. The course will teach you aspects of generic children and youth coaching, football coaching, football development, social inclusion, and sports management skills.
There will be further opportunity to apply your knowledge with an extensive work based learning programme provided by the club, working within specific roles and real life football projects.
Year One: Foundation Degree Community Football Coaching
- Football Event Management
- Academic Research and Study Skills
- Introduction to Sports Development
- Introduction to Sports Science for Coaching
- Football Coaching: Theory to Practice
- Technical Planning and Reflective Practice in Football
Year Two: Foundation Degree Community Football Coaching
- Football In Society
- Project Operations Management
- Youth Football Coaching
- PE and School Sport
- Sport Placement
Teaching
You will be enrolled as a student at the University of South Wales and have access to a number of learning materials. Also, you will spend a minimum of six days per year (across 2 mandatory trips) at the University of South Wales High Performance Centre at the USW Sport Park and receive full accommodation during these teaching blocks.
You will have access to an online library, blackboard and other learning materials, and will spend a time at the USW Sport Park to complete practical teaching. You will complete coaching (work based learning) that is managed through tutorials and a mentoring programme. The work based learning programme is completed within your own football work environment.
In year two you will complete up to 200 hours of coaching (work based learning) that is managed through weekly tutorials and a comprehensive mentoring programme. The work based learning programme will be completed within the professional football clubs and will provide opportunities to gain experience in areas such as social inclusion, school and grass root club development, football development, and coaching.
Also, you will study towards your Level 2 Football Coaching Certificate and will have numerous opportunities to undertake additional vocational awards.
Assessment
In person Lectures, Interactive workshops & discussions, Practical sessions, Work-based learning, Online tutorials with various delivery methods. You will be assessed in a variety of ways such as practical delivery, Report & Essay, presentation, group work and multiple choice questions. This range of teaching and learning approaches ensures that you gain a wide variety of skills.
Placements
A key part of this degree is the amount of placement hours you will experience. You will undertake 4-8 hours per week in year 1 and 7-14 hours per week in year 2, which will be organised by your Mentor and could be in settings such as schools, local clubs, community settings or in formal club events. This will give you practical experience of working within the football coaching and development industry.
Facilities
We have a specifically designed sporting performance facility that focuses on football coaching. It includes a full-size indoor 3G pitch, built to the Fifa Pro standard. It will guarantee an optimal coach education learning environment all year round for our football coaching students. We are the only university in England and Wales to offer this facility.
In addition, you'll also find a notational analysis suite and over 30 acres of playing fields, including five floodlit pitches. We have a sand-dressed 'astroturf' pitch, as well as a full-size outdoor FIFA approved 3G pitch. In addition to these all-weather pitches, there are six grass football pitches, and a large changing pavilion.
Our facilities are regularly used by international professional teams, such as the Wales national football team and Cardiff City Football Club. In addition, visiting teams to Cardiff regularly use or world-class facilities for their pre-season or competition preparation. This confirms the high quality of our pitches and the versatility of our equipment.
Lecturers
Our staff have worked in the industry for many years and have experience of coordinating and managing sport in both local authorities and national governing bodies. Many continue to work as Coach Educators (UEFA) and high performance coaches. Find out more here.
- Bobby Briers - Course leader
- Lyn Jehu
- Paul Rainer
- Rachel Murray
- Grant Kalahar
- Tom Cole
- Dr Adnan Haq
- Dr Stuart Jarvis
This course has been recognised with national Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) from the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and was shortlisted for a Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Award 2018 in the ‘Outstanding Digital Innovation of the Year’ category.
We regularly revalidate courses for quality assurance and enhancement
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
This course is delivered predominantly online and not available to International Students wishing to reside in the UK on a student VISA as formal affiliation with a UK EFL Trust sports club is required.
Entry criteria detail typical offers but USW considers all applications on an individual basis which means that we could make offers based on qualifications, personal profile and experience. Combinations of qualifications are acceptable and other qualifications not listed may also be acceptable.
All applicants for the course need to be affiliated with one of our partner EFL Clubs.
Typical A-Level Offer
DD to include at least one A Level in Science, Mathematics, Physical Education or Psychology but to exclude General Studies. Level 1 in football coaching or equivalent foundation level football coaching qualification from a football (NGB)
Typical Welsh BACC Offer
Grade D and D at A Level to include at least one Science, Mathematics, Physical Education or Psychology subject but to exclude General Studies. Level 1 in football coaching or equivalent foundation level football coaching qualification from a football (NGB)
Typical BTEC Offer
BTEC Diploma Merit Pass or BTEC Extended Diploma Merit Pass Pass in a relevant subject. Level 1 in football coaching or equivalent foundation level football coaching qualification from a football (NGB).
Typical Access to HE Offer
Pass Access to HE Diploma in Science or Maths with a minimum of 48 UCAS Tariff points
Additional Requirements
GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 3 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee will remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course.
August 2023 - July 2024 Fees
Full-time UK: £9000
Full-time International: £14400
August 2024 - July 2025 Fees
Full-time UK: TBC
Full-time International: TBC
Student Perks
At the University of South Wales, you’re investing in so much more than a degree. We strive to provide our students with the best possible experience, no matter what you chose to study. Whether it’s access to top of the range mac books and PCs, state-of-the-art facilities packed with industry-leading equipment and software, masterclasses and events led by industry experts, or a wide range of clubs and societies to meet likeminded people, better tomorrows start with extra perks.
Each course also has their own unique student benefits to prepare you for the real word, and details of these can be found on our course pages. From global field trips, integrated work experience and free course-related resources, to funded initiatives, projects working with real employers, and opportunities for extra qualifications and accreditations - at USW your future, is future-proofed.
Click here to learn more about student perks at USW.
Additional Costs
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
| Item | Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DBS * | £55.42 | This fee includes £44 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee. |
| DBS Updating Service | £13 | Whilst optional it is strongly recommended signing up for this service especially if you are likely to have placements each year and wish to pursue a career post University where a DBS check is a requirement. Please note the service has to be joined within 19 days of receipt of your enhanced DBS certificate. |
| Other: Travel to Residential * | Students will have to fund the cost of travel to the residential elements of the course. |
|
| Other: Placement * | Students will need to fund their travel and subsistence costs when on placement. Costs vary, depending on location. |
Funding
Funding to help pay for (or cover) course tuition fees and living costs
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).
To learn about course fees, funding options, and to see if you are eligible for financial support, visit our Fees and Funding pages.
UK students
Apply via UCAS if you are a UK residing applicant, applying for year one of a full-time undergraduate degree, Foundation Year, Foundation Degree or HND and you have not applied through UCAS before. If you are applying to study part-time, to top up your Foundation Degree or HND, or to transfer to USW from another institution, please apply directly.
In your personal statement, please outline at which EFL Trust club you would like to study at.
Graduates of the Foundation Degree Community Football Coaching and Development can pursue careers as a performance coach; sports or football development officer; multi-skills sports coach; school sport coordinator; talent coach; club coach; participation coach; PE teacher; FE college lecturer; primary school teacher; coaches, workforce and coach education coordinators; sports management and administration positions; self-employed business managers.
Championing Women in Sport
No one should be excluded from sport. From Olympic weightlifters, football players to coaches, we have some incredible female graduates who are breaking the bias in the sporting industry. Click here to read about some of our most inspirational graduates in sports who are kicking any outdated prejudices about women in sport to the curb.
Our Careers and Employability Service
As a USW student, you will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and after you graduate.
This includes: one-to-one appointments from faculty based Career Advisers, in person, over the phone or even on Skype and through email via the "Ask a Question" service. We also have extensive online resources for help with considering your career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Resources include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, interview simulator and application help. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students, you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs.
Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.
Graduate Stories
Student Stories
Highlight Stories
The Pontypridd Campus is made up of two sites; Treforest and Glyntaff. Our students love the community atmosphere. It’s quieter than the cities, with green open spaces and views across the valley.
It’s the community and friendships you’ll build that make this place special. Outside your studies you can experience our amazing sport facilities and Students’ Union.
Living in Halls is a great way to meet new people and make friends. We have high quality accommodation in Treforest, Cardiff and Newport.