Careers for Sport Science / Studies Students
Overviews of Sports Opportunities
The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (www.bases.org.uk) has published a useful guide to careers in sport and exercise, with seventeen profiles covering the specialist sport sciences through to health promotion and sports development: http://www.bases.org.uk
The Fit Map has a useful overview of sports related opportunities. Job descriptions are brief but a lot of areas are covered:
www.thefitmap.co.uk/jobs/careers/index.htm
Work experience
Work experience is key to finding and securing opportunities after graduating - whether your ambitions involve working in the sports industries or in something completely different. The value of work experience includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Providing evidence to future employers of your motivation and commitment to a career or sector (giving you credibility when targeting an area)
- Providing evidence of your skills as well as further opportunities to develop them
- Confirming your interest in a sector or job or leading you to reassess your career ideas through improved knowledge of the roles that are available
More information about finding and making the most of work experience is available from the Work Experience and Creative Job Hunting (for finding contacts) pages.
Careers related to sport and exercise
The sports organisations section below includes links to those organisations that may have related vacancies. The Creative Job Hunting page on this site looks at techniques to find the great number of opportunities that are not advertised.
Coaching / Teaching |
Sports Coach UK includes a fact sheet on careers in coaching in the Coaches’ Learning Zone: www.sportscoachuk.org Sport England has produced a list of governing bodies - these organisations will then have information about NGB qualifications: www.sportengland.org/resource_ul#governing For some coaching work it may be necessary to be self employed. More information is available from our Self Employment page. If you are interested in teaching in schools as a qualified teacher have a look at our Applying for Teacher Training page. |
Health Promotion |
Page from NHS outlining health promotion work: www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=145 (or navigate from www.nhscareers.nhs.uk) Health promotion job description from Prospects.ac.uk |
Sport / Fitness Industry, Personal Training |
Fitness Instructor profile from LG Careers (local government): www.lgcareers.com/career-descriptions/entertaining-your-community/fitness-instructor/ Register of Exercise Professionals – self regulation for the sector: www.exerciseregister.org/index.htm National Register for Personal Trainers: www.nrpt.co.uk For some fitness instructor / personal training work it may be necessary to be self employed. More information is available from our Self Employment page. |
Sports Development |
Sports Development job profile from Prospects.ac.uk LG Careers profile for sports development in local government: www.lgcareers.com/career-descriptions/entertaining-your-community/sports-development-officer |
Management – of Facility / Health Club |
Institute of Sports and Recreation Management: www.isrm.co.uk LG Careers profile for leisure manager in local government: www.lgcareers.com/career-descriptions/entertaining-your-community/leisure-manager/ Search facility from The Fit Map for health clubs: www.thefitmap.co.uk/healthclubs/towns/index.htm |
Adventure |
Options related to the adventure sector are covered on the page for Adventure Education students. |
Armed Forces |
For careers in the armed forces see: Army: www.armyjobs.mod.uk Navy: www.royalnavy.mod.uk Careers advisers from the Army and RAF usually visit Bishop Otter Campus twice a year to see anyone interested in a career with them on graduation. For more information contact Careers. |
| Health / Physiotherapy | Health Physician is an emerging profession in Britain. More information about conversion courses for life sciences graduates from University of Birmingham: www.medicine.bham.ac.uk/prospective/physicianassistant/ The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists' website www.csp.org.uk lists all approved first degrees and MSc conversion courses for those with a relevant undergraduate degree. For graduate entry to medicine (four year course) see the British Medical Association's careers guide at: www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Hubcareersandeducation. Applications are made through UCAS www.ucas.ac.uk |
Sport science
The specialist sport sciences supporting elite athletes usually require training and experience beyond a first degree. BASES has a postgrad study page that includes a course search: www.bases.org.uk. Also see the postgrad section below.
Sport Science |
Biomechanics |
Biomechanics section from BASES: www.bases.org.uk/Biomechanics |
Physiology |
Physiology section from BASES www.bases.org.uk/Physiology |
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Psychology |
An overview of sport and exercise psychology from The British Psychological Society: www.bps.org.uk. |
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Nutrition |
The Nutrition Society has a comprehensive careers section: www.nutritionsociety.org The Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register: www.senr.org.uk |
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Scientist Training Programme (STP) |
As part of Modernising Scientific Careers (MSC) programme, a new graduate entry level training programme has been developed for healthcare scientists from Autumn 2011: |
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| Potential employers for supporting elite sport include those listed below: | ||
Sports Organisations
UK Sport's vacancies section: http://www.uksport.gov.uk/jobs/
Sport England – page for vacancies in the South East, may duplicate those advertised via UK Sport: www.sportengland.org/southeast_index/jobs_in_sport.htm
English Institute of Sport (mainly supporting elite athletes): www.eis2win.co.uk
Science, research, academic and related opportunities from www.jobs.ac.uk
Sport England lists the governing bodies of sports - some will have a vacancies page: www.sportengland.org/resource_ul#governing
Sport England also has a database of facilities: www.activeplaces.com
www.careers-in-sport.co.uk - Careers in Sport guide provides an in-depth analysis of the different career options available in the world of sport.
For sports science graduates there can be opportunities in commercial sports product development. You'll most likely need to use the techniques and approaches described in Creative Job Hunting to identify opportunities - it includes links to employer directories to find relevant employers. The following links may also be useful:
This page from the International Sports Engineering Association (ISEA) includes links to the larger manufacturers / retailers: www.sportsengineering.co.uk/links.php
Progressive Sports is an example of sports product innovation: www.progressivesports.co.uk/index.html
Job boards
Job boards can be useful to find advertised vacancies although it's usually necessary to persevere with search terms to find the useful information:
www.leisurejobs.com leisure management, sports development, sports coaching vacancies
www.leisureopportunities.co.uk has a health and fitness and a sports and recreation stream
www.researchgate.net/jobs hunt for vacancies using ResearchGate's international jobs board aimed at all disciplines within research.
Related sectors/professions
Some professions that exist more generally in business can also be specialised in and related directly to the sport and exercise sector. For these positions it may be necessary to get general work experience and then to target moving into specialist roles further into your career. Some of these professions can be competitive to enter and this can be even more so for a niche in the sector. Work experience and motivation are consequently key attributes when aiming for such a role.
Examples of these professions are listed below. Click on the job title for a general profile courtesy of Prospects.ac.uk. Some may also require further qualifications:
- Advertising
- Events management
- HR / personnel
- Journalism / media / publishing
- Marketing
- PR / promotion
- Retail
- Law
An overview of the legal sector: www.lawcareers.net/Information/FirstSteps.aspx
Employment in smaller organisations is increasingly common: SMEs - Small to medium sized employers.
Any Degree...Any Career and Skills
It is worth bearing in mind that approximately 50% of 'graduate jobs' are open to graduates from any subjects. More information is available from the Any Degree...Any Career? page.
The ability to articulate your skills to employers or colleagues is in itself hugely important in securing future opportunities, and particularly so if you are aiming for something not directly related to your subject. Some examples of skills are listed below. Your personal skill set may include some or all of these as well as others. Tools and tips for personal reflection are available from the PDP pages and the Decision Making page.
Subject skills and knowledge may include:
- Understanding the structures, processes and organisations responsible for the delivery of sport / exercise / fitness
- Ability to plan, design and undertake practical laboratory work
- Ability to evaluate sports performance and understand the effects of interventions
- Understanding the theories and concepts that are applied to sport science, coaching, management etc
- Appreciation and experience of a multi-disciplinary approach and ability to challenge existing assumptions and ideas
- Understanding moral, ethical and safety issues
General skills may include:
- Personal management – self motivation, time management, problem solving skills, self reflection, ability to study independently, set goals, manage workload and deadlines.
- Communication – written and verbal (including presentation) as well as listening
- Team working, interpersonal and social skills – ability to negotiate and pursue goals in a team, respond to leadership and take the lead where appropriate
- Confidence – in expressing ideas and engaging with others.
- Considered thought: ability to challenge existing assumptions
- Information – research, analysis, reasoning, logic, critical thinking. Ability to use and assess a variety of sources.
Further study
If you are thinking about further study there are several key areas to research. These include assessing the value of further study for your future plans, finding and applying to the most appropriate courses and funding your study. More information and course search facilities are available from the Postgraduate and Further Study page.
It can be necessary to be quite persistent in your course search as there is not a central admissions service for postgrad courses (except for some vocational subjects). UCAS's search facility can be particularly useful in identifying universities that have relevant departments and then the universities themselves are then the best source of information www.ucas.ac.uk.
Other options
Have a look at our sections: Which Career?, How do I get a Job?, Work Experience, Postgrad and Further Study, Work and Study Abroad / Time Out and Special Interest Groups for resources aimed at all students regardless of course. Subjects covered include CVs, applications, interviews, decision making, career planning through your course, work experience, postgrad and further study, gap year / time out, diversity, international students and ethical careers.
Generally we encourage you to start thinking about what you want to do after university as early as possible in the course (don't worry - we know it doesn't always work like that!). For some tips on this see the Career Planning Through Your Course page.