How can psychology help to shape the perception of exercise? And can psychology help athletes deal with the psychological consequences of an injury, or build cohesion within a sporting team? Psychology can enhance adherence to exercise programmes, influence individuals to fulfil their sporting potential, and often plays a key role in ensuring sporting success.

Offering a unique educational experience by overlapping psychology within the broader discipline of sport and exercise science, our MSc Sport and Exercise Psychology is dedicated to one of the fastest developing areas of psychology. It will provide you with an insight into working across a range of contexts in sport and exercise, and you’ll focus on practical and ethical considerations whilst developing essential knowledge and skills for research and applied practice in this specialised field. There will also be opportunities to gain practical experience using equipment for both research and in applied contexts, with an emphasis placed on the importance of testing in the field.

You study a variety of topics including:

• Motor control and cognitive psychology
• Psychological skills and strategies
• Developmental issues in sport and exercise
• Social psychology and individual differences
• Professional practice in sport and exercise psychology

Our course sits within our School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences. This provides an exciting opportunity to join a community specifically focused on sport and exercise, allowing us to bring together our internationally recognised research, share knowledge and enhance opportunities for you. You will be based in our state-of-the-art Sports Arena, benefiting from a range of facilities and dedicated laboratories for research.

Your future

The sports science, fitness, health, and leisure sectors are booming and provide a variety of careers for sports and exercise psychology postgraduates. An MSc will give you the edge in an increasingly competitive job market.

Careers in sport and exercise psychology include counselling, psychologist for athletes and teams, exercise psychologist working with the public, developing exercise programmes and more. Students may also want to stay within the school to pursue BPS Stage 2 training, which will enable you to use the title ‘Sport and Exercise Psychologist’, or to complete a PhD.