Curious about studying Rehabilitation and Manual Therapies - FdScat University of Staffordshire? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc
University of Staffordshire (Stoke Campus)
Full Time
Sep 2026
2 Year
Learn how to assess, manage and treat neuromusculoskeletal problems with rehabilitation and manual therapies on our two-year foundation degree. The course utilises a range of industry-leading technologies and facilities to provide outstanding educational experiences. During the course, you’ll learn about bones (human osteology), muscles (myology), ligaments and joints (arthrology), and be introduced to sports assessment and massage techniques. You’ll develop a fundamental understanding of exercise prescription for the non-injured and injured athlete. This course is suitable for students who have recently completed A-levels or BTEC qualifications and want to pursue a career in sport, and those who have worked in industry and are looking to upskill or change careers. After successful completion of the two-year FdSc Rehabilitation and Manual therapies course, students who meet the pre-requisites can top-up to our Sports Therapy BSc (or other Sport and Exercise BSc top up courses). The course is perfect if you want to become a Sports Massage Therapist, or would like to study our Sports Therapy BSc but do not meet the entry criteria. On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: FdSc Rehabilitation and Manual Therapies
This module aims to provide knowledge and understanding of pre-treatment client screening, which may include, postural assessment, anthropometric testing and subjective screening. Students will learn a range of sports massage techniques and how to apply these safely and effectively to different case scenarios throughout the module. On completion of this module students are eligible for external massage insurance for them to gain paid clinical work.
This module gives students the opportunity to undertake their own research and use the findings to inform their practice. The module will introduce students to a range of experimental trial designs including, cohort, case control, cross-sectional and randomised controlled trials. Students will replicate an experimental trial in which they will be required to plan, conduct and report the findings of a injury rehabilitation and manual therapies related project. Students will be introduced to the methodological features used to control bias in experimental studies and to the analytical tools used to interpret the data collected.
The module aims to provide you with essential knowledge and experience in the delivery of exercise prescription through the development of an instructional resource. Your resource will be in a multi-platform format with video, audio and written elements maximising accessibility. You will develop an understanding of the principles of exercise prescription through a series of lectures and practical workshops and develop your knowledge, understanding and proficient delivery in exercise prescription. You will also be introduced to methods of physiological assessment e.g., range of movement, proprioception, strength, power, and aerobic capacity. The module will develop your knowledge and understanding of the muscular-skeletal, cardio-vascular and neuro-muscular systems in relation to the principles of training for performance.
Anatomy is an integral part of knowledge for student studying rehabilitation and manual therapies as it is the foundations of any assessment or treatment you will give to a client. This module allows you to understand musculoskeletal anatomy in both a theoretical way and practically. You will have the skills to identify bones and bony landmarks, specific muscle origins and insertions and how they work functionally in the body, on a diagram, skeletal structure and on a human model.
An important feature of graduate injury rehabilitation and manual therapy is that therapists operate within an evidence-based paradigm, it is therefore important that students gain knowledge and understanding of searching for, appraising, and interpreting evidence. This module will introduce students to the skills necessary to find relevant academic journal articles, extract key information from these articles, and interpret their findings. This module provides the transferable skills needed to write assignments on the degree.
Anatomy is an integral part of knowledge for student studying rehabilitation and manual therapies as it is the foundations of any assessment or treatment you will give to a client. This module allows you to understand musculoskeletal anatomy in both a theoretical way and practically. You will have the skills to identify bones and bony landmarks, specific muscle origins and insertions and how they work functionally in the body, on a diagram, skeletal structure and on a human model.
The module builds upon the material taught at level 4 on the conducting research module. Students will be introduced to randomisation, controls, allocation concealment, blinding and sample size requirements in order to minimise bias. Students will be required to plan, conduct, analyse and report the findings of a project related to injury rehabilitation and manual therapy. Where possible the principles of conducting rigorous research will be taught in a practical applied way so that students also gain an appreciation for the impact of implement specific components of research design.
This module will equip you to understand the response the body has to injury. It will help you to guide your rehabilitation based on tissue healing and you will have a strong understanding of the different treatment modalities that can be utilised as a Sports Therapist. You will be efficient at writing and delivering rehabilitation programmes to clients with neuromusculoskeletal pathologies.
This module will enable you to utilise a strong underpinning knowledge of anatomy, pathology, epidemiology and aetiology to assess peripheral joints with a view to assessing sports injuries in an athlete. Active and passive range of movement assessment, muscle testing and special / ligament tests will be learned and practiced throughout the semester as part of a non-prescriptive clinical approach to injury assessment. You will develop clinical reasoning, clinical skills and differential diagnosis skills in order to make informed decisions in your injury assessment practice.
This module will build upon the material taught at level 4 on the reviewing scientific literature module. Students will be introduced to more advanced ways of searching for literature, screening articles for eligibility using pre-specified criteria, extracting data in a standardised way, and appraising the studies for their risk of bias. Students will undertake their own review during this module using the skills that have been taught on a topic pertinent to injury rehabilitation and manual therapies.
This module will enable you to utilise a strong underpinning knowledge of anatomy, pathology, epidemiology and aetiology to assess vertebral pathology / injury in an athlete. Active and passive range of movement assessment, muscle testing and special / ligament tests will be learned and practiced throughout the semester as part of a non-prescriptive clinical approach to injury assessment. You will develop clinical reasoning, clinical skills and differential diagnosis skills in order to make informed decisions in your injury assessment practice.
4.2
