Curious about studying Sports Coaching with Performance Sport - BA (Hons)at Bucks New University? 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.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
High Wycombe Campus
Full Time
Oct 2026
3 Year
This course has a shared first year across multiple specialisms. After your first year, if you want to study a different specialism you can choose to change between BA (Hons) Sports Coaching with Physical Education, Sports Coaching with Business, BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching with Community Health and Physical Activity.
Why study at Bucks\ You could be teaching or mentoring young people, inspiring older people or people with disabilities to engage in physical activity or polishing the performance of top-level athletes. Our sports coaching programme at Bucks is unique to us and offers you the chance to gain exciting career opportunities both locally and nationally. We make full use of combined industry and academic knowledge and the experience of our dedicated staff and partnerships within the public and private sectors to give you a cutting-edge and future-proof learning experience. By studying this programme at Bucks, you will be given the opportunity to gain externally recognised coaching qualifications in a variety of sports as well as gain work experience within local schools, colleges, sports clubs, and other community sport organisations, subject to a successful DBS check.
What facilities can I use?\ Our Human Performance, Exercise and Wellbeing Centre includes our Human Performance Lab (HPL) and our Sports and Wellbeing Clinic. Equipped for assessing the function and performance of a wide range of human physiological, biomechanical and psychological parameters, the HPL gives you the tools you need to succeed as you learn to use cutting-edge research tools for sport, exercise and therapy. It includes an indoor three-lane running track, incorporating 3D motion-capture technology as well as advanced body and performance measurement devices. Our facilities will help you to enhance athletes’ performance through improved technique and assists with injury prevention and rehabilitation. This will give you a key understanding of what an athlete in the field expects to experience after your teaching and coaching. We also have our Gateway gym, on our High Wycombe Campus, where you can benefit from great student rates. You’ll be able to get personalised help and advice from gym trainers, use a range of fitness equipment and choose from a wide range of exercise classes.
What will I study?\ This course introduces you to performance sport and will include additional focus on scientific concepts and protocols for the improvement of human performance. It is designed to open doors to postgraduate study in sports performance and careers in elite sports coaching or athlete support roles. This is great for you if you would like to work with elite athletes and high level sports teams.
Career Prospects\ Throughout your time with us we’ll support you on the route to your chosen career. We’ll help you to develop crucial skills, encouraging you to become enterprising, employable and good leaders. We also help you find employment after graduation. Have a look at our Careers and Employability pages to find out more. Many of our graduates go on to have careers as a PE Teacher, work in education or sports coaching and contribute greatly to society using the skills they gained on this specialism. Some students also enter community work or pursue other sports-related careers after graduation, and your career prospects are exciting. Our degree will help prepare you for a range of career possibilities, such as: * community sports coaching * performance sports coaching * PE teaching * sports development * sports management and administration
Gain a foundation of knowledge underpinning various sports coaching theories and experience practical coaching sessions as both a coach and a participant. Use knowledge of the coaching process, coaching pedagogy, and principles of coaching science to create effective coaching sessions. This module will have the opportunity to supplement learning with a National Governing Body (NGB) recognised coaching award.
Designed to introduce you to the principles and practices of academic practice and academic research in the sports domain. You’ll study key areas of empirical research to provide a conceptual understanding of reporting styles, basic methodologies, professional and regulatory codes of practice & analytical techniques applied within sports research.
This module will introduce you to the concepts of sport as a part of social and cultural life, and to the structures and organisations that govern and deliver sport. Re-look at your sports knowledge from a sociological perspective and come to an understanding about importance of sport and physical activity as well as some of the issues that can impact on sports participation levels.
This module will introduce you to the concepts of psychology within the context of sport and exercise, considering how psychological constructs such as personality and motivation can impact upon sport and exercise performance, participation, and adherence. You’ll then further explore the impact of cognition and emotion on behaviour.
This module will introduce you to human energy systems and their application to exercise. It will allow you to consider how the human body adapts and changes to the demands of various sports. You’ll also be provided with a necessary understanding of human anatomical structure and function with a focus on movement and exercise analysis.
This module is designed to give you an insight into the fundamentals of strength and conditioning and will cover the key concepts, theories and techniques which underpin effective strength and conditioning practice. In addition, this module will also provide you with an overview of the core competencies, knowledge, and professional standard requirements of the contemporary Strength and Conditioning Practitioner.
This module will focus on aspects of growth and development of athletes and the appropriate strategies to deliver effective coaching sessions to a variety of participants. This module will provide you with the opportunity to put theory into practice through collaborative working with school-age participants.
The module will provide a framework where sports coaches can apply the coaching process and develop techniques to evaluate sports performance, particularly technical and tactical analysis. This will include a review of pertinent scientific elements of training/performance.
This module aims to provide you with the knowledge needed to produce research of sufficient quality to make a valuable contribution to the sport industry. You’ll study the conceptual issues and practical considerations through the entire process of research, including the underlying philosophical debates about the nature of knowledge.
This module will build on your understanding of human systems and movement analysis in a practical approach. You’ll understand how to monitor and test athlete performance using a variety of equipment and methods, conducting needs analyses from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint, and ensuring individual needs are considered.
Analyse the key concepts and dominant models of practice within applied sport and performance psychology. Explore the philosophical, theoretical, and methodological approaches informing the discipline. Gain requisite knowledge required for effective service delivery within applied sport and performance psychology, when working with teams, young performers, and special populations (i.e. coaches).
Explore methods to utilise and collaborate with industry-wide support networks and internal team members to ensure the most effective coaching services are delivered to participants. You’ll be encouraged to use up-to-date knowledge of wider issues affecting the coaching environment to proactively influence best practice across the coaching team.
This module aims to provide you with the opportunity to gain experience in undertaking project work at a strategic level. You will have the opportunity to think about how they might bring about evidence-based change or innovation in their practice area.
This module is informed by both the latest academic research and industry-insider knowledge. It tasks you with thinking about the current situation in sport and physical education, including issues, problems, as well as more positive developments, and to consider the implications in the short, medium, and long-term.
Develop an understanding of the scientific principles that underpin the construction and delivery of different training programmes and factors that can affect your success. Learning will include the theory behind training periodisation and investigate the practicalities of different types of programmes, aimed a range of sports and activity levels.
This module will provide you with a theoretical framework for understanding how performers progress from novice to expert performers. During the module, key psychological concepts of learning will be reviewed, following which the biomechanical philosophies that determine, constrain and regulate movement will also be discussed.
4.4Bucks New University (BNU) is a student-focused university based in High Wycombe, with over 130 years of educational his...
