Curious about studying Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation - BSc (Hons)at 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.
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Stoke-on-Trent Campus
Full Time
Sep 2026
3 Year
Learn how to help people with neuro-musculoskeletal complaints recover from injury and make a major difference to other people’s lives through treatment and rehabilitation. Our Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation degree will give you plenty of practical experience and the opportunity to work with real clients in our Staffordshire University Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Clinic. Under supervision from staff, you could be dealing with anything from knee or back injuries through to complex musculoskeletal cases. Patients include elite athletes and specialist communities such as older people and those with comorbidities (such as cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases amongst others). You’ll learn in our pioneering new Telehealth Hub - an industry leading facility which enables students to develop skills in digital sport, exercise and healthcare. Students use the telehealth facility to assess, educate, monitor, and/or deliver healthcare interventions virtually. With more and more healthcare providers using web-based systems to provide care to patients, the skills learnt in our hub are future-proofing our students and preparing them for success in their future careers. Our BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation degree leads to a range of exciting careers, whether you have ambitions to work in the professional sports environment or go into private practice. What’s more, we are accredited by the British Association of Sports Rehabilitators (BASRaT), which means we meet rigorous national standards and you have access to student membership. On the course, you’ll learn how to do injury assessment, perform soft techniques like massage and joint mobilisation, and offer exercise for healthy clients and rehabilitation purposes. You’ll put techniques into practice in our Rehabilitation Zone - that’s kitted out with Olympic weightlifting equipment and cardiovascular machines - and in our physiology lab, where we have specialist facilities for testing and measuring human performance. There are also several modules aimed at building your research skills, culminating in a major research project in your final year. You will be able to draw on the expertise of our research-active academics and staff with a wealth of clinical experience as sports therapists and rehabilitators. On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation.
During this module you will develop: 1. Effective Learning Skills: Time management, different learning styles, effective note-taking, behaving professionally in Sport and Exercise settings; compare and evaluate information from a variety of sources; prepare for and learn from assessment and feedback. 2. Communication Skills (a) Written communication: preparing, writing and presenting an essay including referencing and citing of information; preparing, writing and presenting an individual research project including a literature review, methodology, results and discussion section; (b) Reading and verbal skills: asking effective questions in class and group discussions; recognizing and constructing an argument and taking into account other students' views; selecting, analysing and comparing a range of print-based information; (c) personal communication skills: giving effective presentations to groups. 3. Information Technology Skills: The use of a Windows environment to communicate ideas via word processing and/or spreadsheets.
This module aims to provide a knowledge and understanding of musculoskeletal anatomy. At the end of the module you will be able to identify key structures and landmarks essential for clinical practice. You will be introduced to traditional and contemporary concepts of anatomy and be able to apply this knowledge to sporting function and injury. The scope of this module will include the function, structure and location of bones, muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and bursae. This understanding and applied knowledge is integral to the sports therapy course and is a key building block for the development of an undergraduate sports therapist.
You will attend a series of lectures and interactive student-centred workshops focussed on sport and exercise research methods and analysis. In particular, you will be introduced to research methodologies and processes, including both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research design and to the ethical issues involved in sport and exercise research. You will develop your understanding of planning a research project and developing research questions. You will explore quantitative research methods and analysis, and use statistical packages (e.g., SPSS) to analyse, interpret and represent data as well as exploring qualitative research methods and analysis with a focus on data collection and analyses techniques.
This module aims to give you the skills and knowledge that underpins your future role as a sports therapist. It will give you an understanding of the roles and limitations of a sports therapist and your role as part of a multidisciplinary team. Basic presentation skills will be covered. Relationships with other agencies and healthcare professionals will be explored along with legal and ethical issues affecting the sports therapist. This will include a sound understanding of legal and ethical requirements, Health & Safety issues, risk assessment, accident reporting, and record keeping. SST standards of proficiency and standards of conduct, performance and ethics documents will be presented during the module. Standards of behaviour will be discussed. The role of the professional body (Society of Sports Therapists) will be examined along with current industry status developments and career progression opportunities in the UK and around the world. Roles of similar professions throughout the world (e.g. American athletic trainers) will be examined. This module includes a compulsory first aid component ensuring you are proficient in the management of emergency trauma / first aid situations within a sporting context. This will cover safe and effective handling of casualties in a field situation, emergency trauma management, ambulation techniques, and management of a sporting environment within the remit of a sports therapist including presentation skills.
The purpose of this module is to provide you with an introduction to human anatomy, exercise physiology, biomechanics and the principles of strength and conditioning. Various systems of the body (such as the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic and nervous) will be explored in the context of biomechanics and/or exercise physiology. In biomechanics, you will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of human movement analysis through studying basic anatomical and mechanical principles, including an analysis of the musculo-skeletal system and movement patterns. Techniques for assessing sports-related kinematics and kinetics, will be developed, through the use of laboratory exploration. In exercise physiology, techniques for monitoring physiological performance and responses to exercise will be learnt and evaluated, such as methods of assessing aerobic and anaerobic capability (e.g., via laboratory- and field-based assessment of VO2max, lactate response, maximal intensity exercise, and flexibility). In the strength and conditioning context, you will be introduced to specific laboratory and applied physical test protocols and exercise prescriptions for the development of athletic performance. Practical and technical skills in data collection, and skills in data analysis will also be taught and developed.
This module examines the techniques and rehabilitation tools commonly used as part of treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries. The emphasis will be on manual therapy techniques and exercise modalities.Early in the module you will gain an understanding of the principles and role of sports in sports therapy and will become proficient in the delivery of sports massage techniques. You will also investigate and practice other soft tissue techniques including proproceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques, Muscle Energy Technique, Soft / Active tissue release methods, neuromuscular technique and basic peripheral joint mobilisations.Further techniques and strategies for regaining and maintaining neuromuscular control, range of movement and muscular function will be developed throughout the module.All of the above will be supported by the delivery of underpinning knowledge, in particular anatomical and physiological issues.
The purpose of this module is to build on the basic understanding of functional anatomy and biomechanics, with a focus on biomechanical data acquisition procedures. You will have practical experience on the measurement of motion, force and pressure, which is applicable to normal gait and simple sporting activities. This module will also introduce you to the assessment of muscle activity during simple sporting movements. Other topics covered within this module are:- Assessment of measurement validity, accuracy and reliability.- Error effects and their solution.- Force and moment analysis.- The importance of angular kinematics.- Biomechanics of high performance athletes.- Introduction to gait analysis.- Appropriate methods of data presentation.- Application of movement analysis to support exercise prescription.
This module will require you to build upon your knowledge of research gained in the level 4 Developing Research Skills module. Within this module you will gain knowledge and understanding of research design, data collection methods, and data analysis skills. You will complete further data analysis skills in either quantitative or qualitative analysis as per the area of expertise their programme demands of them. You will be required to apply your research skills by planning, conducting and analysing data for a small research project of qualitative or quantitative design relevant to their programme.You will also start to think about areas of interest for your dissertation which you will undertake in your final year. This will include developing an understanding of how to construct a proposal and one to one meetings with relevant dissertation supervisors.
In this module you will continue to develop knowledge of anatomy and physiology relevant to sports therapy, whilst also developing an understanding of common causes / mechanics of injury, the body's physiological response to trauma and the subsequent healing process of soft tissue structures. Emphasis in this module will be on developing clinical reasoning skills and evaluation of sports injuries utilising accepted methods of injury assessment. Clinical and functional testing procedures will be learnt and practised throughout the module.
In this module you will develop skills in the administration of electrotherapies, hydrotherapy, manual, thermo and exercise therapies that will be thoroughly and critically investigated. You will be able to select and apply appropriate modalities as part of a rehabilitation programme utilising an in-depth, critical knowledge of underlying principles.You will develop appropriate rehabilitative and conditioning skills and treatment strategies to address the demands of a varied client base including preventative conditioning, early stage rehab through to return to play activities.
This module is designed to give you an understanding of key issues relating to business management, development and entrepreneurism.On completion of the module you will have the tools and knowledge to plan and develop your own business and will have an in depth understanding of the working environment you are likely to be working in as a sports therapist.
This flexible module enables you to choose an award relevant topic and type of assignment which is best suited to your current areas of interest and career aspirations. You may choose to conduct a research project where you identify a topic for research, design and conduct an appropriate study, analyse and interpret data you have collected, and write and submit a report in line with the Sport and Exercise format for dissertations. Alternatively, you may conduct a piece of work based on an identified need in Sport and Exercise.
This module will enable you to gain experience working within a sports therapy related environment and to make an effective contribution to the operation of the host organisation.You may choose to attend a placement from a selection of University approved partners (subject to availability) or may negotiate a placement independently of your choice, subject to certain qualifying criteria. Examples of work placement host organisations may include sports therapy / injury clinics, sports teams, health clubs, or related organisations such as physiotherapy / osteopathy clinics etc... You should undertake placements at 2 different organisations. Ideally these will be from different areas of sports therapy (e.g. a sports injury clinic and a sports team, or a physiotherapy practice and a health club) so as to gain as much global experience of the industry as possible. It is expected that these placements will change approximately mid way through the module (Christmas time) and should be of roughly equal length.
This module will give you the opportunity to practice and contextualise skills developed in all previous modules. There will be opportunity to discuss, develop and justify clinical practice ustilising a number of scenario based projects. You will also expand your scope of clinical practice considering topics such as pain, drugs in sport and injury, special populations, post-surgical considerations and psychological consideration of injury rehabilitation. These areas will then be critically investigated and you will be able to select and apply appropriate modalities as part of a rehabilitation programme utilising an in-depth, critical knowledge of underlying principles. There will be opportunities throughout the module to apply and develop clinical skills in applied clinical workshops. These workshops are designed to support the assessment task which is to develop and implement a full holistic rehabilitation programme for an athlete which will be presented as a case scenario.
This module will revisit and develop to an advanced level the theory and application of joint mobilisations into the practices associated with vertebral mobilisation techniques. Accepted mobilisation techniques (including Maitland and Mulligan) will be developed to assess, critically evaluate and treat a range of relevant vertebral and neurological pathologies common in sports therapy. You will extend your existing knowledge of spinal anatomy to understand the mechanisms of common vertebral and neurological pathologies and disorders. Appropriate interventions will be studied and practiced in practical workshops.
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