Our BSc Sports and Exercise Science (including Year Abroad) focuses on the core disciplines of physiology, psychology, biomechanics and nutrition, whilst also recognising the increasing contribution of genetics, molecular and cell biology to our understanding of human performance and health. Practical work in your first two years provides you with the professional and scientific skills that you need to conduct your own research project in your final year, and to make the transition to postgraduate study or to a fulfilling career. You also get to spend your third year studying abroad. You can choose to do a work-related learning option in your second year and there are sometimes opportunities to get valuable work experience within our Human Performance Unit through our University's frontrunners scheme. If you are considering a career in coaching or teaching you can get financial support from our Sports Federation to take level 1 and 2 coaching qualifications. When you graduate from Essex you will have the knowledge and skills to pursue a wide variety of careers, particularly in the areas of sport, health and education. This course is also endorsed by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences.

The sport, fitness, health and leisure sectors of the economy are booming and provide a variety of careers for well-qualified graduates. During your course, you develop a range of skills (in numeracy, information technology, communication and time management, for example) that all employers value. Recent graduates of BSc Sports and Exercise Science have found employment as a girls’ and women’s football development officer for a local council, as the Essex netball development officer for England Netball, as a youth worker, as a senior fitness instructor, as a health and safety executive for HM Inspector of Health and Safety, and as a health improvement facilitator for a primary care trust. Other graduates now work in the fields of sports performance, sports management and sports development, health care, teaching, and the health and fitness industry. Many also undertake further postgraduate study.