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BSc (Hons) - Sport Rehabilitation

Do you want to positively contribute to sporting performance and public health? This course is designed to give you the industry knowledge, skills and enhanced employment prospects to kickstart your career in sport rehabilitation.

You will learn to prevent, examine and treat sports related injuries, while practising in facilities including our rehabilitation clinic, strength and conditioning room, and biomechanics and physiology laboratories. Our tutors are industry professionals who will support you throughout the programme, including helping you to pursue your own interests.

Beyond the university setting, you will complete at least 400 hours of work experience, with opportunities to work with professional sports teams and in sports rehabilitation clinics, fitness centres, and the NHS. You will also support ultra-endurance runners taking part in the annual Brathay 10 in 10 (10 marathons in 10 days) event.

In addition, you will enhance your CV by completing a range of courses and qualifications, including Rocktape, Pre-Hospital Immediate Care in Sport, and a Strength and Conditioning Trainer qualification endorsed by the Chartered Institute in the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).

Accredited by the industry-leading British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT) and in association with the World Federation of Athletic Training and Therapy (WFATT), our course will fast-track your job hunt and set you up for success through enhanced national and international employment prospects.

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Accredited by:

Accreditation logo

British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers & CIMSPA

Course Overview

This course offers a comprehensive and practical education in sport rehabilitation, combining clinical knowledge, hands-on therapeutic skills and professional development.

You'll gain a solid understanding of human movement, anatomy and biomechanics, learning to assess, treat and prevent a range of musculoskeletal and sports-related injuries. Emphasis is placed on applying this knowledge in real-world settings, with opportunities for placements across sports clubs, clinics and healthcare environments.

Throughout the course, you'll develop clinical reasoning and therapeutic competencies in areas such as manual therapy, exercise prescription, strength and conditioning, and neurodynamics. You'll also engage in injury screening and pre-habilitation strategies designed to optimise athlete performance and reduce injury risk.

In addition to practical skills, you'll explore research methodology and undertake an independent investigative project, allowing for specialisation in an area of personal interest.

Our sport courses are ranked 1st in the North West for continuation and 2nd in the North West for career prospects (Guardian University Guide 2023 Results).

On this course you will...

  • Help people recover from sport and physical activity-related injuries and conditions. You will positively contribute to sporting performance and public health.
  • Develop hands-on techniques, learning skills such as sports massage, musculoskeletal injury assessment, and joint mobilisations and manipulations.
  • Become creative in your ability to devise and implement functional and sport-specific exercise rehabilitation to restore athletes, from recreational up to elite levels of performance.
  • Put theory into practice by completing placements early on in your studies. Past students have worked with professional sports teams, sports rehabilitation clinics, fitness centres, and the NHS.
  • Complete a range of courses and qualifications to enhance your CV, including Rocktape, Pre-Hospital Immediate Care in Sport, and a CIMSPA endorsed Strength & Conditioning Trainer qualification.
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Course Structure

What you will learn

The modules on this course will deliver high-quality profession-specific training, including:

Detailed knowledge and understanding of human anatomy
Physiology and relevant pathophysiology of neuromusculoskeletal conditions
Competence in manual/therapeutic techniques
Skills in exercise prescription
Rehabilitation
Conditioning and screening
Highly developed communication and inter-professional skills.

Year one

In your first year, you will develop practical and clinical reasoning skills, as well as foundational knowledge of human movements and functions. Explore basic exercise techniques and training to achieve CIMSPA Gym Instructor qualification upon completion of the module. You will commence personal and professional development through dedicated modules designed to support the transition from level 3 to level 4.

  • Personal and Professional development
    A practical introduction to a range of skills to help you make sense of academic research, including how to find, evaluate and read academic sources.
  • Sports Massage
    A hands-on introduction to massage therapy which develops clinical reasoning to justify how best to implement sports massage in order to aid sports performance and recovery.
  • Functional Anatomy & Sports Injuries: Lower Limb
    Explore the human anatomy for the lower limb before taking a hands-on approach to understanding how these structures become injured, particularly through sport, and how to practically assess for injuries.
  • Functional Anatomy & Sports Injuries: Upper Limb & Spinal
    Further your knowledge of human anatomy and sports injuries and study the upper limb and spinal. Practically assess for these injuries as part of the role of a Sport Rehabilitator.
  • Exercise Techniques & Training
    Learn how to instruct safe and appropriate exercise techniques related to developing basic components of fitness, designed to improve health and sporting performance.
  • Principles of Human Movement & Function
    Develop a physiological understanding of the human body’s systems related to sports performance, and clinical knowledge of biomechanics related to sports injuries and dysfunctions.
  • Qualificatory Practice Unit 1
    Conduct your first 100 hours of placement, focused on sports massage therapy and pitch-side first aid, whilst under the supervision of a vocational practice supervisor.
Year two

In your second year, there will be more emphasis on developing the clinical skills needed to become an independent learner and practitioner. You will have opportunities to work in small groups as part of clinical problem-based learning, to plan, discuss and apply evidence-based therapeutic interventions. This will be accompanied by further applications of functional sports rehabilitation and later-stage strength and conditioning modules. These will be designed to integrate the educational requirements of the CIMSPA Strength & Conditioning Trainer qualification.

  • Pathophysiology & Therapeutic Practice
    Explore the pathological processes of injury, healing and repair. Examine the evidence and practically apply a variety of therapeutic modalities for rehabilitation, such as electrotherapy and cryotherapy.
  • Functional Sports Rehabilitation
    Rationalise and practically apply exercise prescription following injury to help return people to their sport, including late-stage sport-specific exercise rehabilitation.
  • Applied Manual Therapy: Peripheral
    Develop manual therapy techniques applied to upper and lower limb joints/musculoskeletal structures, such as joint mobilisations, myofascial release therapy and deep transverse friction massage.
  • Applied Manual Therapy: Spinal
    Advance your manual therapy skills to apply your knowledge and techniques to more complex spinal injuries and dysfunctions, including spinal manipulations.
  • Strength & Conditioning for Performance
    Understand the physical requirements of athletes and learn how to construct, deliver and evaluate training plans aimed at meeting athlete needs and maximising sporting potential and performance.
  • Investigative Techniques
    Prepare to conduct a personal research project in an area of interest aimed at developing professional knowledge and expertise. Consider research methodology, ethics, data analysis and formulating a research question.
  • Qualificatory Practice Unit 2
    Conduct 100 hours of vocational placement across a wider variety of settings, from sports injury clinics, sports clubs, health and fitness centres, the NHS, and many more. This may also include the opportunity to undertake a 10-day residential placement in the Lake District.
Year three

In your final year, you will have the opportunity to lead discussion groups during advanced problem-solving scenarios to enhance the critical thinking and reasoning skills needed as independent practitioners.

Alongside continued, advanced educational content related to Sport Rehabilitation, you will study a module in Professional Development and Employment. This module is designed to develop critical self-reflection, careers, and goal planning. In this time, you will develop your CV, personal statement, and interview techniques.

Following your Evidence-Based Practice module in the second year, during your final year, you will conduct an advanced investigative project, which will allow further specialisation in your chosen discipline.

  • Neurodynamics in Sport
    Learn the underpinning knowledge and manual therapeutic skills to assess, treat and evaluate common neurodynamic conditions.
  • Professional Development & Employment
    Critically self-reflect and evaluate on own clinical and academic performance to promote future goal planning and professional development to prepare for employment, including how to develop a curriculum vitae, personal statement and interview skills.
  • Advanced Athlete Care
    Gain an understanding of psychological aspects of sports injuries and rehabilitation, as well as considering risk factors and influences of more complex illnesses and conditions on rehabilitation.
  • Screening & Pre-habilitation
    Develop a more advanced understanding of injury mechanisms, including screening for muscle and postural imbalances, and learn how to implement preventative strategies for injury prevention.
  • Independent Investigative Project
    Conduct an original research investigation of your own choice, supported by a dissertation supervisor, and communicate your findings.
  • Qualificatory Practice Unit 3
    Conduct the final 200-hour requirement for enabling BASRaT membership. This will involve working more independently as a Sport Rehabilitator in a variety of settings to help prepare you for future employment.

Attend an Open Day at Cumbria

An Open Day is your opportunity to explore one of 5 campuses, meet your lecturers, and find out how the University of Cumbria could become your new home.

Take the next step towards achieving your dreams.
A student stands in front of a wall splattered with paint.