Sports Therapy MSci (Integrated Masters)

Teaching

You are taught through/in a combination of lectures (in-person and online), interactive practical’s, seminars and clinical settings. The lectures are for the dissemination of key concepts that relate to the interactive practical’s and seminars which enable you to apply the principles and understand them fully.

Clinical settings are used to develop hands-on skills which are supported by the interactive practical’s and seminars with the use of case-based scenario’s, blended learning, online materials and Problem Based Learning (PBL) that you will present to the group.

In addition, meetings with Personal Academic Tutors (PAT) are scheduled on four occasions in each year of a course. The purpose of these meetings is to support your progress and enhance your learning through a personalised approach to meet individual student needs.

Placement Learning

• Students will be provided with a wide range of opportunities to develop practice skills to enable them to become competent Sports Therapists. After gaining a first aid qualification, students will offer pitch side support to the University sports teams.
• In levels 4 and 5, under the supervision of appropriately qualified staff, students will undertake practice in the Universities Sports Massage Clinics. During level 6 students will continue to work with the University sports teams and in the University Sports Injury Clinic but they will also undertake the minimum number of supervised practice hours in Sports Therapy environments as stipulated by the SST (currently 200 hours).
• In level 7 (MSci) students will be able to practice some skills autonomously within a strict scope of practice (certificated and insured) and have the opportunity to undertake unlimited (in level 6 students are limited to 250 external hours) supervised practice hours under the insurance from The Society of Sports Therapists.

Contact time

In a typical week at levels, 4 and 5 students will have a minimum of 10 - 12 contact hours of teaching per week. In levels 6 and 7, students will normally have slightly less contact time (6-8 hours plus clinic and placement hours) to do more independent study and undertake placements.

Typically, class contact time each week will be structured around:

• A 1 to 2-hour lecture and a two hour practical

Or

• Or a 1-hour lecture and a two-to-three hour practical.

Students will undertake placement hours internally at levels 4 and 5, and internally and externally at levels 6 and 7, all of these learning hours will be formally recorded and signed by an authorised signatory. 

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake at around 24-28 hours of personal self-study per week, module tutors can guide you on further areas of self-study if you are seeking to consolidate your knowledge above and beyond.  Typically, this will involve practising handling techniques and clinical skills, completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for examinations.

The amount of independent self-study is expected to increase as students progress through the levels with those in level 7 of the MSci actively directing their self-study.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including The Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources. 

Duration

Four years full-time.

Students can opt onto or off of the MSci Sports Therapy during level 4 or level 5 (year 1 or year 2). Upon the successful completion of levels 4, 5 and 6 students are eligible for the BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy exit award.

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that while we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week, and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

Students will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics with research and consultancy experience, postgraduate students, laboratory technical staff and demonstrators. In addition, you can expect to receive sessions with guest lecturers who are currently engaged in Sport Therapy and Exercise science activities outside of the university.

Teaching is informed by research and consultancy, and the majority of lecturers on the course have a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles. 

Assessment

The MSci Sports Therapy aims to develop autonomous, independent and evidence-based Sports Therapy practitioners with a diverse range of intellectual, practical and transferable skills. The course provides numerous opportunities throughout each academic year to assess understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments in addition to ‘summative’ assessments.

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.  Assessment methods include practical examinations, written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as videos, essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations, an independent study project and a final year research Dissertation.

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with Personal Academic Tutors (PAT) and module tutors as appropriate.

You will receive feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.  

Additional Qualifications

Throughout both the Sports Therapy MSci and Sports Therapy BSc (Hons) courses there are opportunities for students to gain additional qualifications if they do not already hold them. The majority of the content required hours (if applicable) and assessment will be aligned with the assessments that are within the modules. There may be some extra work required in order to gain an additional qualification. 

The MSci Professional Placement is where students will be able to fully utilise the additional qualifications and therefore it is expected that MSci students will engage in all of the opportunities throughout the course, however it is not mandatory.

The Level 2 Emergency First Aid, AED and Level 3 Trauma Management qualifications are included in the tuition fee.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.