Sport Science and Business Management BSc (Joint Hons) at Bangor University

Students on this broad ranging course will not only discover the science behind sport performance and the health benefits of physical activity and exercise but will also gain an insight into how organisations function.

You may be interested in working with elite athletes to help improve their performance or want a better understanding of how science can be applied to sport to improve your coaching or teaching ability. You may want to develop your understanding of exercise as a medicine for people with health problems or want to promote the benefits of physical activity and exercise. Perhaps you are more interested in working in a managerial role within a sporting or health related business. This broad ranging course is uniquely designed to help you achieve these goals.

Drawing on 40 years of experience, we pride ourselves on offering many ‘hands on’ experiences in the laboratory or the sport coaching environment. This and our research-led curriculum, covering core Sport Science topics of physiology, psychology and biomechanics, will give you the knowledge and skills required for a career in the expanding exercise and sport market. With the addition of our sport and exercise specific employability programs and placements you have the opportunity to make yourself stand out from the crowd with a degree from one of the ‘original’ schools of sport science in the UK.

Management involves the process of leading or directing an organisation, and making decisions concerning the deployment of resources. During the course you will study the principles of management, and develop commercial awareness, leadership, communication and presentation skills. Modules on these topics are delivered by Bangor Business School who emphasise how the subject links with the real world, with case studies, topical issues, field work and practical relevance imbedded in the curriculum. This will ensure that graduates will be able to demonstrate relevant knowledge and understanding of organisations, the external environment in which they operate, and how they are managed with a particular insight into the sporting business sector in its many guises.

The main aims of the Sports Science and Business management degree in relation to sports science are:

• To provide students with a sport science focus to their studies;
• To develop the capability of students to acquire and express a dynamically-changing theoretical perspective of sport science which is supported by a current evidence-based understanding of the area;
• To provide students with the intellectual and practical (laboratory/testing) skill that will enable them to ask relevant questions in sport science and apply appropriate research skills to the answering of those questions;
• To develop students’ skills to be able to engage effectively at a personal level, and with others, in the sport science sector;
• To enable students to recognise how they might apply their academic and practical skills to sensitively work within the wider global and culturally diverse community, developing their capabilities through new experiences.

The main aims of the degree in relation to management are:

• The study of organisations, their management and the changing external global and culturally diverse environment in which they operate. The programme of study covers a wide range of organisations, including public, private and not-for-profit, together with a comprehensive range of sizes and organisational structures.
• The development of a range of specific business knowledge and skills, together with improved self-awareness and personal development appropriate to graduates with the potential to progress into management positions.
• The development of theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and ethical principles across a range of specialist functional areas of business and managerial decision making, including marketing, business planning, operations management, corporate strategy, human resource management, organisational structure and design, and financial and risk management.
• The development of positive and critical attitudes towards change and enterprise.
• Enhancement of lifelong learning skills and personal development to contribute sensitively to the global and culturally diverse society at large. This includes the development and enhancement of a range of general transferable intellectual and study skills, which whilst being highly appropriate to careers in business, management and marketing, are not exclusive to these career choices.
• The analysis and interpretation of data.

Careers

This Sports Science with Business Management degree will equip graduates with the opportunity to pursue an academic or professional career in Sport and Exercise Science. Graduates will be in a position to pursue Accredited Sports Scientist status with the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). Due to the specific skills and knowledge gained during the degree, graduates will be in a good position to pursue careers in the fitness and health industries.  For those not wishing to take a sport science career route, developed transferable skills will enhance employment opportunities in other sectors such as the services, a variety of careers in business and management, with employers in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Specific career options relating to the Business Management content of the degree include human resource management, operations and production management, marketing, accountancy and finance particular in businesses related to sport or health.