Sport and Exercise Science with a Foundation Year

Sport and Exercise Science is the discipline that applies scientific principles to the understanding of human physical performance and the role of exercise in health and wellbeing. Drawing on physiology, biomechanics, and psychology, it examines how the human body responds to exercise and physical training, how performance can be optimised, and how physical activity contributes to the prevention and management of disease across the lifespan. It is a field of both academic rigour and direct practical relevance.

At the University of Kent, this four-year, full-time degree includes a foundation year that provides a supported entry route for students who need additional preparation before engaging with the full sport and exercise science curriculum. The foundation year builds the scientific foundations needed to succeed in the degree proper, after which you will study core scientific areas including physiology, biomechanics, and psychology, developing practical skills through laboratory sessions, applied projects, and real-world tasks. The programme examines how sport, exercise, and physical activity affect the human body and its capabilities, with applications ranging from enhancing elite sporting performance to managing chronic disease and promoting health across populations.

Graduates work across the full range of professional contexts in which sport and exercise science expertise is applied: performance sport support, strength and conditioning, clinical exercise physiology, health promotion, public health, rehabilitation, coaching, and research are all natural career directions. Postgraduate study in sport science, exercise physiology, physiotherapy, or strength and conditioning provides routes to more specialised professional and research roles for those who wish to develop expert knowledge.