Sports Development with a Year Abroad

Sports development is the discipline concerned with widening participation in sport and physical activity, improving opportunities for people to take part at all levels, and developing the organisations, coaches, and structures through which sport reaches communities. It is a professionally oriented field that draws on sports science, public health, policy, and management, asking how resources and expertise can be deployed most effectively to grow participation, support elite pathways, and address the health inequalities that unequal engagement with sport produces.

At the University of East Anglia this four-year full-time programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study sports development in an international context and to broaden your understanding of how different countries approach participation and elite development. The curriculum is built around innovative teaching methods, hands-on research, and practical experience, preparing you for a successful career in sports development through genuine engagement with the field alongside academic study. You will study sports policy, coaching science, health promotion, community development, sport organisations, and research methods, developing both the theoretical frameworks and the practical capabilities that the field demands.

The typical entry tariff of 136 points reflects the academic standard expected on entry.

You will develop research skills, strategic and operational thinking about sports participation, and the professional competence to work across community sport, national governing bodies, local authorities, and health organisations.

Graduates pursue careers in sports development roles within local authorities, sports clubs, national governing bodies of sport, the National Lottery-funded sports system, charitable organisations, and schools. Postgraduate study in sports development, sport management, or public health is a natural next step for those seeking specialist expertise.