Our MSc in Sport Coaching aims to advance your coaching skills through the application of science to sport in your coaching context. It draws on a range of disciplines including sport psychology, sport conditioning, and performance analysis. Whether you coach children, elite youth performers or talented masters athletes, the course is designed to provide support in the application of scientific principles to challenge and enhance your coaching practice.
You will be supported by experts with extensive experience in sports practice and research. This support will be tailored to your coaching needs and the environment you coach within. For example, coaches with an interest in developing psychological skills with their athletes may focus on the development of a sport psychology intervention or educational workshop to meet their athlete’s needs. You will have the opportunity to specialise (e.g. strength and conditioning, performance analysis, sport psychology) within the two Supervised Experience modules and work with a highly experienced, research-active supervisor to develop bespoke interventions for your coaching context.
The Division of Sport and Exercise has an enthusiastic and committed staff team that provides a supportive learning environment and a flexible approach to study. Sport Coaching is offered at our state-of-the-art Lanarkshire Campus.
Programmes underpinned by internationally excellent/world-class research - Research Excellence Framework 2014
The MSc Sport Coaching is designed to provide opportunities to advance practical and reflective skills that articulate to the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC) Level 4.
Work-based learning is central to this MSc. All activities and assessments draw upon students’ experiences from employment or work-based learning in the coaching sector. There are opportunities to undertake continuous professional development (CPD) and work-based learning to enhance both coaching skills and employability. For example, opportunities will be available through our partnerships with Glasgow Rocks (professional basketball team) and St Mirren Football Club. You will be supported in developing portfolios towards the UKCC Level 4 generic competencies. Such experiences and skill development are central to this MSc and offer real-world application of science to sport, critical analysis and reflective practice.
This course prepares for the following:
As Head of Strength and Conditioning at the Glasgow School of Sport, I am responsible for the physical preparation of over 100 potential Commonwealth/ Olympic athletes across five sports. I am also responsible for the development and delivery of a specific sport education curriculum that supplements the traditional academic qualifications our pupils receive through Bellahouston Academy.
I registered on the MSc in Sport Coaching to further my development as a coach after 15 years of applied practice. UWS provided the flexibility to work and study at the same time and offered a flexible approach to teaching, learning and assessment to accommodate my area of expertise. The modules have provided me with the opportunity to network with like-minded professionals and work with a group of highly knowledgeable staff in a dynamic and proactive university department.
Kevin Watson, MSc Sport Coaching student
UWS sport graduates have gone on to employment with:
Graduates are equipped to collaborate with performers as a coach, strength and conditioner or in sport science support. The MSc can prepare elite performers to study their own performance and to develop the necessary skills to help their future performance or prepare them for work opportunities after retirement from sport.
We welcome Scottish, UK and international students and consider all applicants on an individual basis.
Don’t worry if your qualifications are not listed here, we take a range of factors into account when assessing your application and are happy to consider other alternative combinations of qualifications and experience
If you are applying with an EU or non-EU qualification, please check our Postgraduate & Post-experience Entry Requirements page which gives more information about country-specific entry requirements.
All applicants will be expected to submit a strong personal statement and character reference, highlighting voluntary or work experience in a sporting environment. Applicants may also be invited to an interview.
The MSc is available to EU and overseas students (full-time only). Overseas students must meet UWS English language requirements (see below).
Successful applicants who gain a place on this course will need to register on the PVG Scheme, managed and delivered by Disclosure Scotland. An application form will be sent from the University once you have accepted your offer. The fee for joining the scheme is £59.
Visit the Disclosure Scotland website for more information on the PVG scheme.
For applicants whose first language is not English, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level. The qualifications below must have been gained within two years of the start of your course.
General English language requirements at UWS: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training)
Exceptions to this level of IELTS scoring exist for some accredited or professionally-recognised courses (see section below for more details).
SOCIAL WORK DEGREES
For our BA (Hons) Social Work and MSc Social Work programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
All stated English tests are acceptable for admission for both home/EU and international students for this programme:
For our research degrees (MRes, MPhil, PhD, DBA, DProf) applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
For Health, Nursing & Midwifery courses that lead to, or require professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council, applicants are required to have an IELTS or Occupational English Test (OET)*.
For such courses, the IELTS score is as follows:
* Note that the Occupational English Test (OET) will now be accepted in addition to IELTS as proof of a Nurse's English Language Competence (Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2019).
For our BSc (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science and MSc Advanced Biomedical Science programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
For our Certificate of Higher Education courses, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
TOEFL IBT*: 78; no sub-test less than:
* Please note that TOEFL is still acceptable for admission to this programme for both home/EU and international students.
For international students, the Home Office has confirmed that the University can choose to use TOEFL to make its own assessment of English language ability for visa applications to degree level courses. We therefore still accept TOEFL tests taken in the last two years for admission to this programme.
West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE) including acceptance of WAEC Scratchcard*
*UWS will accept a WAEC scratchcard confirming that an applicant has achieved C6 or above as evidence of meeting English language requirement from Nigeria if the student graduated within the last 5 years. After 5 years applicants would be required to provide the WAEC Certificate.
Applicants who do not meet the minimum English language requirements have the option to study one of our preparatory and pre-sessional English courses. The UWS courses available are:
The MSc is comprised of the following core modules:
You will benefit from the professional networks of our practitioner staff who provide services in sport. These networks allow you to access placements at a range of levels including professional and elite level sport. Work-based learning is central to this MSc.
You will be taught through a combination of:
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Our MSc in Sport Coaching is taught through a combination of small group seminars and practical workshops.
ASSESSMENT
There are no formal examinations on the MSc Sports Coaching; a variety of assessment methods are used, including:
Assessments are split as follows:
Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) postgraduate tuition fee and living cost loans may be available for eligible (Scottish/EU) students. Check SAAS website for more information.
All students should apply directly to the University through our online application system. Before you apply, you should check that you meet our entry requirements and you should have all your supporting documents ready.
The first stage of the process is to complete the initial application form. You will then receive a follow-up email with further instructions relating to your application including documents that you will need to forward to support your application, e.g. degree transcripts and certificates etc.
Most courses don't have a formal closing date, but they will close when they are full; apply early to avoid disappointment. There may also be funding deadlines that apply to you.
The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) applies to all international students and researchers (apart from exempt nationalities) who are subject to UK immigration control and are intending to study or research at postgraduate level in certain sensitive subjects.
Students and researchers who are nationals of EU countries, the European Economic Area (EEA), Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the United States of America do not need an ATAS certificate.
An ATAS certificate may be required for certain taught postgraduate master's degrees for international students at UWS.
For the latest information on ATAS and details of eligibility and how to apply for a certificate check the UK Government's dedicated ATAS web pages.
Do you have a question about applying for this course? Get in touch. We are here to help!
Use the Link below to download details of our full-time, part-time tuition fees for Bachelor, Masters, Research, and English Language pre-sessional courses for session 2023-24.
Tuition FeesWith cutting edge facilities, specialist knowledge and world-leading and internationally excellent expertise, we aim to develop research outputs that have a tangible, early and positive impact on society across the globe.
DiscoverWe will always try to make sure that we publish accurate course information but we do not accept responsibility for any mistakes or omissions. We will also try to make sure that we deliver our courses in line with our published information. However, we may not always be able to do so and you can find further information about this in our enrolment terms and conditions.