UCS are now offering you a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Sport & Exercise Science which allows you to develop as a professional, self–reflecting individual able to meet the demands of employers in the sporting sector and adapt to a constantly changing world. The qualification aims to widen your access to higher education and enhance your career prospects.
The HND provides the opportunity to enter or progress in employment in Sport & Exercise Science, or progress to higher education qualifications such as an Honours degree in Sport or a related area. It also provides progression to further professional qualifications in specific Sport & Exercise Science areas by mapping to units in a range of professional Sport & Exercise Science qualifications.
This HND is delivered in partnership with Activate Learning
Course Units
Unit 14: Research Project
The aim of this unit is to offer students the opportunity to engage in sustained research in a specific field of study and develop a project based on a theme provided by Pearson. The unit enables students to demonstrate the capacity and ability to identify a research theme, to develop research aims, objectives and outcomes, and to present the outcomes of such research in both written and verbal formats. The unit also encourages students to reflect on their engagement in the research process during which recommendations for future, personal development are key learning points.
Unit 15: Advance Coaching
Coaching is going through a process of professionalisation, challenging practitioners to examine what effective coaching practice is and how this can be developed and understood at high levels of performance. This unit is designed to challenge students to analyse the environment of performance coaching from a pedagogic and multi-disciplinary support service perspective, utilising theory and technology to improve performance in their chosen sports. The unit will move beyond session-based planning to challenge students to plan for cycles of training and competition, creating programmes that identify various facets of performance that require development at different phases of training.
Unit 16: Performance Analysis
The analysis of performance is a complex process that reviews the tactics, techniques and movements of an athlete competing within their sports. Real-time and lapsed-time analysis is observed in many of today’s sports in action and during reflection. The aim of this unit is to provide students with the knowledge and understanding of performance analysis within sport and how it is used to aid development. Students will engage in researching the methods used to analyse performance, how to create a performance profile, practically analyse performance, and carry out a post-event analysis to provide feedback.
Unit 17: Talent Identification & Development
There is a worldwide industry in talent identification and development, and many people are employed in finding gifted individuals and developing the talent they possess. This unit starts with exploring the aim, structure and purpose of talent identification and development within sport, the effectiveness of talent identification and development, and focuses on the key predictors used in sport identification and talent development. The unit then requires students to review talent identification and development programmes of their choice, analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the programme with regard to aim, predictors used, structure, monitoring techniques and technology used. From reviewing talent identification and development programmes, students will be in a position to plan a sports identification and development programme for a sport of their choice.
Unit 26: Exercise Physiology
Exercise physiology uses knowledge of how the body changes and adapts to exercise to predict and plan for such things as training programmes and performance-related targets.This unit builds on anatomy and physiology foundations and it recognises that success in sport and exercise is a culmination of the many factors at work in sporting performance. Increasingly, lifestyle choices can play a role in impacting upon effective sports or exercise performance. This unit will address some of these factors and consider how they may be measured, analysed and applied in training.
Unit 32: Psychology for Performance
In sport, success is often attributed to a performer’s psychological state. As a result, the application of psychology in sport is becoming increasingly prevalent.The aim of this unit is to develop students’ knowledge of applied sport psychology and psychological skills training, which is the teaching and delivery of skills, strategies and techniques used to influence the behaviour of individuals and teams. The techniques and skills investigated in this unit can be applied to both sport and exercise settings, depending on the interests and needs of students. Exercise participants may use the techniques to promote their chances of adhering to an exercise programme, whereas sports performers will use these techniques to improve their performance and enjoyment of activities.
Unit 34: Innovation in Coaching
As sports coaching continues to professionalise, an increasing body of research has emerged challenging coaches to understand, critique and apply new coaching frameworks and pedagogies to better support positive outcomes for athletes. This unit is designed to challenge students to understand innovations in coaching practice from a variety of fields and related environments. The unit will challenge assumptions about the role of the coach, success criteria and the potential of sport for holistic development. The unit will move beyond traditional linear models of delivery to challenge students to redefine effective leadership and embrace different models of coaching pedagogy.