Sports and Exercise Science (Study Abroad)

BSc Hons

  • UCAS code C602
  • Entry year 2026 or 2025
  • A level requirements ABB
  • Duration Full time 4 years

We welcome applications from the United States of America

We've put together information and resources to guide your application journey as a student from the United States of America.

Overview

Top reasons to study with us

  • 1

    1st for Student satisfaction (Sport Science)

    The Complete University Guide (2025)

  • 1

    1st for Teaching quality (Sports Science)

    The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2025)

  • 8

    8th for Sport Science (joint 8th)

    The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2025)

Our Sports and Exercise (Study Abroad) BSc will offer you the knowledge, skills and values required to become a confident, competent and analytical sports and exercise scientist of the future.

Led by experts in their field at Lancaster Medical School, you will be set up to succeed in a supportive and forward-thinking environment with excellent lab facilities.

Explore the science behind human performance

Do you dream of working with elite athletes or sports teams to enable them to reach peak performance?

Perhaps you see your purpose in supporting people to live active, healthy lives following illness or injury.

Whatever your aspirations, our Sports and Exercise Science BSc (Study Abroad) will offer you the knowledge and skills to support people to achieve their potential through physical activity.

Choosing our Sport and Exercise Science (Study Abroad) BSc, is an ideal opportunity to explore different perspectives on sports and exercise science, while gaining experience of what it is like to live and study in a different country and educational environment.

A course you can make your own

This is a degree that you can tailor to suit your passions and interests.

  • In Year 1, you will get a grounding in the core disciplines of biomechanics, physiology and psychology, alongside topics such as nutrition, digital technologies and data analysis.
  • In Year 2, you will take a deeper dive into sports and exercise, studying biomechanics, psychology and physiology in greater detail. You will also begin to explore sports and exercise medicine and research methods.
  • You will spend Year 3 studying at one of our trusted overseas partner universities, immersing yourself in a different culture, meeting new people with diverse perspectives and developing a confident and well-rounded outlook for your final year back in Lancaster.
  • In Year 4 you will undertake a research project on a topic of your choice to make a unique contribution to sports and exercise science research. With a greater choice of optional modules in themes including elite performance, science communication and performance and rehabilitation, you will have the opportunity to explore the themes in exercise and health or sports that most interest you.

You will graduate equipped with a professional profile ready to embark on a successful career or further study.

A friendly and welcoming place to learn

As a Sports and Exercise Science student at Lancaster, you’ll join a supportive and thriving community with high levels of student satisfaction as demonstrated in the results of the 2025 National Student Survey.

Our academics will get to know you as an individual and small-group practical sessions are a great way to make friends with your fellow students.

Taught by Lancaster Medical School

Our Sports and Exercise Science (Study Abroad) BSc is one of only a few courses of its kind to be delivered within a medical school. This means that you will:

  • Learn in a highly respected and academically rigorous environment.
  • Benefit from our connections with clinicians, health practitioners and sports professionals.
  • Be taught by research and industry experts within Lancaster Medical School.
  • Use clinical processes and equipment such as blood tests and analysis, electrocardiogram (ECG) readers, glucose and lactate analysis machines, cortex gas analysers, which assess a person’s lung, heart and metabolism at rest and under stress and 3D motion capture to measure how joints move.

Hand's on experience from the start of your studies

From your first weeks with us, you will learn to use cutting-edge, professional-standard equipment, tests and techniques.

With outstanding facilities located across our £25m sports centre and modern Health Innovation Campus, you will capture and analyse physiological and biomechanical data. You will also explore psychological
interventions to maximise performance and improve health.

Human Performance Laboratory
You’ll spend a lot of time here, getting hands-on experience with a range of research-grade equipment.
Our blood analysis station will allow you to determine red blood cell count, the uptake of glucose following a dietary intervention, or the amount of lactate in response to exercise.

Our professional-standard treadmill with gas analyser facilitates assessments of physiological responses to exercise across a range of sporting and clinical populations.

We also have an Isokinetic Dynamometer, which offers the most sophisticated assessments of joint strength, the same equipment used by international sports teams.

Human Biomechanics Laboratory
As a sports and exercise science student at Lancaster University, you will have access to our new human biomechanics laboratory in biomechanics modules.

The equipment in this laboratory is the gold-standard for measuring biomechanical function, similar to that used to create Computer Generated Images (CGI) in movies.

We are one of very few universities that have 3D markerless technology, which uses AI to track how
our joints and limbs move. We also have 3D motion capture where markers on the body track movement.

In addition, the laboratory includes two force platforms and electromyography which measure how
much force we exert on our bodies and how active our muscles are.

Health Innovation Campus
As part of Lancaster Medical School, Sports and Exercise Science is based at Lancaster’s modern Health Innovation Campus. This purpose-built facility is home to an ecosystem of multidisciplinary experts working on some of society’s most significant health challenges. It’s where you will use our biomechanics laboratory and provides plenty of space for collaborative working or quiet study.

Sport at Lancaster
Our 100-station fitness suite is split across two levels and features high-specification fitness equipment, from high-quality cardio machines to our competition-standard strength and conditioning room. With a 25m indoor pool, 8.5m climbing wall and a wide range of courts and pitches, you’ll find the facilities you need to excel in your sport.

Careers

A degree in Sports and Exercise Science can open up a wide range of careers in the health sector and sports industry, including:

  • Exercise Physiologist
  • Biomechanist
  • Performance Analyst
  • Physiotherapist (with further training)
  • Strength and Conditioning Coach (with further training)

You may also pursue further postgraduate study here at Lancaster Medical School or embark on a research career.

Our course has been carefully designed with employability at its heart, both through the content of our taught modules and the professional development opportunities available.

This means you will graduate with a strong scientific understanding of sports and exercise science, as well as the mindset, confidence and workplace experience to stand out in the competitive world of employment.

Our teaching and assessment styles replicate professional environments, meaning our graduates have significant experience in applying their knowledge. Tutorials and workshops on career planning are also integral parts of your degree. You will undertake professional practice modules, giving you excellent preparation for applying to graduate-level jobs and graduate schemes.

Graduate destinations
Our graduates have embarked on exciting careers in the sporting, health and associated industries, working with big-name organisations including Manchester United and the NHS.

Some recent graduate jobs include:
Roles at professional and national sporting organisations:
• Player Recruitment operations at City Football Group
• First Team Analyst for Morecambe Football Club
• Fitness and Sports Instructor with the Canadian Forces

Health-based roles such as:
• Physician Associate
• Physiotherapist
• Trainee Vascular Scientist
• Senior Assistant Clinical Cardiac Physiologist

Careers in broader fields, including:
• Product specialist at Stryker Orthopaedics, a medical technology company
• Marketing Coordinator
• Science teaching roles

Some of our graduates have also gone on to postgraduate study, taking a deeper dive into areas such as:
• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury mitigation at Manchester United
• Nutritional supplementation for cognitive and physical performance in elite athletes and surgeons with Team Nutrition
• Attitudes towards and perceptions of concussion in rugby

Employability at Lancaster: preparing you for the world of work

Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring that you gain a highly reputable degree. We are also committed to ensuring that you graduate with relevant life and work-based skills.

Because professional skills are embedded throughout our curriculum, you will develop wider expertise valued by employers including communication, teamworking and negotiation skills, project management and problem-solving skills, ethical and environmental awareness.

We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award, which offers you the opportunity to complete activities such as work experience, employability/career development, campus community and social development.

Visit our employability section for full details

Entry requirements

These are the typical grades that you will need to study this course. This section will tell you whether you need qualifications in specific subjects, what our English language requirements are, and if there are any extra requirements such as attending an interview or submitting a portfolio.

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Help from our Admissions team

If you are thinking of applying to Lancaster and you would like to ask us a question, complete our enquiry form and one of the team will get back to you.

We also have more details on our website about:

International foundation programmes

Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored foundation pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University degrees. Visit the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.

Contextual admissions

Contextual admissions could help you gain a place at university if you have faced additional challenges during your education which might have impacted your results. Visit our contextual admissions page to find out about how this works and whether you could be eligible.

Course structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and some which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.

Core

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Core

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Core

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Optional

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Enhancing our curriculum

We continually review and enhance our curriculum to ensure we are delivering the best possible learning experience, and to make sure that the subject knowledge and transferable skills you develop will prepare you for your future. The University will make every reasonable effort to offer programmes and modules as advertised. In some cases, changes may be necessary and may result in new modules or some modules and combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, staff changes and new research.

Fees and funding

We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2026/27 entry fees have not yet been set.

As a guide, our fees in 2025/26 were:

Home International
£9,535 £29,820

Fees and funding information

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Scholarships and bursaries

Details of our scholarships and bursaries for students starting in 2026 are not yet available.

You can use our scholarships for 2025-entry applicants as guidance.

Important information

The information on this site relates primarily to 2026/2027 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

Our Students’ Charter

We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. Find out more about our Charter and student policies.

Undergraduate open days 2025

Our summer and autumn open days will give you Lancaster University in a day. Visit campus and put yourself in the picture.

Undergraduate Open Days
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  • Virtual tour

    Take five minutes and we'll show you what our Top 10 UK university has to offer, from beautiful green campus to colleges, teaching and sports facilities.

  • Accommodation guide

    Most first-year undergraduate students choose to live on campus, where you’ll find award-winning accommodation to suit different preferences and budgets.

  • The city and beyond

    Our historic city is student-friendly and home to a diverse and welcoming community. Beyond the city you'll find a stunning coastline and the world-famous English Lake District.