Physical Education and School Sport – BSc (Honours)

At a glance

Prepare for a career as a PE teacher on this multidisciplinary course. You gain a thorough understanding of physical education in schools and wider communities and develop your teaching, learning and leadership skills. After completing it, you can gain full teacher status with a post-graduate qualification or in schools via SCITT and GTP schemes.

Key points
• Prepare for a career as PE teacher or other related roles.• Learn about all aspects of PE and sport in schools and surrounding communities.
• Benefit from excellent facilities including top sport and exercise science labs and our campus at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield.
• Choose from multiple routes to full teacher status following graduation.

What is physical education and school sport?
Physical education (PE) teaches school pupils about physical activity and sport and helps to give them the extra competence and confidence to make exercise a central part of their lives. It also helps them to reflect on their abilities and the abilities of others in a supportive environment where all pupils can succeed in a range of school sports and activities. Whilst learning sports school pupils learn to work in groups and as individuals, developing personally and socially as they do.

This course

Gain a broad, multidisciplinary understanding of physical education and school sport needed for a career as a physical education (PE) teacher. Your studies also prepare you for roles in the wider area of school sport provision and development, and the wider education sector.

You have access to excellent teaching facilities and one of the finest suites of sport and exercise science laboratories in the UK. Teaching and learning includes lectures, seminars and tutorials, workshops, practical tasks and projects.

Practical sessions are delivered at our sport campus, the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield (EISS). The EISS is a world class sports facility and training base for Jessica Ennis and many of Team GB's other top athletes.

You gain industry experience through a six week work placement in your second year. Most PE students complete their placement in a school or within the wider education sector, but others have worked for regional and national organisations, or clubs delivering youth sport strategies and programmes.

You can gain further practical experience by applying to take part in our Ready, Steady, Coach and Ready, Steady, Swim volunteering programmes open to PE students. Students on these programmes deliver teaching and coaching to primary-aged children in an after school setting.

Graduates can go on to achieve full teacher status by studying for a fourth year after the course to gain a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE), or via other routes such as SCITT, Teach First and School Direct. Graduates gain the necessary professional skills, knowledge and abilities to apply to study for a PGCE at any university, or any of the other school-based new routes offered like SCITT, Teach First and School Direct, towards gaining qualified teacher status.

You also gain the skills and knowledge to begin a career in areas related to strategic physical education and school sport, and other wider roles in education.

Key areas of study
You develop your knowledge and understanding of
• the concepts, processes and content of the National Curriculum and GCSE and A Level for PE
• how PE and school sport can contribute to developing confident, successful learners
• contemporary issues that influence the wider context of PE and sport in schools and in surrounding communities
• the broad range of programmes in the current physical education and school sport environment
• strategic knowledge and understanding of key policies and developments affecting the provision of physical education and youth school sport for young people