SCHOOL OF SPORT, HEALTH AND EXERCISE SCIENCES
MA AND EXTENDED MASTERS PROGRAMMES
WHY STUDY SPORT AND HEALTH AT BANGOR? The University Bangor offers a unique environment, high quality academic institution located between Snowdonia and the sea. It is probably one of the prime university locations in the UK. As well as providing an enjoyable learning environment, this fantastic location gives students an excellent opportunity to become actively involved in life outside the lecture hall. Free membership of the many clubs and societies on offer at the University is a unique aspect of the Bangor experience.
The School (SHES) has been providing high-calibre taught postgraduate (PGT) (MSc) degrees since 2000. Â Over this period Bangor has attracted some of the world's best teaching and research staff who have contributed to the development of one of the UK's truly excellent degree programmes. These range from the long-established MSc Applied Sport Science course to the more recent and innovative MSc Applied Sport Science and Outdoor Activities.
The City of Bangor is a small, friendly cathedral city that offers a safe and affordable place to live with good road and rail links to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, London and Dublin and the rest of Ireland via the fast ferry to/from Holyhead.
The School is research-led and the research undertaken by staff is applicable to what they teach on postgraduate programmes. Students have the opportunity to put theory into practice working with staff from the various research groups within the School.
TEACHING & RESEARCH EXCELLENCE Unlike some other schools in the UK, all staff are research-active and all teach students. This means that students at Bangor are taught by the leaders in the field and gives students the opportunity to: •
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actively engage with those who write the papers and text books that other lecturers read; benefit from being taught the most up-to-date information in sport and exercise sciences; be inspired and learn from experts who are passionate and enthusiastic about what they teach.
Many of the School's staff are also accredited by professional bodies such as: the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES); British Psychological Society (BPS); and the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC). And, importantly, over 95% of the research-active teaching staff have professionally recognised higher education teaching qualifications.
Excellent Facilities and Location Based in a beautiful Grade II listed building on the banks of the Menai Strait, the School has an impressive range of laboratories and state-of-the-art equipment for sport and exercise physiology, motor control and learning, psychology and motion analysis. The School's physiology laboratories are accredited by BASES. Facilities include: • environmental and altitude chambers; • exercise rehabilitation laboratories; • two dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanners; • psychology intervention and observation/interview laboratory; • two state-of-the art 3D high speed motion capture systems for movement analysis; • a live-in/social psychology laboratory; • a suite of psychomotor experimental rooms; • biochemistry and cell biology labs… ...plus some of the best views in the country!
EXCELLENT STUDENT EXPERIENCE The School values the overall experience of its students highly and combines a caring and student-centred approach with a challenging but enjoyable learning environment. With an annual intake of approximately 40-45 postgraduates, the School boasts a close knit and friendly community, which is small enough for all students to have access to small group tutorials and seminars, and regular one-to-one meetings with staff. Excellent Student Life The University is ranked as one of the best places to be a student (Accommodation for Students website) and has one of the fairest workloads of any UK university (Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey).
Go further with a Bangor degree MA and Extended Masters programmes enable students to develop their careers in a number of ways. MA Programmes are especially recommended to graduates who want to: pursue a career in sport or health related fields, such as rehabilitation, coaching, leisure and fitness; pursue a career in related fields such as education and social services; give their CV an additional boost; explore a particular area of sport or health sciences in detail through researching and writing a literature review but not undertake empirical research*. *NB - This course is not appropriate for students wishing to progress onto academic research via a science based PhD.
Extended Masters gives students who have excellent academic skills but may feel that their English language skills are not as good, the opportunity to undertake in-country language support. This support is integrated into the academic curriculum to ensure students leave with an excellent academic degree and improved English language skills to support their future career development.
WHICH COURSE SHOULD I CHOOSE? Which degree you choose depends on your specific interests and career aspirations. MA Programmes aim to open up graduate training options to those previously excluded from our more traditional MSc and MRes programmes. They have been designed to provide an academic qualification with a strong emphasis on the application of theory to professional practice but which does not involve conducting empirical research. Additionally, the programmes will be attractive to international students, who have little or no background in statistics and who wish to gain a competitive advantage to pursue careers in other domains such as education or coaching, in the leisure and fitness industries or rehabilitation, police work, or other social services. The programmes have 80 credits of overlap with MSc degrees plus a Thesis module (60 credits), Thesis Proposal module (20 credits), and Research Skills (20 credits) module Extended Masters Programmes are specifically aimed at those who are unable to meet the standard entry requirements for Masters programmes due to achieving low IELTs scores and/or those who have the IELTs score required but feel that their English language needs improvement to better facilitate their Masters studies. In contrast to ELCOS courses, which are run prior to an MSc/MRes or MA programme of study, the Extended Masters enables students to integrate into the School prior to the start of their Masters programme, giving them the opportunity to become familiar with all aspects of the School and its staff.
There are five programme options for both MA and Extended Masters. Students also undertake a range of compulsory and optional modules:
Applied Sport Science
Modules include: Advanced Health Physiology; Sport Psychology; Effective Coaching; Exercise Psychology; Supervised Experience; Disability and Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete.
Applied Sport and Exercise Physiology
Modules include: Sport Psychology; Effective Coaching; Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete; Advance Health Physiology; Performance Physiology; Supervised Experience; Disability and Rehabilitation.
Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology
Modules include: Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete; Effective Coaching; Sport Psychology; Exercise Psychology; Supervised Experience.
Applied Sport Science and Outdoor Activities
Modules include: Performance Physiology; Sport Psychology; Effective Coaching; Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete; Supervised Experience plus a compulsory Higher Skills module aimed equipping students with sufficient knowledge and skills to work in scientific and outdoor related disciplines.
Exercise Rehabilitation
Modules include: Advanced Health Physiology; Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete; Supervised Experience; Disability and Rehabilitation.
FUNDING AND ENTRY DETAILS First Class Funding - The School offers Excellence Awards of £1,000 to all applicants with a first class honours degree (or equivalent). Other funding to support MA and Extended Masters students is available in the form of fee reductions and Graduate Assistantships. Further information can be found at: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/sport/pg_funding.php.en. Entry Requirements • First class or 2:1 honours degree in Sport Science or a related subject (GPA equivalent of 3.0 or higher). • Applied Sport Science and Outdoor Activities – A commitment to the outdoors (eg relevant documented practical experience, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award or qualified instructors) is also required. • Students with a 2:2 or a degree from a different academic area may also be considered. Working professionals with non-graduate qualifications will be assessed on an individual basis. Please contact us. • MA Programmes only – EU and Overseas students, whose first language is not English, are required to take the standardised English Language test (IELTS) before the June of their admission to the course. Students who achieve 6.5 or above are eligible for direct entry to the course. Students who achieve 6.0 may be required to attend an English Language Course at Bangor University, in the summer preceding their course. Duration MA: 1 year full-time, 3 years part-time (as standard but students can request to study over two years); Diploma: 30 weeks full-time; Extended Masters: 18 months full-time. Want to know more? Visit the course information pages online at: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/sport/ma_programme.php.en Alternatively, please contact: Postgraduate Taught Recruitment and Admissions, School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences
www.bangor.ac.uk/sport Please note: the University makes all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information in this booklet is correct at the time of printing.
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Tel: +44 (0)1248 388256 E-mail: mscsport@bangor.ac.uk