Coaching in the Community (Football)

Study options

Award

FdSc

Key facts

UCAS code:
C611
Location:
Stoke-on-Trent campus
Study option:
Full-time
Duration:
2 Years
Start date:
25 September 2023
School:
School of Health, Science and Wellbeing

Supported by Stoke City F.C.

Develop your expertise with the support of a well established football club.

Professional development

Gain the certifications you need to make a difference in your future career

Multidisciplinary approach

Widen your knowledge in areas like sports development, biomechanics, physiology and conditioning

NEW FOR 2022 ENTRY. Welcome to the Staffordshire University FdSc Coaching in the Community (Football) course - your next step to a successful career in the most popular sport on the planet.

Delivered in partnership with Stoke City F.C, Coaching in the Community FdSc (Football) will give you the training and insight you need to develop your knowledge, understanding and skills within community football coaching. During this course, Stoke City F.C. will provide enhanced work experience opportunities that will allow you to practise and strengthen your coaching capabilities. You will also participate in activities at exceptional local sporting facilities including The Academy Dome, BET365 stadium, and Clayton Wood training ground.

Our two-year course will take you on a journey from grassroots through to professional football environments, where you’ll build your knowledge of the complete cycle of sports and performance, including the surrounding influencers of sports development, biomechanics, physiology and strength and conditioning. Not only this, the course facilitates the opportunity for you to complete field-recognised qualifications, including F.A. Level 1 and 2 Coaching, Futsal Level 1 and Coaching Disabled Footballers.

Throughout the course you will get the opportunity to meet and build connections with a variety of successful professionals through visiting Fellow and External speakers. Our extensive network of contacts are invited to share their personal experiences and journeys on a regular basis, and there are opportunities for a Player Pathway programme with Stoke City F.C. too if you can demonstrate on-the-field talent to a professional level.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: FdSc Coaching in the Community (Football)

Work placements

Employability opportunities are an integral part of this course, with Stoke City F.C. adding great value to your experience. This collaborative course between Staffordshire University and Stoke City F.C. means that you will experience most of the work-based and professional practice aspects of the course within the football club. For example, you will conduct both work experience and a placement within the professional English Football League club, which has a worldwide reputation. It is envisioned that these experiences will help to develop highly employable and qualified graduates of the future.

Course content

During your first year you will develop your knowledge of the underlying concepts and principles in coaching sport/exercise within community settings, with access to support and placement opportunities from Stoke City F.C. You’ll also have the chance to get to grips with the fundamentals of exercise physiology, biomechanics and strength and conditioning. While building this foundational knowledge, you’ll also study a module that explores academic skills, bringing you up to speed with transferable skills that include research, data analysis and assessment writing.

Within the second year this will expand to allow you to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts surrounding the coaching of sport/exercise. You will learn how to demonstrate these attributes when evaluating the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems within and around the discipline of sport/exercise and coaching, whilst in your employer engagement sessions and placement. You’ll also have an assessed placement with our partners and will be able to tailor your studies to your evolving career aspirations with a choice of optional modules, including Fundamentals of Nutrition and Metabolism and Sports Science for Coaches and Teachers.

Modules

The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module.

Year 2 compulsory modules
Industry Project 40 credits
Reflections On Learning Practice 20 credits
Sport Placement 40 credits
Show 2 optional modules

Entry requirements

48 UCAS points 

IELTS 6.5 (6.0 in all skills)

We understand that you might have experienced a challenging run up to higher education and may have not met the entry requirements as listed. If this is the case don’t worry, contact us and our team of expert advisors can guide you through the next stages of application, or help you find the perfect course for your needs.

For equivalent entry requirements in your home country, please see the information on our country pages.

Choose your country

Check our entry and English language requirements for your country.

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Facilities

Sports Equipment

Our facilities include a vast array of industry standard equipment, from our cryotherapy and electrotherapy machines to our eye tracker software.

Careers

Coaches working in a National Governing Body (NGB)-accredited club develop performance through enhancing skills, techniques and tactics of performers. In most sports, these posts are available world-wide, as well as here in the U.K.

  • Full/part-time youth coach at the grassroots level, teaching children/adolescents the basics of the sport and physical activity. £15-£20 p/h
  • Full/part-time performance coach from grassroots to performance level, responsible for developing the performer and person. £15-£20 p/h
  • Sports development officer who identifies opportunities to further increase participation and oversees/leads on these inspiring initiatives. £18,000-£38,000 p/a
  • Scouts who identify talented performers on behalf of a club/organisation. £17,000-£44,000 p/a
  • Coach education coordinators who plan and administer coach education programmes, and other continued professional development schemes on behalf of a club/organisation and/or regional (e.g. Staffordshire F.A.)/national governing body (e.g. The F.A.). £22,000-£45,000 p/a
  • Sports management and administration positions at regional or national governing bodies of sport (e.g. Goalball UK). £44,500 is the national average.
  • Self-employed coaches delivering in schools, community and professional organisations. £15-£20 p/h

 

All students have access to Career Connect, our dedicated careers team.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

The course utilises a blended learning approach, using face-to-face learning supplemented with online activities. This improves learning outcomes, facilitates a deep sense of community and allows flexibility both in learning and when engaged with the employer/organisation. In addition it enables you to develop core digital competencies and remote working skills, essential in today's workforce.

Assessment

You will be assessed in a range of formats performing/undertaking industry relevant activities, these include practical coaching assessments, observations, presentations and podcasts, amongst others. After conducting these assessments, you will receive specific feedback and guidance on your assessment performance, identifying areas for development and areas in which you display a strong ability, which in turn can be applied to future assessment/work experience. Ultimately, this feedback will enable you to further improve your personal and professional skill sets, preparing you for the workplace, or further study.

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include study skills (including reading, note-taking and presentation skills); written English (including punctuation and grammatical accuracy); academic writing (including how to reference); research skills; critical thinking and understanding arguments; and revision, assessment and examination skills (including time management).

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Feedback

The feedback from each assessment is part of a dialogue between the assessor and a student, rather than one-way communication. It is hoped that the formative and summative feedback you receive on the course clearly links to the learning outcomes and encourages you to reflect on your learning and development, enabling you to take control of your own personal and professional development for future success.

You will receive feedback for all elements of summative assessments, as well as for formative tasks that will help you prepare for summative assessments. Formative assessments are often completed within lesson times.

Year 1

17% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
83% of time in independent study
0% of time in placements

Year 2

12% of time in lectures, seminars or similar
88% of time in independent study
0% of time in placements

Year 1

52% practical assessments
37% coursework
12% written exams

Year 2

30% practical assessments
53% coursework
17% written exams

Staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course supplemented by expertise for our placement organisations. The team includes senior academics and professional practitioners with industry experience. Postgraduate research students who have undertaken teaching training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader. Our teaching is research-informed and virtually all of our full-time staff in Life Sciences and Education are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy.

Daniel Dawson

Course Director

Dan is a lecturer in Sport and Exercise and is the Course Leader for PGCE Physical Education and PE and Youth Sport Coaching courses.

Daniel's profile

Robert Needham

Senior Lecturer

Robert's research background is in the areas of sport and clinical biomechanics. The focus of his research is on the application of non-linear data analysis techniques to quantify movement coordination and coordination variability. Robert's rese…

Robert's profile

Ashley Gill

Course Director

Ashley J.G. Gill is an experienced leader, with a background in team sport and education management. He is a talented and multifaceted lecturer, education manager, sports coach, coach developer, researcher and author.

Ashley's profile

Gareth Barrett

P/T Lecturer (Hrly) - Sports Coaching

Gareth is a Sport & Exercise lecturer, coaching practitioner, and researcher in Sport & Exercise and education. His expertise is sports coaching, talent development, coach education & mentoring, technology enhanced learning, curriculum development.

Gareth's profile

Fees

For the course starting on 25 September 2023 the tuition fees are:

Study option UK / Channel Islands
Full-time To be confirmed

UK and Channel Island students: This tuition fee is agreed subject to UK government policy and parliamentary regulation. If the UK government passes appropriate legislation, the fee for subsequent years of study may increase in each academic year. But this increase will not exceed the rate of inflation as measured by RPIX**. Any change in fees will apply to both new and continuing students. The University will notify students of any change as early as possible. Further information about fee changes would be posted on the University’s website once this becomes available.

**RPIX is a measure of inflation equivalent to all the items in the Retail Price Index (RPI) excluding mortgage interest payments.

Included in the fees:

One DBS check linked to placement.
Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

For more information on accommodation and living costs, please see: Accommodation

Sources of financial support

If you receive funding from Student Finance you may be eligible to apply for additional benefits. Details can be obtained by visiting: www.gov.uk

Scholarships and additional funding

As an undergraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Apply

Location Award Study option Start date
Stoke-on-Trent campus FdSc Full-time 25 September 2023 Apply now

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at Staffordshire University, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of Staffordshire University enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations.

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Complete University Guide 2022

for Social Inclusion

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

for Course Content

StudentCrowd University Awards 2022

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021