Sports coaching
A degree in sports coaching could see you working in diverse settings, from professional sports clubs to primary schools and prisons
Job options
Jobs directly related to your degree include:
- Outdoor activities/education manager
- Personal trainer
- Sports coach
- Sports development officer
- Sports therapist
Jobs where your degree would be useful include:
- Armed forces training and education officer
- Fitness centre manager
- Life coach
- Police officer
- Primary school teacher
- Secondary school teacher
- Sports administrator
- Teaching assistant
- Youth worker
Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.
Work experience
Many sports coaching degrees offer work placements, but you'll still be expected to find your own additional work experience. This could be with sports clubs, local schools, community projects or youth organisations.
If you're a member of a sports club or team, consider volunteering to coach the younger age group section and completing coaching awards alongside this experience.
Almost every university in the UK will have a range of sports clubs and societies open to students to join. You may want to consider volunteering your services as a coach alongside the qualified staff, as a way to gain more experience while shadowing others.
You could combine an interest in travel with gaining work experience, by undertaking a sports coaching role with an organisation such as:
Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.
Typical employers
You can find work as a sport coach in a range of settings, including:
- educational institutions - including schools, colleges and universities
- amateur and professional sports clubs
- local authority leisure centres and sport departments
- health and fitness centres
- residential camps
- activity centres
- the armed forces
- national sporting governing bodies
- sports councils
- prisons.
Find information on employers in leisure, sport and tourism, teacher training and education, law enforcement and security and other job sectors.
Skills for your CV
A sports coaching degree gives you a range of coaching specific skills and knowledge. This includes the principles of sports coaching, management, sports policy, sports sociology, sports psychology, anatomy, physiology and movement analysis.
The exact content of your degree in sports coaching will depend on the university and whether the course is a BA or a BSc. You may also be able to tailor the modules you take in years two and three to match up with your career aspirations.
A sports coaching degree also develops a valuable set of transferable skills, including:
- presentation and public speaking
- project and time-management
- written and verbal communication
- decision-making and problem-solving
- research and data analysis
- information technology
- leadership
- mentoring
- numeracy.
Further study
If you're keen to coach a specific sport, the National Governing Body (NGB) for that sport will have a list of recommended coaching qualifications you'll need to help you progress. Some of these may be available during your degree.
If you want to coach disabled sport, some specialist courses are available through organisations such as Disability Sports Coach.
For some career areas, you might have to complete a postgraduate or professional qualification. For example, if you want to teach in a primary or secondary school, you will need to have qualified teacher status (QTS). A popular way of achieving this is to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).
It's also possible to take a postgraduate degree in sport coaching to develop your skills further or to specialise in a particular area such as leadership in sport, high performance sports coaching or sports rehabilitation.
For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search for postgraduate courses in sport coaching.
What do sports coaching graduates do?
The top ten jobs held by sports coaching graduates in employment in the UK 15 months after graduation include sports coaches, instructors and officials (25%), secondary education teaching professionals (11%), educational support assistants (3%), primary education teaching professionals (3%), teaching assistants (2%), police officers (2%) and higher level teaching assistants (2%).
| Destination | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Employed | 69.6 |
| Further study | 7 |
| Working and studying | 12.1 |
| Unemployed | 3.7 |
| Other | 7.5 |
| Type of work | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Other professionals | 29.4 |
| Education | 19.7 |
| Retail, catering and customer service | 7.9 |
| Childcare, health and education | 7.3 |
| Other | 35.7 |
For a detailed breakdown of what accountancy graduates are doing after graduation, see What do graduates do?
Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.
Find out more
- Get coaching support, opportunities and resources at UK Coaching.
- Discover news, events and jobs for those interested in coaching elite sport at UK Sport.
- Learn more about leadership, support and empowerment at Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).