Adventure Sport Science

Adventure sport science applies the methods of sport and exercise science to the distinctive physical demands, risk environments, and skill requirements of activities such as rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, surfing, skiing, and other outdoor pursuits. It is a genuinely interdisciplinary field, drawing on physiology, biomechanics, psychology, coaching science, and outdoor education to understand and improve human performance in environments that are inherently variable and often challenging. The discipline is growing as both the adventure sports industry and the use of outdoor activities in education, wellbeing, and therapeutic contexts continue to expand.

At Bangor University in North Wales, this three-year full-time degree places you in one of the best settings in the UK for studying adventure sport, with immediate access to mountains, coastline, rivers, and a long tradition of outdoor education. The programme includes a foundation year for those who need to build their scientific and academic base, and it incorporates a sandwich year, a year abroad option, and a work placement, giving you extensive opportunities to develop professional experience and to see how adventure sport science is practised in different contexts internationally and domestically. You will combine scientific study of the body in motion with practical experience in a range of adventure activities, developing both the theoretical understanding and the applied skills that the sector values.

Graduates in adventure sport science work in a wide range of roles connected with outdoor sport, leisure, and education. Coaching, instruction, outdoor education, and leadership development are common destinations. Others work in sport science support roles, in the management of adventure sport businesses and centres, in health and wellbeing contexts using outdoor activity therapeutically, or in policy and development roles in sport and recreation.

The degree also provides a strong foundation for postgraduate study in sport science, outdoor education, physical education, or coaching science. The typical entry tariff is 168 points.