Exercise and Health Science with Industrial Placement

Exercise and health science is the scientific study of physical activity and its effects on the human body, examining the physiological, psychological and sociological dimensions of sport, exercise and physical health. It is a discipline that connects fundamental biological science to pressing public health questions, asking how physical activity promotes health and prevents disease, how exercise can be prescribed therapeutically, how elite performance can be optimised, and how communities and populations can be supported to be more active. As sedentary lifestyles and related health conditions become major challenges for health systems worldwide, the expertise this degree develops is increasingly consequential.

At the University of Aberdeen this five-year full-time programme includes an industrial placement and a year abroad, giving you both extended professional experience and an international academic perspective on a field that is genuinely global in its scope and concerns. You will study exercise physiology, biomechanics, sports psychology, nutrition, research methods and the epidemiology of physical activity and health. The programme develops your laboratory and fieldwork skills alongside theoretical understanding, and you will engage with the scientific evidence base that informs exercise prescription, performance coaching and public health policy.

Aberdeen's research environment and the opportunity to experience exercise science in a different national context through the year abroad provide a distinctive and stimulating framework for the degree.

Graduates go on to work in clinical exercise physiology, sports science support in elite and community sport, public health, health promotion, personal training and fitness management, physiotherapy (after further qualification), academic research and sports development. The combination of scientific depth, professional placement experience and international exposure that this five-year programme provides makes graduates particularly well equipped for careers in which both technical knowledge and professional credibility matter. Many continue to postgraduate study in sports science, public health or clinical exercise physiology.