Sports Therapy

Sports therapy is a healthcare discipline focused on the prevention, assessment, and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and conditions, particularly those arising in sport and physical activity. It draws on anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and therapeutic techniques to help people recover from injury, manage pain, and return to the activities they value. Distinct from physiotherapy but complementary to it, sports therapy has its own professional standards and a growing role across elite sport, community fitness, occupational health, and private clinical practice.

This three-year full-time degree at the University of St Mark and St John is accredited by the Sports Therapy Organisation, ensuring the curriculum meets professional standards.

You will develop both the theoretical knowledge and the clinical confidence needed to practise professionally. The programme provides a minimum of 400 hours of hands-on clinical experience in the university's on-site clinics, where you will work with a diverse range of clients seeking to improve their health, wellbeing, and physical performance. This substantial clinical exposure means you develop practical assessment and treatment skills in a supervised environment, learning to apply techniques such as soft tissue therapy, taping and strapping, rehabilitation exercise prescription, and return-to-sport protocols.

Alongside the clinical work, you will build a solid grounding in sports science, injury pathology, and the professional and ethical dimensions of healthcare practice.

A typical entry tariff of 120 UCAS points reflects an accessible but vocationally serious programme. Graduates from sports therapy degrees work in professional and semi-professional sport, private clinical practice, gymnasiums and leisure facilities, occupational health settings, and sports medicine clinics. Many go on to further qualifications in physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, or sports science, using their undergraduate training as a foundation for specialisation.