Sport & Exercise Science

Sport and exercise science applies the principles of physiology, biomechanics, psychology, and nutrition to understand how the human body performs during physical activity and how performance can be optimised, health improved, and injury prevented. The discipline spans elite sport, where marginal gains in performance can determine success at the highest level, and public health, where understanding the benefits of physical activity for disease prevention and mental wellbeing has become an urgent policy priority. Sport and exercise scientists work across this whole spectrum, providing evidence-based support to athletes, coaches, clinical populations, and health organisations.

Edinburgh Napier University offers this programme on a part-time basis, making it accessible to those who have existing professional or personal commitments alongside their studies. The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study sport and exercise science in a different national context, which is particularly valuable in a discipline where research traditions, sport cultures, and health systems vary significantly between countries. You will study the physiological responses to exercise, the mechanical principles that underlie movement and skill, and the psychological factors that influence motivation, performance, and wellbeing, developing both laboratory skills and the ability to apply findings in practical settings.

Graduates in sport and exercise science pursue careers in a wide range of settings. Performance analysis and strength and conditioning roles in professional sport are competitive but accessible to well-qualified graduates. Health and exercise referral, working with clinical populations to use physical activity as part of rehabilitation or disease prevention, is a growing field.

Teaching, coaching, and sports development within schools, community organisations, and national governing bodies are also well-established pathways. Some graduates pursue further study in physiotherapy, sports medicine, or research, deepening their expertise to operate at the clinical or scientific frontier of the field.