Sports therapists work to diagnose, treat and prevent injuries by implementing rehabilitation programmes to restore full fitness in the field of sports, exercise and health. You can work in a range of environments, from treating elite athletes to teaching specialist exercise groups and setting up your own business as an independent Graduate Sports Therapist and Rehabilitator.

Sports therapy is one of the fastest-growing careers in the sports and healthcare sector. At Kent, we have world-leading experts who can pass on the latest techniques. Our experience includes working with Olympians and Paralympians, as well as the local community, including the elderly and frail.

This programme is currently accredited by the British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT). Graduates can apply for accreditation and full membership of BASRaT, the UK regulator for sport rehabilitation graduates.

Our degree programme

Your first year covers topics such as functional anatomy and biomechanics, sports and remedial massage, sports injuries, peripheral joint assessment, and introductory modules on fitness testing, professional skills and human physiology. 

In your second and final years, you study a range of subjects including sports rehabilitation, exercise prescription, therapeutic modalities, injury prevention, return to sports fitness training and soft tissue methods. You can also complete a research project and dissertation, and take part in clinical practice and clinical rehabilitation, both on external placement and in the University's specialised sports injury clinic.

You gain the academic, clinical and professional skills required of a sports therapist, whose role it is to diagnose, treat and prevent sporting injuries. You also learn how to create exercise and training programmes tailored to individual clients.

Study resources

Our laboratories are based in the £11 million Medway Park development, a regional centre of sporting excellence. They include the latest equipment, such as:

• an environmental chamber which can recreate the atmosphere in the Brazilian jungle or at the top of Everest
• an anti-gravity treadmill, originally developed to help NASA astronauts to exercise in space
• cycling and rowing ergometers to measure anaerobic capacity
• an isokinetic dynamometer to measure muscle and joint function
• brain and muscle stimulators
• 3D motion video analysis
• imaging and treatment ultrasound
• gait analysis and force pedals
• blood testing and gas analysis equipment
• a rehabilitation gymnasium.

Extra activities

There is a thriving sports scene for students. Sports clubs at the Medway campus include athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, kickboxing, rowing, taekwondo, Thai boxing and volleyball, plus women’s netball and men’s futsal and rugby.

With our free shuttle bus, it’s also easy to join the sports clubs on the Canterbury campus. These include American football, archery, boxing, caving, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, cheerleading, fencing, floorball, golf, gymnastics, hockey, judo, karate, kendo, korfball, kung fu, lacrosse, mountaineering, sailing and windsurfing, skydiving, snooker and pool, snowsports, squash, swimming, surfing, tennis, trampolining, ultimate frisbee and women’s rugby.

Professional network

The School of Sport and Exercise Sciences has links to many sporting bodies. It works with companies such as Science in Sport and Team Sky, and with organisations such as:

• the NHS
• RFU (governing English rugby)
• English Institute of Sport
• British Cycling
• UK Sport
• World Anti-Doping Agency
• UEFA
• UK Sport
• Ministry of Defence.

Sports scholarships

If you are already competing at county level or equivalent, you can apply for a sports scholarship from the University. One of our best-known graduates is Olympic gold medallist Susannah Townsend. During her time at Kent she had a sports scholarship and played for Canterbury Hockey Club (where she continues to play midfield).