• Question: What qualifications do you need to become a sport scientist or pro athlete

    Asked by Bells Girls to Stephanie, LauraAnne, Katy, Helen, Emilia, Dan, Andrew on 7 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by Dominic Einstein.
    • Photo: Dan Gordon

      Dan Gordon answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Nice question Dylan. To be a scientist the most important qualification you need is passion. We are all scientists in our own way. But for a career in science you will first need to get your GCSE in science. At sixth form you could choose from A-levels or BTEC ideally in an area of science. Then there is an undergraduate degree. I chose Sports science for my degree. I then went on to do a masters for an additional year, focusing on physiology. For some jobs this may be enough, for example working directly with athletes or some strength and conditioning roles. I like many other have gone on to get a Ph.D. (Doctorate) which is seen as being important when working in research or teaching at University level. SO time wise you could be looking at 7 years at University.
      To be a Pro-athlete, you don’t need qualifications, what you do need is dedication, the ability to work extremely hard, be prepared to listen and work with others and a huge amount of luck.

    • Photo: Katy Griggs

      Katy Griggs answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      I agree with Dan. Though you may choose to do Human Biology as a degree and then specialise in Physiology/Sport Science afterwards by doing a Masters. Within Sport Science there are different disciplines which you can choose to focus on, depending on where your interests lie. For instance, you may wish to specialise in Biomechanics or Nutrition at Masters or for a PhD. For applied Sport Science work (i.e. working as support staff with athletes) you need to have lots of experience working with athletes as well as your education. To start with this may be voluntary to get experience.

    • Photo: Emilia McAllister-Jepps

      Emilia McAllister-Jepps answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Hi Dylan, great question!

      To become a pro athlete you don’t necessarily need a particular qualification, but you do have to be very dedicated to your training.

      I think that having knowledge of your field or sport gives you a good advantage. Most of the people who I work with on a daily basis; coaches, physiotherapists, masseuses, strength and conditioning coaches, nutritionist, psychologist and more, have all obtained an undergraduate degree and then gone on to do further qualifications in their relevant field.

    • Photo: Helen Hanstock

      Helen Hanstock answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      As the others have already said there are a few different ways in to sports science. I did Physiology for my first degree and studied a lot with Medical students and then specialised in Sports Science later during my PhD. You could equally come into certain areas of Sports Science from other fields such as Engineering or Medicine. But the key ingredients are good grades at school, motivation to be the best you can be and passion for your subject or work.

    • Photo: LauraAnne Furlong

      LauraAnne Furlong answered on 9 Nov 2016:

      I came from a different exams system, but studying science in secondary school was important to get into my university degree which was a four year BSc Sport and Exercise Science. We did modules with lots of other different courses too, like physiotherapy and biomedical engineering. I did an honours degree meaning I did a final year dissertation, and also did an 8 month placement in my third year at Cardiff Metropolitan University with the Sports Biomechanics Group there – this gave me lots of experience with different researchers on different experiments, and was good practice for my PhD. I went straight from my undergraduate to my PhD, which was another 4 years of research training. Often undergraduate degrees are quite broad, so doing a 1 or 2 year Masters after it gives you more knowledge in a particular part of sport science.

      In the biomechanics part of sport science, people actually come from all sorts of different backgrounds – we get lots of people who have done engineering or maths as their degree, or who have done some combination of physiotherapy/medicine/maths/engineering/physiology in their undergraduates or masters degrees. Practical experience is very important for working in applied settings, like in elite sport with the English Institute of Sport for example.

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