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Learn how to transform young lives through football, with educational principles, coaching practice and real-world experience – all delivered in partnership with Manchester United Foundation.
Sport reaches children in a way that nothing else can or does. It doesn’t just excite and entertain but – with the right skills and knowledge – can also engage young minds, inspire real change and unite communities. This degree course has been developed to give you that power, by uniting academic expertise from across Manchester Met with the experience and profile of Manchester United Foundation.
With a potent combination of classroom teaching and work-based learning, it’s a course designed to make you an inspirational leader – a coach on the training ground, a mentor in the classroom and a champion for young people in the community. You’ll tackle issues around inequality, explore the psychology of behaviour and get to grips with sporting practice, all ...
3 years full-time
4 years with placement year
Manchester: All Saints Campus, Platt Lane Campus and Old Trafford
John Shiels"Manchester United Foundation’s partnership with Manchester Met fills me with great excitement and anticipation. I look forward to meeting and helping, educating, nurturing and inspiring the next generation of delivery leaders in the area of Youth Development. This degree aims to grow the leader within yourself, and will be an amazing experience for all who choose to take on the challenge. If you have the ambition and capability to be a positive role model, then this is the course for you."
Chief Executive, Manchester United Foundation
This degree programme brings together aspects of coaching, education and sport development, but its true purpose is to equip you to engage and inspire children – using sport to improve their lives.
Developed and delivered in partnership with Manchester United Foundation, the course offers a holistic approach that looks beyond football coaching or sporting performance, to cover elements of psychology, sociology and educational development.
For instance, you’ll spend your first year developing academic skills, investigating social issues and learning about the psychological issues behind behavioural challenges, among other areas. Throughout your second year, you’ll develop skills in both community coaching and in research methods, as well as delving into the causes and issues around inequality in children’s lives.
Then, in your final year, while you’ll hone advanced coaching skills and grapple with strategic sports development, you’ll also look at issues including leadership, childhood and entrepreneurship. The whole programme culminates in a major coaching and development project – researching and reporting on an issue of your choice.
While it’s a course with real academic goals, it’s also about hands-on work-based learning, as each year of study includes a professional development placement with the Foundation. You’ll rotate around different projects and activities, shadowing and supporting a Foundation officer and taking an increasingly active role in helping kids across Greater Manchester.
And, just as you’ll cover a diverse range of topics, you’ll do your learning in a variety of impressive environments. On campus, you’ll spend time at our state-of-the-art Institute of Sport building, with comfortable learning spaces and premier-standard performance analysis and physiology facilities. It’s not the only top-class sporting facility you’ll visit. You’ll also spend time at Old Trafford – learning from the Foundation’s safeguarding experts, hearing from guest speakers and potentially even meeting a legend or two.
Wherever you are – on placement, on campus, at the Theatre of Dreams – you’ll be learning from real leaders. It’s all about inspiring leadership, after all. At Manchester Met, you’ll learn from experienced academics from our Sport and Exercise Science Department and our Faculty of Health and Education – experts who spend their time on world-leading research when they’re not teaching students like you. You’ll find similar standards at Manchester United Foundation, with experienced mentors who know all there is to know about community outreach, sports development and the social power of sport.
By the time you graduate, you should have a comprehensive toolkit of skills, knowledge and experience. In other words, everything you need to pursue a future with real impact – a rewarding career for you and an incredible difference for thousands of young people.
Whether you’ve already made your decision about what you want to study, or you’re just considering your options, there are lots of ways you can meet us and find out more about student life at Manchester Met.
We offer:
Your studies are supported by a department of committed and enthusiastic teachers and researchers, experts in their chosen field.
We often link up with external professionals too, helping to enhance your learning and build valuable connections to the working world.
These typical entry requirements may be subject to change for the 2025/26 academic year. Please check back for further details.
Full-time fee: £9,535 for the 2025/26 academic year (subject to Parliamentary approval). Fees for subsequent academic years may increase for inflation to reflect increased costs of course delivery (up to a maximum of 10% per academic year) and/or changes in UK government regulation. Inflationary increases will be calculated by reference to RPIx (RPIx is a measure of inflation in the UK). Fee increases are subject to limits imposed by UK government regulation.
Full-time fee: £21,500 per year. Tuition fees will remain the same for each year of your course providing you complete it in the normal timeframe (no repeat years or breaks in study).
A degree typically comprises 360 credits, a DipHE 240 credits, a CertHE 120 credits, and an integrated masters 480 credits. For courses that offer a placement year option that starts in September 2025, the tuition fee is £1,907 (subject to Parliamentary approval). For courses that offer a study year abroad option that starts in September 2025, the tuition fee is £1,430 (subject to Parliamentary approval). Placement Year fees and study abroad fees for subsequent academic years may increase for inflation to reflect increased costs of course delivery (up to a maximum of 10% each academic year) and/or changes in UK government regulation. Inflationary increases will be calculated by reference to RPIx (RPIx is a measure of inflation in the UK). Fee increases are subject to limits imposed by UK government regulation.
The tuition fee for the placement year for those courses that offer this option is £1,850, subject to inflationary increases based on government policy and providing you progress through the course in the normal timeframe (no repeat years or breaks in study). The tuition fee for a placement year abroad for those courses that offer this option is £1,385, subject to inflationary increases based on government policy and providing you progress through the course in the normal timeframe (no repeat years or breaks in study).
Resources: Students often choose to buy a laptop for their course (costing approximately £400-500) and a printer (costing £50 to £100 including print consumables).
Kit (compulsory): Students on this programme will be required to purchase MUFC kit from the online shop at Manchester Met. The kit is mandatory and must be worn while on the placement based units or any MU Foundation professional development courses. You will be required to make a one off estimated down payment of £100 upon entry to the course. However, this could change depending on the kit supplier.
Travel: Students will be required to travel between specialist facilities, such as our All Saints and Platt Lane sites. An annual bus pass for travel around Manchester costs approximately £240 (indicative).
Coaching Qualifications: Students will be eligible for subsidised access to nationally recognised coaching qualifications.
Find out more about financing your studies and whether you may qualify for one of our bursaries and scholarships
Money MattersThis is a course designed to turn passionate students into well-equipped community sport officers. All the modules, support and experiences have been shaped to give you the confidence, communication skills and specialist knowledge to take on a role with one of the country’s leading club community organisations.
The extensive practical work-based learning with Manchester United Foundation will help you open doors for your career – you could even treat your degree course like a three-year job interview. You can look forward to plenty of opportunities further afield too, as this is a sector set for growth, with clubs, sporting bodies and government of all levels recognising its importance and potential. For graduates of this course, that means a range of career paths opening up – from teaching and coaching, to youth work and sport development.
You can apply for the full-time option of this course through UCAS.
UCAS code(s)SLY1
Institution code: M40
Get advice and support on making a successful application.
You can review our current Terms and Conditions before you make your application. If you are successful with your application, we will send you up to date information alongside your offer letter.
Programme review
Our programmes undergo an annual review and major review (normally
at 6 year intervals) to ensure an up-to-date curriculum supported by the
latest online learning technology. For further information on when we
may make changes to our programmes, please see the changes section of our
terms and conditions.
Important notice
This online prospectus provides an overview of our programmes of study
and the University. We regularly update our online prospectus so that
our published course information is accurate. Please check back to the
online prospectus before making an application to us to access the most
up to date information for your chosen course of study.
Confirmation of regulator
The Manchester Metropolitan University is regulated by the Office for
Students (OfS). The OfS is the independent regulator of higher education
in England. More information on the role of the OfS and its regulatory
framework can be found at
officeforstudents.org.uk.
All higher education providers registered with the OfS must have a student protection plan in place. The student protection plan sets out what students can expect to happen should a course, campus, or institution close. Access our current student protection plan.