BSc (Hons) Sport Nutrition

Entry year:
2025/26
Start date:
September
Study mode:
Full-time
Course duration:
3 years FullTime, 4 years Placement year
Campus:
City
UCAS Code:
SPN1
Grades/points required:
BBB-ABB (120-128)

Why study this course with LJMU?

  • The School of Sport and Exercise Sciences is ranked first in the North West and top 20 in the world for Sports Science (QS World University Rankings 2025)
  • The degree offers the opportunity for many career paths, such as working as a performance nutritionist or product developer
  • Achieve a degree certified by the Association for Nutrition (AfN), ensuring high-quality education standards which are recognised by industry and the sport sector
  • Gain real-world experience and skills that set you apart in the job market through opportunities to do work placements and an optional sandwich year
  • Learn from our teaching staff who have extensive experience working with elite athletes and sports teams. Our staff are world leaders in research impacting sports nutrition practice and athletic performance from the laboratory to the playing field
  • Our International Foundation Year offers a direct pathway to this degree programme

About your course

BSc (Hons) Sport Nutrition is taught by research active staff who are professionally registered with the Association for Nutrition (AfN) and/or Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr). The course offers excellent employment opportunities in a wide field of careers associated with sports nutrition.

This interesting and engaging degree programme will enable you to understand the rapidly changing challenges facing sport nutrition. You could specialise in areas such as how muscles adapt to exercise, using nutrition to boost performance, sports supplements, the effects of poor diets on metabolism, personalised nutrition and related research. After graduation, career opportunities include working as a performance nutritionist, in nutrition consultancy, public health directorates and product development within the multi-billion pound food industry. 

The BSc Sport Nutrition curriculum focuses on the delivery of the five core competencies defined by the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN) set out by the Association for Nutrition (AfN). This includes Nutritional Science, Food Chain, Social and Behavioural Science, Health and Well-being and Professional Conduct.

During the degree, you will explore the principles of human nutrition, physiology and metabolism, and how these underpin the relationship between diet and performance. You will learn about performance nutrition, nutrition at different life stages, appetite and eating habits, the impact of sports supplements, and how social and cultural factors influence food choices in sport nutrition and performance.

You will examine other food-related areas, such as how nutritional knowledge can be used to help support the development of food first products used to promote improved performance, functional foods. You will also gain an understanding of important aspects of food science, food chain and sustainability. 

You can choose to take an optional full-time paid placement year, giving you valuable experience, helping you build professional connections, and boosting your career skills.

Course modules

What you will study on this degree

Further guidance on modules

Modules are designated core or optional in accordance with professional body requirements, as applicable, and LJMU’s Academic Framework Regulations. Whilst you are required to study core modules, optional modules provide you with an element of choice. Their availability may vary and will be subject to meeting minimum student numbers.

Where changes to modules are necessary these will be communicated as appropriate.

Core modules

Core modules

Optional modules

Core modules

Professional accreditation

The programme is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN), which is the governing body for nutrition in the UK and is recognised globally. On graduation, this will entitle you to apply for direct entry as a Registered Associate Nutritionist on the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists. This registration will help to identify you as a qualified, scientifically-trained nutritionist. This is ideal if you want to work in a range of roles within primary care organisations; public health directorates; Clinical Nutrition settings; the Food Industry; Academia; Sports and Exercise Science; international public health nutrition and in the private sector.

LJMU is a member of ASET, the UK’s leading authority on work-based and placement learning (WBPL). This membership reflects our commitment to providing students with high-quality WBPL experiences that are well-supported and aligned with best practice guidelines.

Your Learning Experience

Excellent facilities and learning resources

We adopt an active blended learning approach, meaning you will experience a combination of face-to-face and online learning during your time at LJMU. This enables you to experience a rich and diverse learning experience and engage fully with your studies. Our approach ensures that you can easily access support from your personal tutor, either by meeting them on-campus or via a video call to suit your needs.

Teaching is via a combination of lectures, seminars, online activities and small-group tutorials, as well as field trips, interactive practical sessions, guest speakers and workshops. Many sessions take advantage of LJMU's specialist facilities for nutritional assessment, as well as our nutrition and food science laboratories.

Work-related learning

The BSc (Hons) Sport Nutrition programme is designed to build both your academic and practical skills. There will be opportunities to work alongside practitioners, giving you a real taste of the many careers available within the nutrition sector and providing an opportunity to complete a project based on your experience. This work-related learning is a vital element of your studies as it gives you a chance to practise skills learnt on the course which will add real value to your CV.

Dedicated personal tutor, plus study skills support

From the moment you begin your studies at LJMU, you will be assigned a personal tutor who will be available to discuss course-related issues with you on a one-to-one basis. Tutorials and group seminars also offer a supportive environment in which to discuss ideas, issues and forthcoming assessments with your tutors and fellow students.

The school is fully committed to promoting a learning environment that supports a culture of equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) and has a Disability Support Coordinator, an EDI Coordinator and a School EDI Working Group. Personal Tutors also play a vital role in promoting awareness of support services for students.

Assessment varies depending on the modules you choose, but will usually include a combination of exams and coursework.

LJMU recognises that all students perform differently according to how they are assessed, which is why we use a combination of assessment methods. These include: exams (seen and unseen), written work (essays, reports, learning logs, dissertation, lab reports, posters, review writing and blog writing), presentations (group or individual) and practical assessments. Your tutors will provide formal feedback on your coursework and exams, but constructive verbal comments from both your tutors and fellow students will also really help you to identify your successes as well as the areas where you may need to put in more work.

93%of students say teaching staff have supported their learning well.

Data for courses in Sport and exercise sciences at Liverpool John Moores University

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Where you will study

You will study in Liverpool city centre at our City Campus. Our sport and exercise sciences facilities are world-leading and feature state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for our current and future sport scientists. The Avril Robarts library is within easy walking distance and here you'll find all the information you need to support your studies.

This innovative, new programme will draw upon LJMU's well-established research and external partnerships from the sport and nutrition industries

Career paths

The course covers a range of sectors meaning you will be well placed to secure employment in a number of different roles.

Successfully completing the programme allows you to progress onto LJMU’s MSc Sport Nutrition, leading to careers as sports or performance nutritionists with sports clubs, national governing bodies or individual athletes. You could also work in the health sector as a registered nutritionist, promote health and physical activity in the community, as an assistant dietetic practitioner in clinical settings, or join the food and sports nutrition industry in research and product development.

Find out more about career opportunities in sport and exercise sciences.

Student Futures - Careers, Employability and Enterprise Service

A wide range of opportunities and support is available to you, within and beyond your course, to ensure our students experience a transformation in their career trajectory. Every undergraduate curriculum includes Future Focus during Level 4, an e-learning resource and workshop designed to help you to develop your talents, passion and purpose.

Every student has access to Careers Zone 24/7, LJMU's suite of online Apps, resources and jobs board via the LJMU Student Futures website.

Tuition fees and funding

Full-time per year:
£9,535
Placement year:
£1,905

Fees

The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as library membership and student IT support with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources including programme-appropriate software and on campus Wi-Fi.

Financial Support

The University offers a range of scholarships to support students through their studies. You'll find all the information you need on our specialist funding pages, including details of the Student Support Fund and other activities to support with the cost of living.

Additional Costs

In addition to fees, students should also keep in mind the cost of:

  • Accommodation
  • Travel costs including those for placements, visas and travel for studying abroad and field trips unless paid for by LJMU
  • Stationery, IT equipment, professional body membership and graduation gown hire

The University reserves the right to increase tuition fees in accordance with any changes to the maximum allowable fees set by the UK Parliament. In the event of such a change, any fee increase will be subject to a maximum cap of 10% of the total course cost as originally stated at the time of your offer.

A DBS check is not required for your application, however a DBS may be required for modules where there is a work based learning placement option. Work based learning placements that do not require a DBS check are available.

Entry requirements

Please choose your qualifications below to view requirements

Grades/points required from qualifications: BBB-ABB (120-128)

Work out how many UCAS points your qualifications are worth by visiting the UCAS Tariff Calculator.

Qualification requirements

How to apply

Securing your place at LJMU

UCAS is the official application route for our full-time undergraduate courses. Further information on the UCAS application process can be found here https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-students/how-to-apply.

We are looking for students who have the potential to make a difference in the areas of sport and physical activity, nutrition and health improvement within local communities and settings. Good interpersonal skills, a sustained commitment to improving yourself and an understanding of others needs are also looked for in applicants' forms and at interview.

Your university life

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At LJMU we want you to know you're making the right choice by studying with us. You can see what our students are saying about their experience with us through their reviews on the following websites:

The university reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the university. Where this does happen, the university operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.
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