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Performance Football Coaching (Distance Learning) MSc

Start date

September

Previous degree

2:2

Distance learning available

Yes

Student visa accepted?

Yes

Duration

1 year (full-time), 2/3 years (part-time)

Performance Football Coaching master's
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023: Top 10 for Student ExperienceThe Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023: Top 5 for Teaching Quality

Enjoy flexible study and develop your football career with our innovative football coaching master’s.

Explore athletic potential with our expert-led Performance Football Coaching master’s. You will balance critical theory and practical skills while covering topics like:

  • skill acquisition
  • contemporary approaches to player development
  • microlevel interactions
  • performance analysis
  • coaching cultures
  • research methods.

Unique learning experiences

St Mary’s University is connected with a huge number of world-renowned industry partners via its network of students, staff and our respective research, with these links to industry helping us shape course content.

Importantly for prospective Performance Football Coaching students, St Mary’s is a League Managers Association (LMA) and League Coaches Association (LCA) ‘Institute Partner’ which allows you to gain exclusive access to published content, interviews and webinars with LMA and LCA members.

The degree itself also has a partnership with The Professional Football Scouts Association (PFSA), which grants enrolled students’ free access to their suite of online courses through a dedicated St Mary’s online portal. These courses help supplement and extend your knowledge of scouting, recruitment and performance analysis and are industry recognised qualifications.

Other industry links include professional football clubs for whom our staff work, which allows students to gain exclusive access to study visits organised by the programme team with both Chelsea FC and Fulham FC.

Designed by industry professionals

Our course content has been tailored to reflect the diverse football coaching environments across the world. We have worked with industry experts, alumni and designated football partners, who have contributed to module design that ensures you are gaining industry relevant knowledge at all times.

Learn from experts

Our programme delivery team consists of industry professionals, coaches and football scientists, whose world-leading contribution to research will help offer you unique insights into academia, whilst also providing context specific professional development opportunities.

Flexible teaching from anywhere in the world

Our teaching is exclusively online and can be accessed from anywhere in the world at a time to suit you and your coaching commitments.

We do not mandate live attendance for lectures, with content pre-recorded to be digested alongside interactive tasks, reading and forums to help you to connect with fellow students. This flexible approach allows you to combine the advancement of your knowledge with the ability to practice concepts in your own professional settings.

Our innovative delivery methods allow you to access all online content at a time that suits you. We use pre-recorded lectures, forums, blogs, and a host of online media tools to allow you to interact with your lecturers, each other, and the weekly content. You will have access to our virtual learning environment throughout the degree, where all of you course materials and resources are stored.

Assessment

Assessment methods are varied, allowing you to showcase a range of skills. These include blog posts, presentations, match/recruitment analysis, group projects, filmed coaching sessions and a small number of written essays. This culmination of your degree is the completion of your own research project – this can be undertaken in your own contexts and/or on subjects related to your areas of interest.

Ashley Gumbrell

Lecturer in Football Development and Coaching

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Course content

Modules

The Performance Football Coaching degree is currently subject to a revalidation to confirm newly designed module content which will further develop our student’s knowledge and career projects. As a result, the below modules are subject to minor content and/or content changes, with final module details confirmed by March 2025.

Please note: it is possible that a module listed on the website will not be able to run due to reasons beyond our control. For more information please refer to our course information disclaimer.

Entry requirements

2:2

Previous degree

Minimum 2.2 degree or international equivalent, preferably in a sports-related subject.

Additional requirement information

You must hold a UEFA B coaching license (or equivalent from other countries) and be able to demonstrate that you are actively engaged and committed to coaching during the duration of your studies.

You are expected to be working in settings where you have regular contact with players, such as academies, professional first team environments, and school or college programmes.

We welcome individual discussions with those interested who might be unsure of their suitability, and would encourage you to reach out to the programme lead to see if you are eligible.

International Requirements

International students should check our country-specific pages for equivalents. If English is not your first language you will need to achieve an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with no less than 6.0 in any section.

We now accept IELTS Indicator test results as proof of your English language level.

Further Information

For more information about entry requirements please email apply@stmarys.ac.uk.

Fees & funding

September 2025

Home

£11,340

International

£11,340

Additional costs

*Please note: Tuition fees are annual and may increase as detailed in our tuition fee variation disclaimer.

Your tuition fees will cover the cost of all mandatory elements of your programme. Additional costs could be incurred depending on optional modules chosen and other projects undertaken.

For further information about additional costs please see our additional costs webpage

Alumni discount

A 20% tuition fee discount is available for our alumni (undergraduate and PGCE) planning to study this Master's degree. Those studying for a PGDip of PGCert are not eligible for the discount.

Funding

You can check on the UK government website to see if you may be eligible for a loan of up to £12,167 to help with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate programme.

Home and international students may also be eligible for external sources of funding. International students should check their eligibility for our International Scholarship.

For more information, please look at our postgraduate funding page.

How the degree is taught

Contact time - 35%

Independent study - 65%

Career opportunities

As a Performance Football Coaching student, you will develop a range of academic and practical skills to build on your existing football coaching knowledge. You will also have the opportunity to collaborate and network with other students from across the world to develop your own career further.

Contact our Career Services at careers@stmarys.ac.uk for further information on jobs and postgraduate opportunities.

Some examples of job roles and areas of work for graduates of Performance Football Coaching (Distance Learning) MSc include:

head coachyouth academy coachspecialist technical coachperformance analystdevelopment coordinatorcoach educatorresearcher/scientist

Apply now

September 2025

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Open Days

Open Days are a fantastic opportunity for you to meet academic staff. You'll also be able to look around the campus, speak to current students and find out more about services such as Accommodation and Student Wellbeing.