Program Overview

BA (Hons) Special Educational Needs, Disability & Inclusion (SENDI) and Sport with Foundation Year

Why study this course

Enhance your knowledge in sports and physical education within the community with SENDI. Excellent placement and work-based learning opportunities help you build confidence and experience, whilst enhancing employability. Be part of small class practical and workshop sessions across all levels of the programme. You will be involved in delivery of real world, county wide projects working alongside external partners.

Course summary

The BA (Hons) Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion (SENDI) and Sport joint programme provides you as a student with opportunities to study a balanced range of modules from both disciplines. In undertaking a joint programme, you develop in-depth knowledge and understanding which reflects your passion and interests in both subjects.

Key facts

• Award: BA (Hons)
• UCAS code: CX1F
• Duration: 4 years
• Mode of study: Full time
• Start date: September 2025
• Award: Bishop Grosseteste University
• Institution code: B38

About this course

This degree combination explores the complexities of individual development in relation to social, psychological and physical growth. The programme builds your knowledge and understanding of learning in relation to both typical and atypical development exploring the value of sport and performance in facilitating holistic wellbeing. Sociological frameworks which create inequalities are contested and strategies to promote Inclusive practice are explored in depth.

This joint degree provides a range of career opportunities supported through studying these two complementary disciplines. Further study would enable a route into teaching or supportive environments such as health and sport settings. Students are also well placed to work within sport development, adventure education, physical education, health and fitness coaching, the Youth Service, Social Work, Mental Health services supporting those with additional needs.

What you will study

• Course modules
  • Foundation
  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3
• Self as Learner
  • In this module you will explore and consider what it means to be a successful learner at university. You’ll explore the principles of effective learning and engage with a range of tools and techniques to practise and develop strategies for your own learning.
• Resourcing Learning
  • You will learn about a range of resources and practise locating and using these resources to support effective learning.
• Critical Engagement
  • This module will allow you to learn to utilise sources in a considered and critical way.
• Critical Thinking
  • Critical thinking is an integral part of university study. While studying this module you will define critical thinking, its importance and how it can help you in your learning.
• The Digital Learner
  • The skilled use of digital technologies is an important element in university study and is used to support both the obtaining and demonstration of knowledge.
• Effective Communication
  • This module explores, compares and evaluates a range of communication types, giving you opportunities to combine written and spoken communication in a range of contexts and for a range of audiences.
• Reflective Learning
  • Reflection is a powerful learning tool that enables you to consider your existing knowledge and also to plan for your future learning and professional development.
• Academic Writing
  • Academic writing is an essential element of successful university study, so this module explores a range of techniques to help develop your own academic writing style.
• From Excluded to Included: A Century of Change
  • This module will introduce you to the field of Special Educational Needs and Inclusion (SENI).
• The Whole Child: Holistic Approaches to Meeting Needs
  • This module will focus upon holistic approaches in education/care/social learning which enhance social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.
• Sport and Physical Education
  • This module sets out to combine an academic study of the relations between sport, education and society, with a pragmatic desire to explore sport in formal and informal learning environments.
• Young People and Physical Activity
  • This module will provide you with an overview of the influence of physical activity on health and wellbeing in young people.

Compulsory modules

• Physical Education and Coaching Pedagogy
  • This module will further develop your knowledge and understanding of pedagogical approaches and skills and apply them to the teaching and learning of PE and sport.
• Adapted Physical Activity and Disability Sport
  • The syllabus will introduce and examine the concept of adapted physical activity and sport.
• Sport Development, Promotion and Leadership
  • This module will investigate effective ways of promoting interest, participation and performance in sport.
• Meeting Different Needs
  • This module will build and expand upon issues considered in Level 4 module, From Excluded to Included: A Century of Change.
• Interpreting the World: Research and Practice
  • This module will enable you to understand and critically examine differing theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to qualitative and quantitative research.

Optional modules

• Professional Contexts in Sport and Exercise
  • This module provides you with an experience of conducting a systematic review with consideration towards informing your own practice and understanding of a workplace environment.
• Rhetoric or Reality?
  • This module explores a range of issues encountered by learners at different stages of their educational journey and critiques policy in meeting needs.

Compulsory modules

• Emotion in Sport and Physical Education Roles
  • The module aims to develop your understanding of the emotional nature of sports work and the underlying normative practices and actions that are developed in sports workers relationships and practices.
• Contemporary Issues in Sport, Exercise and Physical Education
  • This module will draw contemporary knowledge of sport, coaching and physical education together and relate issues to current practice.
• Hidden Inequalities
  • This module will consider a range of factors, which can often impact upon learning and may potentially go unnoticed.

Optional modules

• Measurement and Evaluation in Sport and Exercise
  • This module will enable you to develop further knowledge of how to conduct effective measurement techniques.
• Dissertation
  • This module will give you the experience of designing, carrying out a research project, and writing a dissertation, in an area of sport, coaching or physical education.
• Spectrums and Kaleidoscopes
  • This module introduces you to spectrums and kaleidoscopes of complex needs and disabilities and their affects upon learning and behaviour.
• Leading the Learning Environment
  • This module introduces you to a critical evaluation of issues associated with the leadership and management of policy and practice in SEND and inclusion.
• Capstone Project Proposal
  • The module will equip you with transferable and practical skills required for conducting ethical research suited to a range of pedagogical and professional settings.
• Capstone Project
  • This module requires you to implement, evaluate and present your chosen research-informed project on the topic of Inclusion or Special Educational Needs and Disability.

Entry requirements

Application for this course is via UCAS, although there is no formal requirement for UCAS points to access the course (normally GCSE English or equivalent is desirable). As part of your application you will have the opportunity to speak with a member of BGU Admissions staff to resolve any questions or queries you may have.

Different degree subjects may have specific entry requirements to allow you to progress from the Foundation Year. Whilst not a condition of entry onto the Foundation Year, you will need to have met these by the time you complete the first year of this four year course.

How you will be taught

There is no one-size-fits-all method of teaching at BGU – we shape our methods to suit each subject and each group, combining the best aspects of traditional university teaching with innovative techniques to promote student participation and interactivity.

Academic staff

• Dr Julia Lindley-Baker
• Rafe Elliott
• Rebecca Fielden

Assessment

Your first year in SENDI is important. We know that you will need time to settle into university and build up your academic skills and so, we will give you detailed feedback on how you are doing and set your targets to improve your work. We use a wide range of different types of assessment throughout the course, including coursework portfolios, group discussions, multimedia technology presentations and individual projects, as well as essays and a timed assessment (year 3). You may even have the opportunity to get your dissertation research work published!

In Sport, we use a variety of imaginative approaches to assessment that enable you to utilise your strengths. Over the course of your studies, you could expect your assessment to include presentations, multimedia reports, displays, portfolios, individual research projects, essays, exams and work in the Human Performance Laboratory. We recognise that individuals come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and accordingly use a wide range of assessment strategies. You can expect to be guided and supported carefully in your first year, gradually becoming more independent as the course progresses.

Careers & Further study

Special Educational Needs, Disability & Inclusion

You will be supported throughout your study by opportunities to explore different career aspirations, working with our specialist team at BGFutures. Guest speakers share their professional experiences which can open new ideas for you. Progression has included graduate employment, teaching, social work, creative therapies, speech and language therapy, senior education managers and residential care. Progression to further study at Master’s level is a further choice. This degree offers a range of possibilities which we are happy to discuss with you at any time.

Sport

In Sport, we prepare you for a broad range of sport-related jobs in such areas as sports development, adventure education, physical activity and health, sports coaching, fitness and recreation industry, school sports coordination, armed forces, youth work and postgraduate research.

By the end of the course, you will have developed a range of practical and transferable skills that are underpinned by excellent subject knowledge, meaning you will be well-prepared for your chosen future career. In the past our graduates have begun careers as sports coaches, personal trainers, as physical education teachers (primary and secondary), in the field of youth work or within sports development.