Program Overview

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Sport and Coaching Sciences

MPhil or PhD or Masters by Research

A vibrant research community

Key Facts

• Start dates: September 2025
• Application deadline: Please allow at least four months between submitting your application and your expected start date, especially if you are an international student arranging a visa.
• Location: Headington (Marston Road site)
• Course length: Full time: 2 - 3 years, Part time: 3 - 4 years
• School(s): School of Sport, Nutrition and Allied Health Professions
• Funding status: Self-funded

Overview

A research degree in Sport and Coaching Sciences allows you to:

• Develop your research skills
• Contribute to internationally recognised research
• Be supported by skilled staff and a vibrant research student community
• Enhance your employability within the domain of sport and coaching sciences
• Develop your ability to apply disciplinary theory in your applied practice.

We offer a number of flexible part-time and full-time research degree opportunities including MA by Research, MSc by Research, MPhil, PhD, and PhD by Published Work.

Research Expertise

Our interdisciplinary and international research agenda seeks to understand, intervene and improve the lives of those involved in sport and physical activity from grassroots to performance. Our work is multi-faceted and focuses on relationships of individuals and communities with sport, physical education, physical activity and health. Through our approach to research, we seek to offer real world solutions that can:

• Contribute to the development and improvement of human performance in competitive sport
• Influence health promotion and rehabilitation through sport, exercise and physical activity
• Promote non-linear approaches to pedagogy in sport, exercise and physical activity, and their application in coach development
• Further enhance our understanding of participation, identity and social justice in sport, exercise and physical activity.

Institutes and Centres

• Oxford Institute of Applied Health Research
• Centre for Movement, Occupational and Rehabilitation Sciences (MOReS)

Groups

• Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity Research Group (SEPARG)

Degree Routes

All students enrol as probationer research students. During the first year you will formally register your research proposal for one of the below routes.

Masters by Research

• Length of study: Full-time: 1 year, Part-time: 2 years
• Entry requirement: The minimum entry requirement for the degree of MA, MSc and LLM by Research is a lower second-class UK honours degree or equivalent qualification.

MPhil

• Length of study: Full-time: 2 years, Part-time: 3 years
• Entry requirement: The minimum entry requirement for an MPhil degree, or an MPhil with the intention of transferring to a PhD, is a first-class or upper second-class UK honours degree or equivalent qualification.

MPhil with the possibility of transfer to a PhD

• Length of study: Full-time: 3 years, Part-time: 4 years

PhD (direct entry)

• Length of study: Full-time: 2 years, Part-time: 3 years
• Entry requirement: The normal entry requirement for the degree of PhD is a master’s degree in a discipline which is appropriate to the proposed research and which has included research training and a research project.

How to Apply

Entry Requirements

All students must be able to meet the University’s requirements for a research degree, which is to be able to devote a minimum of 35 hours per week (full-time) or 15 hours per week (part-time) to the programme of research.

English Language Requirements

Our requirement is IELTS: 6.5-7.0 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking), depending on the subject.

Tuition Fees

2025/26

• Home (UK) full time: £5,106
• Home (UK) part time: £2,553
• International full time: £19,300
• International part time: £9,650

2026/27

• Home (UK) full time: Fees to be confirmed in Spring 2026
• Home (UK) part time: Fees to be confirmed in Spring 2026
• International full time: £19,900
• International part time: £9,950

Funding Your Studies

Financial Support and Scholarships

Featured funding opportunities available for this course.

Postgraduate doctoral loans for home students

All Financial Support and Scholarships

View all funding opportunities for this course

Compulsory Costs

• Continuation fee: The continuation fee, where it is payable is compulsory, but not applicable to Masters by research or PhD by Published Work.

Optional Costs

• Bench fees for full-time study will be calculated on an individual basis and the amount will depend on the subject and project.
• Bench fees for part-time study will be calculated on an individual basis and the amount will depend on the subject and project.
• It’s your responsibility to cover print / binding costs where coursework submission is required.
• You may choose to purchase books to support your studies.
• Accommodation fees in Brookes Letting (most do not include bills)
• Accommodation fees in university halls (bills included, excluding laundry costs)
• Graduation costs include tickets, gowns and photography.
• Students are responsible for their own travel to and from university for classes.