Sport and Exercise Nutrition MSc

Course summary

The amazing feats of world-class athletes have brought the challenges of performance into the public eye, and nutrition is now recognised as a key part of supporting training and competition at all levels of participation. In the wider population, there is also increasing recognition of the role of nutrition in supporting health, wellbeing, and exercise.

Our Sport and Exercise Nutrition MSc offers you the chance to explore the key principles and cutting-edge research across sport and exercise nutrition, exercise physiology, psychology and practitioner skills. You will study the science behind sports nutrition, the applications within the general population, specific sub-groups of our society, and the elite athlete. It also puts the controversies surrounding the use of supplements under scientific scrutiny, looking at the key evidence for and against performance benefits. Using this scientific foundation, you will develop the skills to translate research to practice, communicate effectively with diverse clients and support personnel, and support effective behaviour change.

We recognise and embrace the diverse career paths graduates can take, and our course supports this with our optional modules that enable you to explore in greater depth effective science communication, commercialisation, practical work experience, or in-depth nutritional assessment. Your research project offers you a wide degree of flexibility to pursue your personal interests.

The aim of this course is to produce competent and capable sport and exercise professionals who both understand the field as it is now, and also have the skills to continue to learn and develop as this dynamic field continues to innovate and evolve.

Top reasons to study with us

• Learn in the heart of London – Studying at our Cavendish Campus in central London, you'll be part of a diverse, global community
• Informed by practice, inspired by research – Our established course reflects both industry standards for sport and exercise nutrition and cutting-edge research
• Diverse career opportunities – On graduation, the knowledge and skills you have developed in this course will facilitate your entry into a range of careers within the field, from practitioner, to entrepreneur, to research scientist, and educator.
• The UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) Clean Sport Higher Education partnership - the University of Westminster is a member of the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) Clean Sport Higher Education partnership in 2023/24, focused on supporting our students, athletes and athlete support personnel in understanding and promoting fairness and equality in sport

The opportunities open to graduates of sport and exercise nutrition are vast. Graduates may establish their own private consultancy, focussed on promoting health and wellbeing to the community through to supporting elite level athletes in specific sports. Or, graduates may practice within a larger existing consultancy, or within large corporations or sporting organisations. For those who want to explore beyond a practitioner route, our course will facilitate careers in research, sports food and supplement development, science communication, education, marketing and more. Our aim is to support the development of the knowledge, skills and applied practice you need to both understand and then achieve the career you want, in this dynamic and exciting field.

This course will prepare you for roles in a variety of areas, including:

• Sports nutrition practitioner route
• Research
• Sports food and supplement development
• Science communication
• Education
• Marketing