Ahead of the game in sports science
Why first-class performance is second nature at Birmingham.
The Centre for Movement and Wellbeing (MoveWell) is home to interdisciplinary research and education into physical and mental health, harnessing expertise from across the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences and the School of Psychology.
For almost three decades, the University of Birmingham has been ahead of the game in the teaching of sports science; one of the top-rated sports science departments in both UK higher education and the world. Our School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences is one of the longest established in Europe for scientific research into sport, exercise, health and rehabilitation.
In fact, we were the first UK university to offer an undergraduate degree course in physical education in 1946, later being launched into a degree in Sport and Exercise Sciences. We were the first UK university to bring together physiotherapy and sport and exercise sciences, to create unique expertise in rehabilitation and movement.
Today, the University of Birmingham has the largest custom-built sport, exercise and rehabilitation sciences facility in the UK, incorporating teaching and research laboratories for physiotherapy, physiology, biochemistry, psychophysiology, biomechanics, sports psychology, motor skills, muscle mechanics and the neurophysiology of movement.
The arrival in 1938 of Sir Raymond Priestley as Vice-Chancellor of the University enhanced the rise of sports education at Birmingham. A sporting pioneer and experienced expeditioner, who had survived Antarctic explorations with both Ernest Shackleton and R.F Scott, Priestley had won a Military Cross in the First World War and had established the Scott Polar Research Centre.
Leaving his role of Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne to come to Birmingham, he wanted to set up a Physical Education Committee, including student representatives, with the specific instruction ‘to supervise physical education generally’. He also launched our Physical Education undergraduate programme and oversaw the opening of the University Sports Centre, which remained in use until 2016 when it was replaced by a state-of-the-art sports centre.
Opened on May 22, 2017, the University’s £55 million Sport & Fitness club included the city’s first 50-metre swimming pool and an extensive cutting-edge gym with five activity studios, squash complex, multi-sports arena, climbing wall and much more. With unrivalled opportunities for sports enthusiasts, from amateur players to elite athletes, it is now home to numerous sports clubs as well as the University’s Performance Centre, specialising in applied sports centre and medicine.
We are really proud to build on such fantastic roots, to continue to grow and extend our work across sport and health. We are committed to finding new ways to understand and support the physical activity, wellbeing and sporting needs of the individuals and communities that we serve. These range from children to older people, elite athletes to sedentary adults, and healthy participants to those recovering from injury or living with chronic diseases.
Sports science research underpins teaching and investigates topical issues such as the workings of the healthy body and the way in which physical activity promotes health and well-being. The latest Research Excellent Framework (REF) results rank us as sixth in the UK for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism, and we were rated the sixth best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the QS World University Rankings 2024.
Among modern highlights:
- During the 1990s, research by Alison McConnell and Mike Caine at the Sports Medicine and Human Performance Unit won two Department of Trade and Industry Smart awards, including the development of the Powerbreathe, a hand-held device to boost the breathing capacity of athletes and people with asthma.
- In 2000, the university began an education partnership with the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) which is recognised by the DCMS in the 2008 European White Paper for Sport as an industry leading partnership in coach education.
- IIn 2014, Professor Jennifer Cummings, brought together the Mental Skills Training programme and St Basil’s in Birmingham, supported by the Duke of Cambridge, to help with the physical and mental recovery of homeless people in the city.
- 2014 Sports Sciences graduate Izzy Christiansen captained the University women’s football team captain and played for Birmingham City Ladies before joining the England lionesses for the lead-up to the 2017 UEFA Women’s Tournament, scoring against Estonia in her very first game. She won the title PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year in 2016.
- In 2022, the University hosted the Commonwealth Games, with staff and students engaged in supporting athletes – from sports science and medical support to volunteering on campus, and in some cases, winning medals.
Izzy Christiansen won the PFA Women's Player of the Year award in 2016.
In another first, in January this year, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Football Club (BCFC) announced a strategic alliance, bringing together two of the city’s most iconic institutions in a shared ambition. Coming as the University and BCFC mark their 125th and 150th anniversaries respectively, the alliance will create fresh opportunities in research, education and health and will enhance the city’s sporting reputation across the world still further.