Since the first degree in strength and conditioning (S&C) commenced in 2010, the UK now has over 50 undergraduate and post-graduate S&C degrees, as well as S&C modules and other vocational and degree related qualifications.

Through the new Affiliate Programme, we are looking to:

1. Raise the profile and standards of S&C and related degrees & courses

• Work with universities and colleges to attract and retain a more diverse student population to the profession
• Work with course leaders to improve employability of graduates.

2. Provide support to students during their studies

• Access to content from the best in the world
• Employability advice and links with employers for a range of career options.

3. Provide support to teaching staff

• Institution licence to UKSCA education resources
• Discounts for personal development attendance at events
• Access to employer placements through the UKSCA Placement Programme (UPP).

WORK TO DATE

At the 2023 Annual Conference, we held a meeting with members working in Universities and FE Colleges to discuss ways in which UKSCA could better support their work. Following the conference, we also held remote Zoom meetings to progress the detail further.

We have now created a tier-package offering to enable Universities and FE Colleges to provide UKSCA Associate membership and other benefits to their students. Details can be found in the following tables and we are pleased to welcome our first Universities to the Affiliate Programme this month.

BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS BY TIER

BENEFITS FOR INSTITUTION AND STAFF BY TIER

NEXT STEPS

It is clear from our meetings and discussions that many are looking for UKSCA to develop a more detailed endorsement scheme for degrees. This is something we discussed with members working in Universities at the 2018 conference. At that meeting there was support for UKSCA to start a scheme however, we stopped this development soon afterwards as we began our partnership with CIMSPA, which involved them running a degree endorsement scheme.

6 years later a lot has changed and in the coming months we will be pulling together a project team to conduct a review and make a recommendation to the Board and members.