Jonathan Doust: 'A broad sporting, political and cultural momentum equals jobs for sport science graduates'

Sport is big business. It has a value of more than £15bn to the UK economy and employs over half a million people. Its influence spreads beyond the simple playing of the game. It was a broad sporting, political and cultural momentum that led the UK to glory in the award of the 2012 Olympic Games, with confidence that the immediate and long-term benefits of the Games would outweigh costs of over £8bn.

Integral to the Games' legacy vision is the recognition that good health requires an active lifestyle. Making more people more active, more often, is a critical component of the Government's strategy to tackle obesity and heart disease. Add to this the continued rise in commercial fitness facilities, sport nutrition products and equipment development, and it is easy to see why sports-related career opportunities continue to grow.

The application of science in sport is now widespread. The specialist sport and exercise scientist would take a BSc in sport and exercise science, often followed by a Masters. A career might involve working for a sports organisation and helping athletes achieve peak performance through a rational, scientific approach to training and competition.

But it is not just sport that requires the scientist. Health authorities, local authorities, and fitness companies commonly employ exercise scientists because their knowledge of physical fitness, health and the psychology of motivation and behavioural change make them ideal people to lead initiatives aimed at making citizens more active.

While Sport England proudly proclaimed that in 2008 more adults than ever before were taking part in "physical activity at least three times a week" – according to the 2008 Active People Survey – the 11.7 million who take regular exercise still reflect less than 20 per cent of the UK population. Much remains to be done if the rise in obesity and other hypokinetic diseases is to be stemmed.

The final main route for the specialist sport and exercise scientist is lecturing and researching. Colleges and universities employ hundreds of staff to teach this popular subject. And in the recent Research Assessment Exercise, the Government recognised the international quality of hundreds of sport and exercise researchers in the UK.

The detailed science is not for everyone. Some will take a PGCE and become PE teachers in schools where they are particularly valued for their ability to teach the scientific aspects. But most will enter the "general" degree market.

A sport and exercise science background will take graduates into a wide range of jobs in areas such as management, development, sales and marketing.

But while vocational experience and commercial awareness during education are growing, there is still some concern that graduate qualifications do not align well with the needs of business employers. SkillsActive, the sector skills council, is currently exploring whether national occupational standards at degree level would be helpful.

While students and educational providers should be doing more to improve their practical work abilities, the lack of decent entry points, pay, and career progression in some areas of the commercial sport and exercise sector remains a difficulty.

But sport is an international spectacle, a recreational pursuit, and exercise is an important facet of a healthy lifestyle. This will ensure that sport and exercise scientists will continue to find a wide variety of employment opportunities.

Sport science is one of the top 10 most popular subjects to study at university. About 9,000 students started degrees in 2008. Students find the mixture of academic science, practical application and human interaction a winning combination.

The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences helps to kitemark standards. The BASES undergraduate endorsement schemes is awarded to degree courses which demonstrate adequate coverage of physiology, psychology, biomechanics and research along with suitable laboratory and practical facilities.

The BASES accreditation scheme requires a higher degree, advanced skills and extensive practical experience. A new development by the Association is accreditation for those people working as exercise-for-health practitioners. Full details of the BASES kitemarking schemes, and a guide to careers, can be found on the website www.bases.org.uk

Professor Jonathan Doust is head of the Chelsea School of Sport, University of Brighton