Course Description Document

Course Title	Clinical Exercise Physiology (2026-27)
Course Code	9621
Award Title	Master of Science (MSc)
Awarding Body	University of Southampton
Teaching Institution	University of Southampton
Regulated by	Office for Students
Accreditation
Regulations	The Regulations of the University can be found on the University's Governance Webpages: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/about/governance/regulations-policies
Location of study	Southampton
Length of the course
Tuition Fees	Fees for students can be located by the student fees page. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/student-fees/index.page

Course Overview

The MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology at the University of Southampton is an interdisciplinary programme designed to develop advanced practitioners capable of delivering evidence-based exercise interventions across a wide spectrum of clinical conditions. Delivered through collaboration between the School of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine, and co-developed with key practice placement stakeholders, this programme will prepare you to operate across clinical and community settings with diverse populations.
This full-time programme combines academic excellence with hands-on clinical experience, offering you a robust foundation in human anatomy, integrative physiology, and pathophysiology. You will gain comprehensive knowledge of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, exercise prescription, and patient management across a range of conditions, as per a Clinical Exercise Physiologist’s Scope of Practice, including cardiovascular, cancer, frailty, renal, metabolic, musculoskeletal, respiratory, neurological, and mental health disorders.
Key features include:
• Cross-faculty teaching and interdisciplinary expertise drawn from our internationally recognised academic and clinical research teams within medicine, physiotherapy, psychology, and public health.
• Access to our world-class research facilities and our fully-funded NHS Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) service, which is embedded in the curriculum to enhance your practical learning and clinical competence.
• Practice-based learning through partnerships with NHS trusts, rehabilitation centres, and community health organisations.
• Training in evidence-based exercise prescription that accounts for comorbidities, treatment pathways, and individual patient needs.
• Emphasis on behavioural science and behaviour change, including coaching, motivational interviewing, and psychological determinants of exercise adherence.
• Preparation for in-person and telehealth service delivery, integrating technology with person-centred care.
We are proud of our nurturing, student-centred learning environment. Our limited class sizes ensure a low staff-to-student ratio, fostering meaningful engagement, individualised academic support, and close clinical supervision. We take great pride in providing both pastoral and academic support to help students thrive personally and professionally.
As a graduate of this programme, you will be a confident, capable, and compassionate clinical exercise physiologist, equipped to deliver safe and effective care, contribute to interdisciplinary healthcare teams, and lead in advancing exercise interventions to improve health outcomes.

Aims of the Course

This programme is designed to produce highly skilled clinical exercise physiologists who are capable of making significant contributions to patient care, public health, and the advancement of clinical exercise physiology.
Specifically, the aims of the programme are to:
1. Confidently deliver safe, effective, and evidence-based exercise interventions, integrating advanced knowledge of pathophysiology, clinical assessment, and exercise science to improve health and functional outcomes for individuals, communities, and populations.
2. Promote personalised, equitable healthcare, recognising the physical, psychological, social, and cultural dimensions of health and wellbeing, and practising shared decision-making that upholds dignity, inclusion, and diversity.
3. Demonstrate expertise in the design, implementation, and evaluation of clinical exercise programmes, applying critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and reflective practice in complex, real-world settings.
4. Collaborate effectively within interdisciplinary healthcare teams, understanding the value of integrated care and contributing meaningfully to public health, long-term condition management, and health promotion.
5. Apply research-informed knowledge and digital innovation to practice, fostering a culture of enquiry, evidence-based decision-making, and continuous service improvement.
6. Develop the confidence, adaptability, and professionalism to thrive across diverse clinical and community contexts, in the UK and internationally, underpinned by a commitment to lifelong learning, leadership, and professional growth.

Course Structure

The tables below provide a list of the modules that make up your course.

Each module is worth a specified number of credits: you can take a combination of core and compulsory modules enabling you to cover key subject knowledge. Some courses have option modules which enable you to develop your own interests.

Your programme requires a certain number of credits. The number of option modules you can take depends on the number of core and compulsory modules and this is also influenced by the requirements of the regulatory requirements for professionally accredited courses. Some courses also have pre and co-requisites, and these are included in individual module information.

Your learning will be led by the latest research, and modules can change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. You can always find the most up-to-date information about your modules and who is teaching them via the information on our webpages and, post enrolment, via the Faculty hub.

If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an option module, it may not be offered. If an option module will not be run, we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

The core and compulsory modules available on your course are as follows:

Part I (Year 1)
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
HLTH6XX4	Advanced Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Interventions 2026-27	10	Core
HLTH6XX1	Behaviour Change and Adherence 2026-27	10	Core
HLTH6XX3	Clinical Exercise Testing & Interpretation 2026-27	15	Core
HLTH6XX5	Evidence-Based Exercise Prescription and Intervention Design 2026-27	10	Core
HLTH6XX6	Clinical Exercise Delivery and Evaluation 2026-27	15	Core
HLTH6XXX	CEP Practice Placement Portfolio 2026-27	30	Core

Learning and Teaching

Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, independent learning, and assessment activity, with each ECTS credit taken equivalent to 20 hours of student effort. While your actual contact hours may depend on the option modules you select, the information available on our webpages give an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities.

When not attending lectures, seminars and other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and for other types of assessments and examinations.

Full information about contact hours is provided in individual module information.

How we'll assess you

Your course provides you with opportunities to test your understanding of the subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your module mark. Each module normally contains at least one piece of practice or formative assessment for which you receive feedback.

Formative assessments are developmental, and any results do not count towards your module mark, but they are an important part of your learning.

Summative assessments usually take place at the end of each module, although some may have interim assessments throughout. Assessment methods might include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations and projects for example. The marks from summative assessments count towards your module mark.

The information available on our website gives an indication of the assessment methods used on your course.

Staff involved in delivering the different elements of the course

You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on your course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, demonstrators and technical officers.

Postgraduate research students who have undertaken appropriate training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars if their research specialism is directly related to the topic of the module and may also be involved in practical classes, project work and field trips. All contributions will be carried out under the supervision of the module leader.

Fees

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and standard exams.

Extra costs you may experience

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. There may also be extra costs for retake and professional exams.

Depending on the nature of your course, you may be able to choose modules which may have additional costs, such as field studies, travel overseas or industrial placements which will change the overall cost of your course. Details of these costs can be found in module information.

Please also ensure you read the section on additional costs in the Fees, Charges and Expenses Regulations.

The following course-related costs are not included in your fees:

Type	Details
Calculators	Where a calculator is required, all Casio Calculators are allowed but they must be Non-Programmable, Scientific models. More information is available in the Examination Regulations https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentadmin/assessment/assess-overview/exam-regulations.page
Stationery	You will be expected to provide your own day-to-day stationery items, e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, etc. Any specialist stationery items that you may need will be specified in the relevant module profile.
Textbooks	Where a module specifies essential texts, the Library will identify the optimal option(s) to support the module via the course Reading List. This may include e-books (ideally with unlimited concurrent usage) or a digitised chapter extract, supported by a limited number of print books (where available). You may request that the Library purchases additional print copies via 'suggest a book', borrow an additional copy via our inter-library-loans service or you may prefer to buy your own copies for high demand titles.
Printing	In most cases, written coursework such as essays and projects are submitted online. However it may be necessary to submit a hard copy of some projects, business projects and dissertations. The costs of printing a hard copy for submission of such work will be your responsibility. You will also have to cover the cost of photocopying. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/students/printing.
Clinical Placement: logistical costs	Students will be required to supports all financial costs associated with transport and accommodation for placements. Students should be advised that parking restrictions apply on all University and Hospital grounds. If a student chooses to drive and park on campus or on the hospital site, the student will bear the cost of parking. Public transport is widely available, including the UniLink bus service. Students are encouraged to walk and use public transport where possible. If a student chooses to use public transport, the student will bear the cost of this. An approximate cost of a daily rate for parking at Southampton General Hospital is provided for reference:
Clothing	Uniforms: You will need to wear suitable clothing when working in the exercise physiology laboratory, and while out on clinical practice placement. This will include a University of Southampton, Clinical Exercise Physiology logo polo shirt, sensible black or navy shorts/trousers/tracksuit bottoms/sport leggings, and closed-toe shoes. The Programme Lead will provide details about ordering your polo shirt during your induction, while other clothing items can be purchased from any source at students' own cost.
Printing and Photocopying Costs	In the majority of cases, coursework such as essays; projects; dissertations are likely to be submitted online. However, there may be some items where it is not possible to submit online, and students may be asked to provide a printed copy. A list of the University printing costs can be found here: Printing for students | iSolutions | University of Southampton
Stationery	You will be expected to provide your own day-to-day stationery items (e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, etc).
Textbooks	Where a module specifies core texts these should generally be available on the reserve list in the library. However due to demand, students may prefer to buy their own copies. These can be purchased from any source. Some modules suggest reading texts as optional background reading. The library may hold copies of such texts, or alternatively you may wish to purchase your own copies. Although not essential reading, you may benefit from the additional reading materials for the module.

Bursaries, scholarships and other funding

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from underrepresented backgrounds.

You may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs.

If you are a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant that's linked to your chosen subject area.

Financial Support

The Student Services Centre offers support and advice regarding student finances. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course. You can find more information about financial support via our webpages: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/student-support-fund/index.page

Academic support

The Student Support Hub is your first point of contact when it comes to seeking support. The team will answer your questions or concerns about your wellbeing, fees and funding, accommodation and visas. The team will help make sure you receive the support you need, guiding you to further support services where required. You can find more information about student support via our webpages:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/index.page

One of the most important people you will meet while you are a student at Southampton is your Personal Academic Tutor, who will be allocated to you for your arrival at the University and who is normally a member of academic staff in your own or a closely related subject area. Your Personal Academic Tutor will offer one-to-one support and advice throughout your time at Southampton and will support you in your studies or with other issues you may have. You can find out more via our webpages:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentadmin/academic-support-guidance/personal-tutor.page

Disclaimer

As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our courses to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. As a result, this course may be revised during a student's period of registration; however, any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Please read our Disclaimer to see why, when and how changes may be made to a student's course.