Bachelor's Degree Programme in Physical Activity, Health and Recreation

The degree programme has an interdisciplinary focus. In particular, the Institute for Physical Education and Sport provides the pedagogical foundation. The programme director is also based there. With this degree programme, we offer you a study programme which, whilst not part of teacher training, is situated within the field of education and related disciplines.

Discussions in small groups and the close, personalised support provided by the teaching staff create a motivating learning environment and encourage in-depth engagement with highly topical issues facing a health-conscious society, such as ‘stress’ and ‘sleep’. This combination of knowledge transfer, practical application and personal support ensures that your day-to-day student life is varied and vibrant.

This degree programme equips you with a wide range of skills, enabling you to enter the world of work immediately after graduation. Career opportunities are available in the:

• tourism, leisure and cultural sectors
• at sports clubs or within sports federations and organisations
• with health insurance providers and in businesses
• in local government and municipal administration (sport promotion, youth work, management of local sports facilities)
• in fitness and health centres, as well as therapy and rehabilitation facilities
• with other sports providers such as climbing centres, swimming schools, boot camps and digital workout programmes (online services)

 Graduate surveys have shown that this Bachelor’s degree also provides an excellent foundation for further Master’s programmes and prepares our students exceptionally well for them.

To be admitted to a degree programme at our university, you must provide evidence:

• General Higher Education Entrance Qualification.

• Subject-specific university entrance qualification that includes eligibility to study at a teacher training college in Baden-Württemberg. This is possible with any subject-specific university entrance qualification obtained in Baden-Württemberg or a completed degree from a university of applied sciences. Unfortunately, a university of applied sciences qualification does not entitle you to enrol on this Bachelor’s degree programme.

If you do not meet these entry requirements, you may, under certain conditions – possibly following the successful completion of a Delta or aptitude test – be admitted to study at a university of education in Baden-Württemberg. No further formal requirements for the programme are currently required. Consequently, there is no practical entrance examination as a prerequisite for admission to the programme; nor is proof of having completed a ‘social year’ required. Qualifications acquired elsewhere may be recognised provided the admission requirements are met, but they do not replace these requirements.

The degree programme combines academic principles with practical health promotion. Students develop, test and evaluate target-group-specific physical activity and prevention programmes in a variety of contexts and settings (for example, in pre-schools, workplaces, sports clubs, gyms or care homes for the elderly). As an SGF student, you will receive concrete answers to questions such as:

• What exactly is sport, how has it developed, and what influence does it have on our society?
• How much physical activity is necessary to age healthily?
• What happens to our bodies at a cellular level when we go for a 60-minute jog, eat too much or sleep poorly?
• Which exercise programmes (e.g. Nordic walking) and relaxation methods are particularly effective in establishing, maintaining and improving both mental and physical health?
• How should groups of different ages or genders be motivated to achieve their health goals?
• Which data collection methods (e.g. questionnaires or interviews) and diagnostic tools (e.g. fitness trackers, AI-based models) are useful for obtaining subjective and objective data on a specific area of research?

The personalised support and direct interaction between students and lecturers create a supportive learning environment in which you can develop both professionally and personally. The practical course content and the two work placements pave the way for a career in the health and fitness sector. We’ve captured moments from the course on camera and gathered some feedback from our students.

In the seminar ‘Aesthetic and Artistic Forms of Movement’, students gain an insight into various dance styles and, each year, learn a set choreography which they perform at their dance examination.

In the current module handbook, you will find detailed descriptions of the 18 modules you are required to complete.

If you have already completed a vocational training programme relevant to your degree programme, you can, following successful admission, check whether and to what extent parts of your vocational training or the skills acquired through it can be recognised as equivalent to academic credits. Please refer to the overview of credit recognition options for further details. The forms for credit recognition can be found in the members’ area of our website under the ‘Programme-specific information and documents’ section.

During the degree programme, students must complete a career-oriented placement (Module 5) and a professional qualification placement (Module 14), each comprising 150 hours, which may lead to work-related Bachelor’s theses. The work placement framework outlines the options for choosing work placement positions, which students are responsible for securing themselves.

In addition, during the course of your studies in the field of sport, you will undertake two (fee-paying) projects:

• Recreational sport (Module 18C during the term, cost approx. 385 euros).
• Trend sports (Module 18B during the non-teaching period, cost approx. 100 euros).

You can complete up to three modules (including placements) at our partner universities abroad. Our university works closely with universities in the USA, Australia, the UK, France, Turkey and Sweden. 

Further information is available from our university’s International Office.