Graduate Certificate of Strength and Conditioning
2025 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2025 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Graduate Certificate of Strength and Conditioning |
| Deakin course code | H513 |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health |
| Campus | This course is only offered Online with on campus intensives |
| Duration | Trimester 1 commencing students: 1 year over 3 consecutive trimesters. |
| Course Map - enrolment planning tool | These course maps are for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2025: Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8 |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Indicative student workload
- Professional recognition
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Pathways
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Fees and charges
Course overview
The Graduate Certificate of Strength and Conditioning trains you to improve the strength, power and endurance of your athletes and have them in peak condition for competition. Upskill in key areas of sport science that allow you to solve more complex challenges. You will gain the expertise to develop customised strength and conditioning programs that are grounded in science and backed by evidence.
Want the career benefits of postgraduate study without having to commit to a longer degree?
The Graduate Certificate of Strength and Conditioning is designed for busy professionals looking to progress their career in the sport science industry. You can study while you work and complete your degree online in one year part-time. You’ll also benefit from two short intensives on campus.
Develop the complex knowledge and skills to solve multi-faceted challenges. Your athlete might need muscular hypertrophy to improve their performance in a contact sport; or they may need a long-term training program that sees their endurance peaking for a tournament two years from now. No matter their goal, you will be able to create a program that gives them their best shot at success. Become an expert in leading methods across a range of areas, including:
- strength and hypertrophy
- plyometrics, speed, and muscular power
- aerobic and anaerobic power
- periodisation and tapering methods
- high-intensity interval training
- recovery methods
- integrity, ethics and legal considerations
- communication with athletes and coaches
Complement these technical skills by boosting your management capabilities through studies in leadership, culture development and continuous improvement. These management skills don’t just make you more employable, they give you a recipe for team success and allow you to develop your support staff, as well as your athletes.
The curriculum is underpinned by science and research, some of which is produced by expert Deakin academics who research training methods to optimise their use – just one of the reasons why Deakin has been the #1 sport science school in the world for four years running*. You will graduate with the ability to critically evaluate and apply research to make confident, evidence-based decisions in your role. Better still, you will have direct access to academics with expertise in a broad range of sport science fields. This includes specialist researchers within Deakin's multidisciplinary Centre for Sport Research (CSR) and Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN). Draw on their professional experiences in your everyday work and leverage their industry connections to start forming your own.
The course is made up of four of the ten units from Deakin’s Master of Applied Sport Science.
After completing this course, you may wish to enhance your credentials further by articulating into the Master of Applied Sport Science.
* Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments 2021, 2022, 2023
Indicative student workload
As a student in an online course with on campus intensives in some units in the Faculty of Health you will be expected to spend at least 11-13 hours per unit every week participating in a range of teaching activities. This could include lectures, seminars, practicals, placements and online interaction. You can refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information. You will also need to study and complete assessment tasks in your own time. Teaching, placements and assessment tasks may take place outside of Deakin University teaching periods.
Professional recognition
We are recognised as an industry provider for the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA).
Upon completion of the Graduate Diploma of Applied Sport Science or Graduate Certificate of Strength and Conditioning, you will meet the theoretical and practical skills gained through HSE724 Strength and Conditioning for High Performing Athletes and HSE725 Advanced Training Design for Sport for Level 2 ASCA accreditation. You would be required to provide ASCA with evidence of an article of publication standard for the Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning (JASC), and practical coaching experience, to meet the eligibility requirements for Level 2 accreditation.
For more details and to view the application form, visit ASCA.
Career opportunities
The course prepares you for career growth in the industry. Graduate with a sought-after combination of sport science and managerial skills that set you up for success in roles such as:
- high performance manager
- strength and conditioning coach (sports clubs, performance training centres, sports and private schools)
If you are looking to pursue further study, you may wish to articulate into the Master of Applied Sport Science after completing this course.
Participation requirements
HSE721, HSE724 and HSE725 intensives require on campus attendance. Intensives are typically delivered up to 5 days.
Domestic students must attend all intensives on-campus at Deakin University.
International students must attend HSE724 and HSE725 intensives either on campus at Deakin University, Australia or at Universiti Sains Malaysia. HSE721 intensives must be completed either via on campus at Deakin University, Australia or online (video conferencing). International students who wish to complete intensives in person are recommended to attend all intensives in Trimester 3, please refer to the visa information under 'Additional course information' section.
Pathways
Graduate Diploma of Applied Sport Science (H607)
Master of Applied Sport Science (H707)
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Apply advanced knowledge of selected aspects of sport science to sport performance related problems including some key principles and concepts |
| Communication | Select and use appropriate modes of communication to transmit evidence based sport science knowledge to specialist and non-specialist audiences with a view to inform, motivate and effect change at the individual and organisational level. |
| Digital literacy | Use digital technologies to locate and disseminate information, ideas and resources related to sport science to specialist and non- specialist audiences |
| Critical thinking | Critically analyse complex theoretical and technical information related to a specialised sport science context. |
| Problem solving | Apply advanced cognitive and technical skills to autonomously analyse, generate and transmit solutions to complex sport science problems in a specialised sport science context. |
| Self-management | Employ high-level personal responsibility, accountability and autonomy to demonstrate expert judgement and adaptability to familiar and emerging challenges confronting sport scientists. |
| Teamwork | Contribute to an interdisciplinary team and establish constructive relationships, with a range of stakeholders to achieve successful outcomes and to advance sport science in a specialised sport science context. |
| Global citizenship | Engage in professional and ethical practice that demonstrates personal autonomy, awareness of, and adaptability to, diverse social, cultural and environmental contexts in sport sciences. |
Course rules
To complete the Graduate Certificate of Strength and Conditioning students must pass 4 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
- 4 credit points of core units
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. See the enrolment codes and terminology to help make sense of the University’s vocabulary.
Course structure
Trimester 1
| DAI001 | Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0 credit points) |
| HSE070 | Exercise and Sport Laboratory Safety (0 credit points) |
| HSE724 | Strength and Conditioning for High Performing Athletes ^ |
Trimester 2
| HSE720 | Athlete Development and Performance Management |
Trimester 3
| HSE721 | Management and Leadership in High Performance Sport ^ |
| HSE725 | Advanced Training Design for Sport ^ |
^These units have practical Intensive components. Please refer to ‘Participation requirements’ section for further information.
Course duration
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.
Further information
Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.
- Contact Student Central
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, and their study discipline or your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.