University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution

Angela Hibbs; Claire Thornton; Phil Hayes; Karen Johns; Claire Bruce-Martin; Nicola McCullogh; Daniel Peart; Katherine Baker; Penny Rumbold

doi:10.1016/j.jhlste.2025.100585

University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution

Angela Hibbs^*, Claire Thornton, Phil Hayes, Karen Johns, Claire Bruce-Martin, Nicola McCullogh, Daniel Peart, Katherine Baker, Penny Rumbold

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Sport Exercise and Rehabilitation

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

With strong competition for student recruitment, UK higher education institutions require effective programme marketing strategies. Aiming to inform such strategies, 424 sport and physiotherapy students at one university were surveyed on course choice decisions. Seven factors were identified through exploratory factor analysis: subject/location; sport participation; employability/placement; course delivery; course administration; entry/web presence; opinions of others. Some factors were more influential in the decisions of physiotherapy students (course delivery, employability/placement, entry/web presence) or sport students (sport participation). Many participants (45.5 %) chose courses without attending open days. Marketing may therefore be most effective when targeted and when employing approaches supplementing open days.

Original language	English
Article number	100585
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education
Volume	37
Early online date	27 Nov 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2025.100585
Publication status	Published - 27 Nov 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4 Quality Education

Keywords

student recruitment
university
open day
higher education
Higher education
University
Student recruitment
Open day

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10.1016/j.jhlste.2025.100585Licence: CC BY

Hibbs_et_al._Open_Day_FINAL_Nov_25Accepted author manuscript, 417 KBLicence: CC BY
1-s2.0-S1473837625000516-mainFinal published version, 1.04 MBLicence: CC BY

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Hibbs, A., Thornton, C., Hayes, P., Johns, K., Bruce-Martin, C., McCullogh, N., Peart, D., Baker, K., & Rumbold, P. (2025). University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 37, 1-11. Article 100585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2025.100585

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title = "University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution",

abstract = "With strong competition for student recruitment, UK higher education institutions require effective programme marketing strategies. Aiming to inform such strategies, 424 sport and physiotherapy students at one university were surveyed on course choice decisions. Seven factors were identified through exploratory factor analysis: subject/location; sport participation; employability/placement; course delivery; course administration; entry/web presence; opinions of others. Some factors were more influential in the decisions of physiotherapy students (course delivery, employability/placement, entry/web presence) or sport students (sport participation). Many participants (45.5 \%) chose courses without attending open days. Marketing may therefore be most effective when targeted and when employing approaches supplementing open days.",

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Hibbs, A , Thornton, C , Hayes, P , Johns, K , Bruce-Martin, C , McCullogh, N , Peart, D , Baker, K & Rumbold, P 2025, 'University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution', Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, vol. 37, 100585, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2025.100585

University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution. / Hibbs, Angela ; Thornton, Claire ; Hayes, Phil et al.
In: Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, Vol. 37, 100585, 27.11.2025, p. 1-11.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution

AU - Hibbs, Angela

AU - Thornton, Claire

AU - Hayes, Phil

AU - Johns, Karen

AU - Bruce-Martin, Claire

AU - McCullogh, Nicola

AU - Peart, Daniel

AU - Baker, Katherine

AU - Rumbold, Penny

PY - 2025/11/27

Y1 - 2025/11/27

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AB - With strong competition for student recruitment, UK higher education institutions require effective programme marketing strategies. Aiming to inform such strategies, 424 sport and physiotherapy students at one university were surveyed on course choice decisions. Seven factors were identified through exploratory factor analysis: subject/location; sport participation; employability/placement; course delivery; course administration; entry/web presence; opinions of others. Some factors were more influential in the decisions of physiotherapy students (course delivery, employability/placement, entry/web presence) or sport students (sport participation). Many participants (45.5 %) chose courses without attending open days. Marketing may therefore be most effective when targeted and when employing approaches supplementing open days.

KW - student recruitment

KW - university

KW - open day

KW - higher education

KW - Higher education

KW - University

KW - Student recruitment

KW - Open day

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DO - 10.1016/j.jhlste.2025.100585

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JO - Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education

JF - Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education

M1 - 100585

ER -

University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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