Physical and mental health benefits are associated with participating in regular physical activity. The study aimed to qualitatively explore whether the demands of the final year of undergraduate study affected the motivation to participate in physical activity. Secondly the study qualitatively explored if the demands of the final year study affect the motivation to participate in physical activity for students across multiple disciplines at a British university. A total of nine participants (n = 5 female) were recruited to take part in the study from a range of disciplines (mean age of 21.8 ± 2.43 years). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, followed by an inductive thematic analysis. Emerging themes from the dataset was: Demands of final year, benefits of physical activity and the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings from this study revealed that most students from this sample were motivated to participate in physical activity. Most of the participants attributed that the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted their motivation to engage in physical activity. When restrictions were eased a change in physical activity behaviours was observed. The findings were discussed in relation to the subcomponents of the basic psychological needs of self-determination theory. Secondly, there were no differences in motivation to participate in physical activity in all disciplines in this sample. In conclusion, future research is needed to explore motivation in final year undergraduate students in the absence of the pandemic. A practical implication is for universities to remain consistent in providing a range of physical activity options for students to meet the basic psychological needs.
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