UK university sports have become an essential part of university culture, a useful way for people to get involved in competition through BUCS leagues, as well as creating a sense of community.
For some universities, such as Loughborough who are the BUCS national champions, it’s a big part of their identity and they help to foster the country’s sporting talent.
“For student recruitment, student attention and retention in university, sport can be an element and a catalyst to contribute to a student’s experience,” says Head of Development of British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Amy Porter.”
University sports can be a helpful tool for students dealing with mental health issues, but with all the barriers such as financial issues, travel distance, tough competition and more, it begs the question, what can be done to help?
“It’s been one of the most useful tools to get me through life in general.”
University sport has become more accessible than ever. According to BUCS, there are currently 6,000 sports teams across 850 different leagues, so there are many different options for students.
There has been a lot of research about the positive impacts of sports in general. Sports England’s recent Active Lines adult survey showed that people who were physically active had higher mental wellbeing scores, compared to those who were inactive. But what about specifically university sports?
Well BUCS have run a program annually called BUCS Active, which tries to tackle inequality in sports and promote mental wellbeing through physical activities for nine universities. In 2022-2023, they found that engaging in university sports and physical activities has led to significant improvements in students’ mental wellbeing.
Marko Visic, a law student at City University, plays Football, American Football, Hockey and Ice Hockey. He told City News about how playing sports has helped him in his life.
“I have ADHD and it helps with me with my focus, it allows me to focus on one thing, not even just physical my mental psyche. For me it’s been one of the most useful tools to get me through life.”
Marko Visic playing for the City University American Football team. CREDIT: AVI GRANT
At City University, it costs £50 a year for a sports membership which will allow you to play for as many sports teams you want and compete within BUCS leagues.
However, this isn’t the case for all universities in the UK. In some universities, it can cost over £300 to play certain sports. This isn’t helped by the cost of living crisis.
In a 2023 Cost of Living report done by BUCS, they conducted a survey with over 2,000 university students and alumni. Of those respondents, 64% stated that the cost of living crisis affected their ability to be physically active and part of this is due to sport membership fees.
Here are some examples of prices:
St Mary’s Twickenham – £195 a year for any sport
University of Glasgow – £170 a year for any sport
Bristol (Men’s Rugby) – £195 for annual development membership (1st team), £315 for annual performance membership (2nd team)
Bristol (Women’s Rugby.) – £180 a year (First team), £130 a year (Second and Third Teams) and £80 annual development membership
University of Manchester (Men’s first football team) – £315 a year.
UCL Volleyball (Men and Women teams) – £150 a year
St Andrews (Men’s Cricket) – £166 a year
Some universities have tried to subsidise sports fees and provide bursaries to help students afford the membership.
However, that’s just part of the problem. Some students City News spoke to also mentioned a lack of support for their university sports teams. Whether that be a lack of accessible training ground, or certain sports not available at university.
“We’re not really aware of it, like, I was aware of it because I’m really into sport and I really needed it for my, for my life and balance. But I have many friends that are not into sport like me, who wanted to play sports but they didn’t know about the opportunities.”
The solution?
There are many differences between universities in regards to how much their sports are funded.
Sport-heavy universities such as Loughborough or Durham will spend more money on sport’s compared to others. Loughborough even more so, as they are the BUCS National Champions.
In comparisons, universities that don’t have sport on a high priority won’t be funding their sports teams as much.
However, Head of Development for BUCS Amy Porter still believes sport can be valuable to universities that don’t prioritise it.
“Ultimately, it comes down to the value that sport and being active can have on people beyond the competitive side but also the social wellbeing and side of it, that is getting more exposure now, which I don’t feel at a time was necessarily as prominent.”
This year there has been an emphasis on reinforcing the connections between physical activity and wellbeing.
Universities like King’s College London, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Exeter and more have been funded by BUCS and Sport England to create strategies to promote wellbeing through sport.
“One thing we’re trying is a space based approach,” Amy says. ” We’re taking the activities to the students and moving away from this tradition that you have to go to a sports hall for sports. Like, why can’t you do sport in an accommodation block or a faculty?
Moving forward
While challenges still exist for UK university sport, there’s also opportunities for improvement, with new innovative ways of bringing sport and physical activities for students.
Part of what makes university sport appealing to students here is how welcoming it can be, regardless of your background or skill level and there are some great moments that come with sport, competitive or recreational.
By trying to address the barriers with these innovative solutions, university sports can continue to thrive, which in turn will benefit students and the wide university community.
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Standfirst
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HeadlineElevate The Game – The Accessibility of University Sport.
Short HeadlineMaking University Sport More Accessible.
StandfirstAs UK university sport continues to grow, universities are doing more to make it's sports inclusive for students.
UK university sports have become an essential part of university culture, a useful way for people to get involved in competition through BUCS leagues, as well as creating a sense of community.
For some universities, such as Loughborough who are the BUCS national champions, it’s a big part of their identity and they help to foster the country’s sporting talent.
“For student recruitment, student attention and retention in university, sport can be an element and a catalyst to contribute to a student’s experience,” says Head of Development of British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Amy Porter.”
University sports can be a helpful tool for students dealing with mental health issues, but with all the barriers such as financial issues, travel distance, tough competition and more, it begs the question, what can be done to help?
“It’s been one of the most useful tools to get me through life in general.”
University sport has become more accessible than ever. According to BUCS, there are currently 6,000 sports teams across 850 different leagues, so there are many different options for students.
There has been a lot of research about the positive impacts of sports in general. Sports England’s recent Active Lines adult survey showed that people who were physically active had higher mental wellbeing scores, compared to those who were inactive. But what about specifically university sports?
Well BUCS have run a program annually called BUCS Active, which tries to tackle inequality in sports and promote mental wellbeing through physical activities for nine universities. In 2022-2023, they found that engaging in university sports and physical activities has led to significant improvements in students’ mental wellbeing.
Marko Visic, a law student at City University, plays Football, American Football, Hockey and Ice Hockey. He told City News about how playing sports has helped him in his life.
“I have ADHD and it helps with me with my focus, it allows me to focus on one thing, not even just physical my mental psyche. For me it’s been one of the most useful tools to get me through life.”
Marko Visic playing for the City University American Football team. CREDIT: AVI GRANT
At City University, it costs £50 a year for a sports membership which will allow you to play for as many sports teams you want and compete within BUCS leagues.
However, this isn’t the case for all universities in the UK. In some universities, it can cost over £300 to play certain sports. This isn’t helped by the cost of living crisis.
In a 2023 Cost of Living report done by BUCS, they conducted a survey with over 2,000 university students and alumni. Of those respondents, 64% stated that the cost of living crisis affected their ability to be physically active and part of this is due to sport membership fees.
Here are some examples of prices:
St Mary’s Twickenham – £195 a year for any sport
University of Glasgow – £170 a year for any sport
Bristol (Men’s Rugby) – £195 for annual development membership (1st team), £315 for annual performance membership (2nd team)
Bristol (Women’s Rugby.) – £180 a year (First team), £130 a year (Second and Third Teams) and £80 annual development membership
University of Manchester (Men’s first football team) – £315 a year.
UCL Volleyball (Men and Women teams) – £150 a year
St Andrews (Men’s Cricket) – £166 a year
Some universities have tried to subsidise sports fees and provide bursaries to help students afford the membership.
However, that’s just part of the problem. Some students City News spoke to also mentioned a lack of support for their university sports teams. Whether that be a lack of accessible training ground, or certain sports not available at university.
“We’re not really aware of it, like, I was aware of it because I’m really into sport and I really needed it for my, for my life and balance. But I have many friends that are not into sport like me, who wanted to play sports but they didn’t know about the opportunities.”
The solution?
There are many differences between universities in regards to how much their sports are funded.
Sport-heavy universities such as Loughborough or Durham will spend more money on sport’s compared to others. Loughborough even more so, as they are the BUCS National Champions.
In comparisons, universities that don’t have sport on a high priority won’t be funding their sports teams as much.
However, Head of Development for BUCS Amy Porter still believes sport can be valuable to universities that don’t prioritise it.
“Ultimately, it comes down to the value that sport and being active can have on people beyond the competitive side but also the social wellbeing and side of it, that is getting more exposure now, which I don’t feel at a time was necessarily as prominent.”
This year there has been an emphasis on reinforcing the connections between physical activity and wellbeing.
Universities like King’s College London, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Exeter and more have been funded by BUCS and Sport England to create strategies to promote wellbeing through sport.
“One thing we’re trying is a space based approach,” Amy says. ” We’re taking the activities to the students and moving away from this tradition that you have to go to a sports hall for sports. Like, why can’t you do sport in an accommodation block or a faculty?
Moving forward
While challenges still exist for UK university sport, there’s also opportunities for improvement, with new innovative ways of bringing sport and physical activities for students.
Part of what makes university sport appealing to students here is how welcoming it can be, regardless of your background or skill level and there are some great moments that come with sport, competitive or recreational.
By trying to address the barriers with these innovative solutions, university sports can continue to thrive, which in turn will benefit students and the wide university community.
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