British Universities
and Colleges Sport
SportUniversity sport in the United Kingdom
AbbreviationBUCS
Founded2008 (2008)
AffiliationFISU
Regional affiliationEUSA
Location20-24 King's Bench Street
London
SE1 0QX
United Kingdom
Replaced
  • British Universities Sports Association (BUSA)
  • University College Sport (UCS)
Official website
www.bucs.org.uk
United Kingdom

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in 2008 by a merger of the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport (UCS) organisations. BUCS is responsible for organising 54 inter-university sports in the UK and representative teams for the World University Championships and the World University Games.

BUCS is a membership organisation for over 165 universities and colleges in the UK, with 6,000 teams competing across 850 leagues. Anne, Princess Royal is patron of BUCS.

Sports

As of 2023 BUCS has 54 sports represented within the leagues and events. They are:[1]

Competitions and Events

Team sports compete in BUCS leagues, with the majority of league fixtures taking place on Wednesday afternoons, which is commonly referred to as BUCS Wednesday. Wednesday afternoons are generally free from lectures to allow students to compete in sport. There are 850 leagues, with institutions across the country competing against each other to avoid relegation or win the league and gain promotion to higher leagues.

The finals of the Championship and Trophy are played at BUCS Big Wednesday. This annual single-day event showcases the Championship and Trophy finals across 16 league sports. As of 2023, Big Wednesday will take place at Loughborough University.[2]

BUCS Nationals is an annual multisport event that takes place across three days. As of 2023, indoor athletics, swimming, badminton and climbing are the sports represented at BUCS Nationals. The event is held in Sheffield.[3]

Over the year, BUCS runs over 120 events for both individual and team sports.

BUCS Points

BUCS Points are given to institutions depending on where they finish in leagues and events. The accumulation of these points determine which institution becomes overall BUCS Champion.

Loughborough University have won the BUCS competition 42 years in a row up until the 2022-23 season. Both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were not completed due to COVID.

BUCS Points
Season 2022-23 2021-22[4]2020-21[lower-alpha 1]2019-20[lower-alpha 2]2018-192017-182016-17
1st Loughborough University Loughborough University--Loughborough UniversityLoughborough UniversityLoughborough University
2nd University of Nottingham University of Nottingham--University of NottinghamDurham UniversityDurham University
3rd Durham University Durham University--Durham UniversityUniversity of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh
4th University of Exeter University of Edinburgh--University of EdinburghUniversity of NottinghamUniversity of Nottingham
5th University of Edinburgh University of Exeter--University of ExeterUniversity of BathUniversity of Exeter
  1. ↑ Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the 2020-21 season was unable to go ahead.
  2. ↑ Competition was suspended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the points table was voided since the season was not completed.

International representation

Members of both FISU (International University Sport Federations) and EUSA (European University Sports Association), BUCS is responsible for sending a cohort of students to international events including the World University Summer & Winter Games and the European Universities Games. The British international team goes by the name of GB Students.

National governing body involvement

BUCS applies for annual funding from Sports England to support the delivery of student sport across the country. They also work with national governing bodies to develop sports within the student sector and some posts within BUCS are funded by governing bodies, with the aim of developing the specific sport for students.

The Football Association fund projects and positions within BUCS to help develop grassroots football. With their investment, BUCS set up 62 Football Grassroot Hubs to support Football and Futsal in the higher education sector, benefiting just under 70,000 participants. BUCS and The FA also joined to create the Women's Leadership Programme, providing students with important skills and qualities to help them in their future careers whether that is in the football and sporting sector or not. The first cohort of leaders graduated in 2020.

Board

The BUCS Board is responsible for leading strong governance and strategic leadership within the sector. The Board is made up of the chair, five independent directors and four BUCS directors - two representing students and two representing the staff of the membership.

Chair of the Board: Vacant

Commercial Director and Senior Independent Director: Russell James

Sport and Competition Director: Katy Storie

Finance Director: Simon Wilson

EDIA Director: Vacant

Legal and Governance Director: Carrie Stephenson

Chair of BUCS Senior Managers Executive: Cathy Gallagher

Chair of BUCS Advisory Group: Chris Anthony

Student Director: Ella Williams

Student Director, Welfare Lead: George Christian

Hall of Fame

In 2019, BUCS introduced the Hall of Fame to celebrate the centenary of British university sport. The Hall of Fame acknowledges individual's dedication and achievements in sport. Members of the Hall of Fame include:

Non-BUCS sports

Certain university and college sports are not govererned by BUCS for various reasons. The following is a partial list of these sports and respective competitions:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "BUCS Sports". British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).
  2. ↑ "Big Wednesday". BUCS. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Nationals". BUCS. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "2021-22 BUCS points".
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