Foundation studies

Elite athletes

A top sporting university

Join a university with a unique sporting heritage - and outstanding sport facilities

Designed for elite athletes

Combine your sport training and competition with your academic career

Excellent benefits

World-class coaching and training facilities - and discounted gym membership

A wide range of study options

Progress on to Loughborough University courses in science, engineering, sport science, human biology, psychology, social science, business and economics

At Loughborough, we recognise that elite athletes can find their demanding training and competition schedules challenging to manage alongside their academic studies without the underpinning support to be able to achieve in both areas.

Our foundation programme now also offers the opportunity for students performing at a very high standard, looking to join one of our sporting performance programmes, who wish to study at Loughborough, but do not have the required qualifications due to their sporting pathway. It is ideal for students who wish to combine their sports training with academic study.

As a performance programme athlete studying at the UK’s top sporting university, you will benefit from  coaching and performance support, providing a unique opportunity to continue your progression in both your academics and sport.

Our performance programmes are led by expert coaching staff. Each sport is looking to succeed in national and international competitions to aid an athlete’s sporting development. A full list of Performance Programmes can be found here: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/sport/performance-sport/

In addition to the main Foundation Programme courses, elite athletes can also progress on to a range of degree courses we offer in the following subject areas:

Continuation on to these degree courses is guaranteed by achievement of the subject specific progression criteria.

Students who are eligible for this course:

  • Students identified by our coaching teams who wish to study at Loughborough, but do not have the required qualifications due to their sporting pathway

Applications are treated on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on the applicant’s academic and sporting achievements.

If you think your sport profile qualifies you to be considered for the elite athletes programme, please contact performancesport@lboro.ac.uk before applying. We currently have a sporting performance programme in the following sports: athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, cycling, football, hockey, netball, rugby, squash, swimming, tennis, triathlon, women’s wheelchair basketball.