​Loughborough Sport

Loughborough’s reputation for sporting excellence spans performance, facilities, expertise and working partnerships. Over 100 years ago our Principal, Herbert Schofield, a great innovator, made educating the mind and the body central to his student welfare philosophy and saw sport and physical education as crucial to this philosophy.

Now, over 100 years later, Loughborough Sport plays host to many of the highest performing student athletes and teams in the country and our campus wide opportunities allow all of our students the chance to enjoy life shaping experiences through sport.

Our strong association with elite performance sport is boosted by the number of students, alumni and Loughborough-based athletes that choose the campus as their training base; the number of national sport governing bodies that house their main headquarters here; and the decision in 2012 to use Loughborough as the official preparation camp for Team GB ahead of the Olympics.

Our achievements

Loughborough number one in the world for sports subjects

QS World University Rankings by subject 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Champions

For 40 years running

6000+ BUCS points

The first university to break the 6000 points barrier

Lightning Netball

Netball Superleague Champions 2021

14 medals at the 2020 Olympic Games

Loughborough-linked athletes achieved three gold, six silver, five bronze

21 medals at the 2020 Paralympic Games

Loughborough-linked athletes achieved six gold, six silver, nine bronze

An inclusive sporting environment

We firmly believe in the value of sport to our students' lives, regardless of ability.

Our sporting offer includes wide ranging programmes facilitating free sporting trials and dedicated free play spaces on campus. With two outstanding gyms based on campus alongside a 50 meter swimming pool our focus on an inclusive sporting environment has resulted in over 70% of students regularly taking part in sport.