Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership

The Higher Education (HE) sector has an important role in working together for clean sport, with many talent and performance athletes attending specialist higher education colleges and universities on their journey to becoming elite athletes. The majority of Athlete Support Personnel (ASP) working in sport will also study in Higher Education.

Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership

Split by regions and home nations in order to enhance collaboration, the Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership is designed to support the HE sector to further develop clean sport across the UK.

  • Embedding clean sport knowledge among elite and recreational university student athletes
  • and future Athlete Support Personnel (ASP) through their formal degree programmes.

Since launching in July 2022, the Partnership has been a fantastic success, with over 60 institutions joining from across the UK.  Most Partners are engaged with other key stakeholders across the sector, and by the end of the 2022-23 academic year the majority of the BUCS top 50 had joined as well as 79% of TASS Delivery and 82% of TASS Accredited Sites signing-up.  From an academic perspective, 62% of BASES Accredited Institutions were represented, with 71 Clean Sport Leads from both sporting (54) and academic (17) backgrounds engaged across the Partnership.

The Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership is aimed predominantly at universities, however sports colleges who deliver degree level qualifications and / or are included within the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) network, may also become Partners.

Becoming a Partner

Due to the success of the Partnership to date, we have paused applications for any new institutions at this time; this will be reviewed at various intervals throughout the academic year.  This decision allows us to focus resources on facilitating the best possible opportunities for those already engaged in the Partnership. 

Details for existing Partners reviewing and replying to retain their Partner status will be communicated to Clean Sport Leads directly. 

Achieving and maintaining Partner status:

Partnership is free and there are a number of actions that each institution must undertake to achieve and maintain their Partner status.

Achieving and maintaining Partner status:
Appoint a Clean Sport Lead (CSL)

This person will be the nominated contact for the institution and have overall responsibility for maintaining your Partner status within this scheme.

Engage within regions or home nations

You will be required to contribute to meetings each semester, sharing best practice and collaborating with other Partners.

Deliver a Clean Sport Implementation Plan

The institution will be required to develop and deliver a Clean Sport Implementation Plan setting out what they will look to achieve based on the resources they have available. The plan will look to build on what is already in place and evolve throughout the year. Support and feedback will take place via the regional networks and from UKAD's National Trainers. A sample of implementation plans will be selected for review annually.

Complete annual data and case study submission

Each institution will be required to complete a data submission in May each year. Institutions will be required to submit relevant data which will allow UKAD to monitor and evaluate the impact of the Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership. The data will also improve our decision-making process and provide more of an insight into the challenges facing different regions. The case study showcases your clean sport highlight from the academic year.

Review processes and reapply for Partner status

Before July of each year the Clean Sport Education Partners will need to reapply to retain their status. This will include re-confirming your Clean Sport Lead and information, as well as continued engagement within the regions or home nations. Institutions will also need to have demonstrated progress against their Clean Sport Implementation Plan and submit this with their data and case study.

Full Terms and Conditions for the Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership can be found here.

PDF download of the Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership Terms and Conditions

Further information

You may also find the following areas of interest: