Winter Application Window 2023-24

The webform for applications will re-open on Friday December 15 2023, and close on Sunday January 07 2024 at 23:59

Criteria for Applicants

Please note that you must be a registered student at UCL (you may be a prospective student at the time of applying, but must have accepted an offer to study at UCL)

An athlete that gains acceptance onto the programme will need to satisfy the following criteria:

  • EITHER recognised on their NGB Performance Pathway (a supporting letter from an NGB or another appropriate authority is an essential component of the application), OR an existing NGB endorsed TASS athlete.
  • AND an athlete must be competing at an exceptional level in an Olympic, Paralympic or Commonwealth sport.

We consider extraordinary applications for:

  • Applicants who compete in non-Olympic, Paralympic or Commonwealth sports to an exceptional level
  • Applicants who are part of professional or national development programmes and/or shown potential to compete at the highest-level of their sport.

‘Exceptional level’ is at the discretion of the department, but includes:

  1. Experience as a professional athlete
  2. Semi-professional sporting commitments that include multiple hours of weekly training or competition on a consistent basis throughout a season (Sport specific, strength and conditioning, cross-training)
  3. Competing at international or national level

You should be a member of the relevant UCL sports club and be prepared to represent UCL in any relevant British Universities & College Sport (BUCS) matches, competitions and championships.

Please note it will be extremely unlikely we will support anyone that does not plan to represent UCL, however if you think you have extenuating circumstances please highlight your current level of commitments within your application so we can take them into consideration during selection.

Additional factors that we take into considerations when assessing applications;

Is the applicant a future Olympian/Paralympian/Professional athlete?

Is it part of the National Performance Agenda (ie. attracts World Class funding)?

Is the nation that the student represents genuinely high performance at senior level? (ie. what is the senior world ranking)

Is the student part of a national talent programme?

Is the student likely to secure a top 8 finish at BUCS?

Applicants do not need to satisfy all of the above to apply to the programme. This is provided as an insight into the process we take when considering applications.