BUCS 2025 Highlights: A Celebration of Student Sports!
As the final whistle blows and medals are proudly worn, the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) 2025 season has once again proven why it’s the pinnacle of university sport in the UK.
This season was a resounding success for all, from the impressive Student-Athletes who competed, to the spectators cheering them on. With a rich history of sporting excellence and a vibrant community spirit, BUCS continues to unite students across the UK in thrilling competition.
From Sheffield's pool lanes to Nottingham's rowing waters, more than 120,000 students from over 150 institutions came together to compete, connect, and carve their names into BUCS history in various competitions.
And now, thanks to add-victor, these students can be supported not only on, but also off the field. As BUCS Official Career Partner, add-victor helps Student-Athletes transfer the hustle, the leadership, and the resilience they built in sports into various careers where they’ll make just as big a mark. Find out more about the collaboration here.
Recap of the 2025 BUCS Calendar
Athletics
From sprint stars to distance legends, the Indoor Athletics Championships produced headline performances across both track and field. Loughborough continued its dominance, with Joy Eze (Newcastle) blazing through the 60m in 7.19s, and Sam Charig (St. Mary’s) storming the 1500m in 3:51.78. In the field, Owen Andrew Heard soared to 5.43m in the Pole Vault, while Sophie Ashurst set an impressive 4.03m on the women’s side.
Badminton
A tense back and forth ended with Manchester’s Cholan Kayan and Nottingham’s Meng Zhou claiming singles titles, with Loughborough sweeping the mixed doubles but Nottingham swooping as the winners of the women’s doubles champions went to Meng Zhou & Yiyi Tao, also at Nottingham.
Swimming
A masterclass in athleticism came from Loughborough and Stirling athletes, with standouts like Daniel Wiffen from Loughborough claiming both the 800m and 1500m freestyles, and Stirling’s Angharad Evans sweeping all three womens breaststroke events. Greg Butler from Loughborough claimed both 100m and 200m but Archie Goodburn from Edinburgh won the 50m race. On the backstroke, Oliver Morgan from Birmingham was unstoppable across all distances. Max Litchfield (Loughborough) took both the 200m and 400m IM titles.
Karate
Across kata and kumite, Nottingham stood tall with multiple podiums. Firstly they won the open team kata Jessica Maitland, Amelia Clow, Eve Holdsworth, Jordanna Williams, coming first also in both men and women’s senior kata with James Harrison and Jessica Maitland. Nottingham also dominated in the team kumite, both men and women leading to an outstanding year for Nottingham. But it wasn’t a one-university affair — Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Hertfordshire all stepped onto the podium.
Fencing
In a sport of milliseconds and millimetres, Nottingham, Durham, Imperial and Cambridge proved why they’re names to know. Florin Mirica and Rachael Lever, both from Nottingham took épée titles. Durham’s Lexie Craze and Edinburgh’s Quentin Geoffroy dominated sabre. Lastly, Anastasiia Tsurkis from Cambridge and Lachlan Jarvie from Imperial sliced their way to foil gold.
Climbing
Leeds led individually, thanks to Sam Butterworth and Isabella Edgington, but it was Sheffield who claimed the team crown, defending home turf in front of a roaring crowd.
Find more results here.
BUCS Big Wednesday 2025: Fierce, Fun Rivalries & Brilliant Sportsmanship
BUCS Big Wednesday 2025 lived up to every ounce of the hype — and then some. Held at Loughborough University on 18–19 March, this year’s ultimate showdown of student sport brought together the best university teams in the country for an epic display of passion, precision, and pure heart.
Across 16 league sports, 13 live-streamed finals, and two action-packed days, Student-Athletes gave it everything — and left us with the kind of moments that make university sport truly unforgettable.
With 13 sports streamed live, including netball, water polo, squash, wheelchair basketball, American football and more, this was officially the most-watched BUCS Big Wednesday ever.
Loughborough dazzled on home turf with victories in men’s football, basketball, and volleyball, while Nottingham made waves with wins in women’s hockey and fencing. Durham dominated women’s basketball with an 88–67 triumph over Essex, and Bournemouth delivered a commanding 90–62 win in the men’s basketball trophy.
The drama didn’t stop there—penalty shootouts and buzzer-beaters kept fans on edge, with Loughborough edging Nottingham Trent in the women’s hockey trophy final and holding their nerve to clinch the women’s football trophy against Edinburgh.
We’re looking forward to the next season already.
But if you can’t wait that long, the Powerlifting Championships & Para Powerlifting Championships are coming up soon in London from the 3rd April 2025, and Men & Women’s Outdoor Cricket Finals on the 4th July and 20th June respectively.
The Outdoor Athletics Championships in May in Manchester and the Short Course Swimming Team Championships in April are also not ones to miss!
If you’re more of a rowing fan, BUCS Regatta in May promises to be an exciting competition.
Viola Alishah
Footnotes:
https://www.bucs.org.uk/nationals.html
https://www.studentsportcompany.com/news/bucs-nationals-2025-the-results/