Sport at Stirling

Maybe it's the natural surroundings of the campus. Maybe it's the strong community feel or the number of professional sporting bodies based here. Great facilities, superb opportunities and a winning support network. Whatever the reason, Stirling has gained one of the best reputations for sport of any UK university and is Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence.

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We've attracted top sports teaching and research staff and offer one of the broadest ranges of sports studies programmes in the UK.

Our School of Sport teaches undergraduate honours degrees in Sports Studies as well as Sport and Exercise Science and Sports Studies, Professional Education and Physical Education - with the option for students to combine their degree with a choice from twenty other academic subjects.

• School of Sport
• Using the sports facilities

• Undergraduate course list
• Postgraduate course list

What's on offer?

Some outstanding facilities, among the best you'll find at any UK university. We've even been selected as a training camp for the 2012 London Olympics.

The Gannochy National Tennis Centre has six indoor courts, two outdoor all-weather floodlit courts and two outdoor clay courts. In 2006 it was extended and re-opened by local tennis ace Andy Murray.

The National Swimming Academy houses a 50m, six-lane pool, land conditioning room and seminar suite.

The state-of-the-art MP Jackson Fitness Centre has over 65 pieces of cardiovascular and resistance equipment and an extensive free weights area.

You can also enjoy:

• An eight-court sports hall and three squash courts
• Air-conditioned aerobics and dance studio
• A football centre
• A 400m all-weather running track
• Two artificial pitches and seven grass pitches
• A nine-hole, par-three golf course, putting green, driving ranges, pavilion and video analysis suite

The loch at the centre of campus is a great venue for canoeing and fishing. And beyond the campus, Scotland's spectacular scenery offers endless outdoor activities.

There is a range of fitness, health and wellbeing classes and sports centre memberships on offer to students, staff and the local community.

Find out more

What can I do?

As well as enjoying the facilities listed above, a great way to get involved is through our clubs and societies. There are over 40 of these run by the Sports Union, covering individual and team sports.

When it comes to competing with other universities in Britain and abroad, these clubs have an excellent track record. Stirling students are regular winners at golf, tennis, swimming, football, rugby, netball and hockey.

To help with this, we run a Club Performance Programme. This is organised by the School of Sport in partnership with the Sports Union. It helps improve the success of our teams in national and international competitions, and increase the number of students gaining representative honours. Several core sports benefit from its methods, which include coaching, sports science and sports medicine.

Can you help me compete at high levels?

Absolutely – we excel at this.

For students competing at national level or above, we operate an International Sports Scholarship Programme for both UK and overseas students. This includes financial help and top-level coaching. It also enables you to extend your degree to allow for times when it's crucial to concentrate on a competition.

It's got a great track record too. Recently, we've helped produce:

• Over 100 junior and senior internationalists
• 14 athletes for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Six Olympians at the 2008 games
• Medal winners at European and World Championships
• More than 50 British Universities representatives in the past three years
• The winner of the 2006 US Amateur Golf Championship (plus we helped nine golfers gain professional tour status)
• A team winner of the 2008 Eisenhower Trophy, the world amateur golf championship

Scholarships are awarded in five sports: football, golf, swimming, tennis and triathlon.

• Scholarship programme