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We’re proud to be the UK’s number 1 team sport university and that over 75% of our students take part in sport or physical activity.

So we’re pleased to be supporting a new campaign showing how universities are creating healthier and more active places, bringing communities together and supporting health and wellbeing as the UK recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Performance and leadership, Participation, Community Partnership

We’ve been the UK’s top team sport university every year since 2013 as ranked by BUCS, the national governing body of university sport, and we support over 50 capped international athletes every year.

We also co-ordinate one of the UK’s largest participation programmes, with over 75% of our students taking part in sport and physical activity. Whatever your level of interest and ability, there’s a place for you at Durham.

And we believe in sharing our facilities and expertise with our local communities. We’re recently invested £31 million in our Sports and Wellbeing Park and over 2,700 community members use our facilities each week. Among them is the Durham Mums on the Run group, where new and expectant mothers can improve their running, make friends and keep fit.

World-changing research, supporting one another

Our ground-breaking research is also providing new insights into sport and wellbeing: from how social media use affects mental health and the impact of ultra-thin dolls on girls’ body image, to the long-term effects of sporting injuries. Even whether England men’s football team should have played in red, not white, in the Euro 2020 final.  

And our athletes do great work for good causes, raising tens of thousands of pounds every year for charity. We’re very proud that our rugby team won this year’s Rugby Football Union Core Values Award, in recognition of their community work.

Durham: your home for sport

Interested in sport at Durham? Find out more.

Find out more