St Mary’s Ranked Amongst the Top Universities for Sport

St Mary’s University, Twickenham has once again been named as one of the UK’s top institutions for sports in a student survey led by Which? University. The annual survey asked more than 12,500 undergraduate students their views on the top-rated universities for sports, local nightlife, creative and political scenes, and a variety of student union activities. In no particular order, St Mary’s was ranked amongst the universities that ensure extra-curricular sports activities are a large part of university life with a wide range of organised sports teams, clubs and facilities open to all levels. This is the second consecutive year that the University has made the list. Jenni Allen, Which? University spokesperson, said, “With tuition fees now averaging nearly £9,000 a year, it’s important that prospective students do their homework, find out everything they need to know about different universities, and weigh up all the options before deciding where they want to study.” The state-of-the-art facilities at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill and Teddington Lock campuses are used by the many student and community sport teams, and host the annual West London Varsity competition against Brunel. The newly launched SIMMSActive initiative has also enabled more opportunities for students to get involved in sports and activities on campus. With a new £8.5 million sports centre, and the newly unveiled Performance Education Centre, St Mary’s has great links to local, national and international sports. The University hosted 10 international teams during the London 2012 Olympic Games and is a regular training ground for many international Rugby teams. Our alumni, such as Mo Farah, Andrew Osagie and Ross Murray, also use the facilities on a regular basis. Andrew Reid-Smith, Director for Sport at St Mary’s, said, “Sport is a significant part of the student experience at St Mary’s. In addition to the raft of excellent PE and sport related degrees, our students use the University’s outstanding sports facilities and have the opportunity to get involved in and compete at the very highest level of sport. The students are incredibly enthusiastic, their achievements in sport are notable and it benefits their health and wellbeing alongside supporting their wider development – this is something we are rightly proud of.”