University Ultimate
Ultimate is a strong, well represented sport at University level with over 80 institutions taking part each year in a programme that offers competition in the Mixed, Women's and Open divisions, and caters for beginners and experienced players alike. A typical season will see around 20 tournaments, both indoors and outdoors, on a regional and national basis.
Ultimate is an official sport of British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS). League competitions in both the Men’s and Women’s divisions (outdoors), and National Championships (indoors and outdoors), are all part of the BUCS Programme of sports.
We also run indoor and outdoor National Championships in the Mixed division.
Start playing Ultimate at your University
Unsure how to get started? Find out if your University has a club by using our Club Finder map or talking to your Student or Athletic Union. If there isn’t a club at your uni, get in touch to see if we can help you get started.
For news and announcements join the regional University Facebook pages.
If you’d like to speak to someone about University Ultimate contact the UKU University Committee
University Ultimate Competition Structure
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Mixed Indoors
UXIR -> UXIN
Mixed Indoor Regionals (UXIR) usually take place at the end of October / early November. Typically we see over 100 teams competing across 7 regions.
Div 1 (20 teams) and Div 2 (16 teams) Nationals usually take place in Jan/Feb (UXIN).
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Men's Indoors
UMIR -> UMIN
Men’s Indoor Regionals (UMIR) usually take place in November. Typically we see over 100 teams competing across 7 regions.
Div 1 (20 teams) and Div 2 (16 teams) Nationals usually take place in Jan/Feb alongside the Women’s division finals (UMWIN).
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Women's Indoors
UWIR -> UWIN
Women’s Indoor Regionals (UWIR) usually take place in late November. Typically we see over 70 teams competing across 4 regions. As the division continues to grow the regions will split up to match the other divisions.
Div 1 (20 teams) and Div 2 (16 teams) Nationals usually take place in Jan/Feb alongside the Men’s division finals (UMWIN).
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BUCS League - Women's
Women’s outdoor Ultimate is also played as BUCS league, with fixtures currently being played across two “central venue” fixtures in November and February.
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BUCS League - Men's
Men’s outdoor ultimate is played as a BUCS League with games played on Wednesday afternoons between November and March.
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University Men's & Women's Outdoor Nationals
Teams qualify to Outdoor Nationals (UMWON) based on the results in their BUCS League. Nationals, held in April at Nottingham University, is where the top teams from each of the regional leagues battle it out to be University National Champions. But the overall event is much bigger than that, with multiple divisions, featuring approximately 80 teams in total.
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University Mixed Outdoor Nationals
Mixed Outdoors is open to all university teams, and will take place in June 2022 with camping on site at the venue. It’s an opportunity to celebrate a great year of Ultimate and compete to be Mixed Outdoor National Champions. This event is generally run using a Swiss-Draw approach, with teams playing 6 games across the weekend.
BUCS: League to National Championship Qualification Process
Qualification to University Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Nationals (UMWON) is based on the results of the BUCS League’s throughout the year. Both the Men’s and Women’s Nationals have Championship (Division 1) and Trophy (Division 2) competitions. In addition the Men’s division has a Shield competition (Division 3).
Women’s
Women’s National Championship (16 teams) :
The top three teams from each of the Tier 1 leagues qualify (if they are a first team).
Additionally the best performing 4th placed team from 5 leagues qualifies (if they are a first team).
Women’s National Trophy (team numbers vary up to max 24, depending on entries) :
All other Tier 1 & Tier 2 teams (not in Championship) go into Trophy.
Men’s
Men’s National Championship (16 teams):
The top three teams from each of the Tier 1 leagues qualify (if they are a first team).
Additionally the best performing 4th placed team from 5 leagues qualifies (if they are a first team).
Men’s National Trophy (14 teams):
All other Tier 1 league teams qualify for the Trophy.
Men’s National Shield (10 teams):
Tier 2 teams currently compete in a Men's Shield ‘qualifier’. There are 2 qualifiers in each region. Winners of each qualifier will progress to ‘Nationals Shield’.
UKU Tournament & Eligibility Rules and BUCS
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Full UKU Tournament Rules (and the Event Specific Appendix for University Ultimate) can be accessed below.
These include information about:
Membership & Eligibility
Entering Events
Rosters
Squad Sizes
Tie Breakers for Pools
Kit
UKU University Regions
BUCS Events
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The UKU University regulations were drawn up inline with the eligibility rules of the British Universities and College Sports (BUCS).
The following changes to the Ultimate sport-specific BUCS regulations were accepted in 2019-20.
In summary:
The UK Ultimate Transgender Policy will be followed for all competitions - indoors and outdoors.
Female players can play in the Open/Men’s division, subject to having to choose between Men’s & Women’s. This is intended for women who don’t have the opportunity to play competitively in the Women’s division.
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If you have questions about eligibility please take a look at these FAQs. If you don’t find an answer to your question please get in touch with your regional coordinator on the University Committee.
Answers include information on:
Postgrad students
Part time students
Student membership requirements
How do I enter events?
To enter BUCS events speak to your AU.
Club admins can enter UKU events via their membership profile.
Coaching Ultimate.
Do you want to upskill your committee? Do you want to feel more confident teaching beginners? Maybe you want to employ a coach?
Take a look at our Coach pages for more information.
The UKU Level 1 coaching qualification is perfect for new University captains, coaches and committee members.