British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) has appointed a new team of sport development professionals to drive its strategy for participation and community partnerships.

The four-strong team, funded by Sport England, has been created to support higher education improve sporting opportunities for students, making a contribution towards the Sport England target of 300,000 additional participants doing more sport in higher education and further education.

Using the findings of a recent audit of higher education sport in England, the team will work with universities, national governing bodies of sport, clubs and community groups to develop higher levels of participation; ultimately improving the student sporting experience on and off campus.

Jon Brookstein, Head of Sport Development at BUCS said: "This is a very exciting time to be working in the development of higher education sport.

"As a new team our key aim will be to increase and sustain students' participation in sport. With diverse opportunities readily available across England's higher education institutions, the university sector is the ideal place to offer students new and exciting ways to become active.

"Universities also make a significant contribution to their communities and therefore should be seen as key stakeholders in local sport delivery. The recent higher education audit, conducted by Sport England, found that three-quarters of universities already offer coaching programmes to their students and nearly all of these place students in their communities to deliver sporting opportunities*.

"Through sport and the volunteering opportunities it offers, universities are developing the transferable skills of students today to become the leaders of tomorrow."

* The Higher Education and Community Sport Audit, conducted by Sport England in September 2009 in partnership with English universities is available from www.bucs.org.uk/sportdevelopment