Higher education 'offers Olympic opportunities'

Those college leavers who opt for university education will find they are not only increasing their graduate job prospects, but also share common ground with this year's Olympic athletes, a report has stated.

Over half of the athletes competing in this year's Olympic games in Beijing are university graduates, a leading sporting body has claimed.

A poll conducted by the newly established British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) found that 178 out of the 313 athletes on the UK Olympic team attended university.

These statistics are higher than the previous Olympic games held in Athens in 2004, and outline the optimistic prospects for graduate careers .

Chief Executive of BUCS, Karen Rothery, said: "Our sights are now set on London 2012; we'll be looking at how we can help more athletes combine their sporting careers with their academic aspirations to achieve success on and off the field."

The BUCS was formed earlier this year from two separate societies and with 503 participating leagues is Europe's largest sporting scheme.