Homophobia is putting off students from participating in university sports, a report by the National Union of Students (NUS) has found. Only one third of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students play organised team sports at college or university, while 14.3 per cent of those surveyed said that experiences of homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia meant that they did not want to take part.

The figures suggest that the problems begin at school: over 40 per cent of those surveyed cited a negative experience prior to further education as a reason for not wanting to participate.

37.8 per cent of LGBT students who do play university team sports said that they were not open about their sexuality with teammates and coaches. One in five said that this was due to fears about receiving verbal or physical abuse. Nearly 13 per cent were concerned that they would be ostracised within the team, not get picked or be ejected.

The report reflects wider concerns about the visibility of LGBT people in sport, including in football where there are currently no openly gay professional players in Britain. In 2009, the Leagues Behind report by Stonewall revealed that 70 per cent of fans had heard homophobic abuse at matches and more than a quarter considered football to be an anti-gay sport. At the London Olympics earlier this year, only 23 athletes – less than one per cent of all competitors – were openly gay.

Commenting on the NUS report Charlie Bell, Chair of CUSU LGBT said: “LGBT people not participating in sport is perhaps seen as a bit of a stereotype, but this survey by the NUS seems to show some truth behind it.”

However he also pointed out that “there are plenty of LGBT people at Cambridge who are involved in sport at the very highest levels” and suggested that “as the report shows, homophobia in sport begins at school, and there must be people put off ever starting a sport for that reason.” As to whether Cambridge is as prone to homophobia in sporting culture as elsewhere in the country he commented: “I would hope that Cambridge is a bit more grown up than to continue that prejudice, but it's something we should be vigilant about and something we should maybe talk about a little more.”

The NUS’ Out in Sport campaign wants teams to be clear about having a zero-tolerance policy on homophobia. The report also recommends that universities offer more mixed-gender sports options, provide training for sports teams, societies and coaches, and promote LGBT role models.