Project Description

Welcome to the British Student Taekwondo Federation!

This guide explains the different types of membership passes the charity offers, lists entry fees and pass discounts, and answers some frequently asked questions.

Join the largest student martial arts organisation in the UK – working exclusively to promote and enhance university taekwondo, the British Student Taekwondo Federation (BSTF) is a national student sport federation and registered charity.

A member focused charity – founded in 1986, we are governed by an elected board of trustees and project a national student voice for more than 70 active university taekwondo clubs of all disciplines (and welcome individual practitioners from institutions without taekwondo clubs as well!)

We deliver the biggest and best events – gain access to university taekwondo events, including: the BUCS Taekwondo Championships Series, Training Seminars, S&C for Taekwondo Courses, Umpire Training Modules, Support Services, Equipment Hire, EUSA European University Championships Qualification & Team Management, and more.

Delivered in partnership with BUCS – join over 100,000 other student-athletes as part of the British Universities and Colleges Sport event programme, win BUCS points for your institution, become a BUCS National Champion and qualify for the EUSA European Universities Championships and European Universities Games!

All clubs, all disciplines, all grades, all divisions – take part in the multi-discipline BUCS Taekwondo Championships Series, the UK’s largest university martial arts events, in your chosen discipline(s): ITF rules sparring, WT rules sparring, Chang-Hon patterns, Kukkiwon patterns and Freestyle patterns.

Professional events at student rates – current Student-athlete Pass holders get major discounts on open training camps, online training courses and other events where indicated.

Free umpire courses for university club members – students and alumni understand the value of sharing knowledge and upskilling their teams; we fully subsidise L4 online courses and exams, and L3 centre referee courses and certification. All trainee umpire courses and materials are provided for free by the BSTF to all university club member account holders, students and alumni (saving a combined cost of >£100).

Professional partnerships – the BSTF works closely with several partner organisations to deliver more for our members, including: British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), Sport and Recreation Alliance (SRA), GB Taekwondo (GBT), British Taekwondo (BT), United Kingdom Global Taekwon-Do (UKGT), and Ki Martial Arts Ltd (KiCo).

Advocacy and advice for all university clubs and committees – we provide advice and advocacy for all university taekwondo clubs and their members, publish various online resources for club committees, and recognise high performing club committees through the annual Club of the Year Award.

Online platforms and scalable technologies – our website is packed competition information and features for members, including: online event registration and payment portals, umpire registration portals, team sheets for institution administrators and club captains, member only areas including competition results and current BUCS standings, the events calendar, online account management, on demand online umpire exams, members’ only equipment shop, and much more.

All event participants are covered by our bespoke insurance – no third party policies are required, all BSTF account holders are covered under the charity’s bespoke martial arts member to member and public liability insurance when attending BSTF tournaments and other events, ensuring every university taekwondo practitioner from every institution may safely compete with one another.

Our online shop lets you buy at wholesale prices – save huge amounts on taekwondo training equipment and uniforms, available exclusively to our account holders, thanks to our online shop partnership you have the option to buy your club’s taekwondo uniforms and equipment at wholesale prices.

Most common Pass type options:

  • For Student Competitors: Student-athlete Pass
  • For L3, L4 Trainee Umpires (also competing): Student-athlete Pass
  • For L3, L4 Trainee Umpires (only officiating): General Pass
  • For Assistant Coaches (also competing): Student-athlete Pass
  • For Assistant Coaches (only coaching): General Pass
  • For Spectators/ Non-participants: Affiliate Pass

Other Pass types:

  • For alumni-athlete guest entries (see eligibility rules): Alumni-athlete Pass
  • For the club’s Head Coach: Head-coach Pass
  • For L2, L1 Umpires: Master Pass (Umpire)
  • For Institution Administrators: Staff Pass

For all participants: All new student-athletes, coaches, corner judges and other volunteers planning to participate in BSTF BUCS events must first register an account if they do not already hold one, selecting the required pass type. Existing student-athlete account holders must login to the manage your account page and update their account’s pass type to the correct type; student-athletes must select a Student-athlete Pass of the correct level (an A, B or C class pass based on grade) for the new academic year.

Student-athlete eligibility: Student-athletes competitors entering BUCS Taekwondo Championships Series events must meet current BUCS eligibility criteria on the date of the event i.e., be current students internally registered at an institution of Higher or Further Education, be registered on a credit rated course (e.g. MSc, Degree or HND), and be undertaking a study programme equivalent to at least 60 credits per year, or in the case of a postgraduate student be undertaking a study programme of no less than 50% of the full time student programme. All competitors must be members of their university’s students’ union and be in good standing with them. All competitors must be aged 18 or over.

Student-athlete mid season class changes: When a student-athlete completes a grading and changes class they must login to the manage your account page and upgrade their pass (C->B or B->A), using the “upgrade” button on the Account tab, completing this before submitting their next event entry (note, you are only charged the difference in price between levels when upgrading).

Alumni-athlete eligibility: Guest athletes must hold a BSTF Alumni-athlete Pass. Alumni-athlete Pass holders must have previously held a BSTF Student-athlete Pass, must have graduated on or after May 2019, must be an A-class competitor and must be a current registered member of a university club. Guest athletes must create a Guest profile on BUCS Play (select Guest as your institution) and submit their entry via BUCS Play according to the same entry deadlines. Guest entries may be required to pay for the BUCS Play entries directly to BUCS in advance of the events entered. Guest entries will only be accepted if we have not reached the entry cap through student-athlete entries.

For Club Committees: Incoming Club Committee members please activate/ request the login details for your BSTF Club Committee account; from this special account you can access many crucial event registration systems. If you are an individual student-athlete from an institution currently without a taekwondo club please contact us for assistance.

Other rules & regulations: See the BUCS entry information page for more details.

One day events 2023-24

BUCS Taekwondo Championships Fees 2023-24

One day events (Autumn, Winter Championship)

Fee

Sparring (individual)

£33.74

Patterns (individual)

£27.74

Patterns (pairs)

£14.99

Patterns (teams)

£9.99

Self-defence Routine (teams)

New discipline for 2023-24, demonstration event,
non-BUCS event, has a different registration method

£9.99

Fees per student-athlete, per event; see entry rules page for full details

.

Two day events 2023-24.

BUCS Taekwondo Championships Fees 2023-24

Two day events (Spring Championships)

Fee

Sparring (individual)

£41.49

Patterns (individual)

£33.24

Patterns (pairs)

£17.99

Patterns (teams)

£11.99

Self-defence Routine (teams)

New discipline for 2023-24, demonstration event,
non-BUCS event, has a different registration method

£11.99

Fees per student-athlete, per event; two day events may have expanded numbers of qualifiers from pattern group to final stages and/or types of sparring double elimination brackets may be used; all competition bracket formats are subject to change based on event capacities.

Annual pass type

Fee

Student-athlete Class-A

A-class competitors

£29.99 /yr

Student-athlete Class-B

B-class competitors

£22.49 /yr

Student-athlete Class-C

C-class competitors

£14.99 /yr

General

Assistant coach/
L4, L3 trainee umpires

£1.99 /3 yrs

£0.67 /yr

Head-coach

1 per club only

£1.99 /3 yrs

£0.67 /yr

Master (Umpire)

L2, L1 referees/ judges only

£1.99 /3 yrs

£0.67 /yr

Staff

Institution administrators only

£0

Free

Club Committee

1 per club only

£0

Free

Affiliate

Spectators/ non-participants

£0

Free

Alumni-athlete Class-A

Guest athlete, see eligibility rules

£34.99 /yr

Passes are valid for the whole academic year in which they were registered, from the 1st of October to the following 30th of September, inclusive. Student-athletes must obtain a membership pass which matches their level of competition entry (A, B or C-class). When a student-athlete completes a grading and changes class they must login and upgrade their pass (C->B or B->A), using the “upgrade” button on the Account tab, completing this before submitting their next event entry (note, you are only charged the difference in price between the levels when upgrading).

Event

Paid Pass holders

Non-members & Affiliates

BUCS Championships Series

Our principle events since 1986

See BUCS Fees Webpage

.

n/a

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Open Training Camps

Half day training camps

£16

50% discount

£32

.

Sport Science of Taekwondo Module 1 & 2

Online streaming + live Q&A ~3.5 hr

£25

50% discount

£50

.

Sport Science of Taekwondo Module 1 & 2 + practical S&C module 3

Classroom & gym based ~10am – 5pm

£47.50

50% discount

£95

.

Strength & Conditioning Athlete Programmes

Programmes for clubs and/or individual athletes, designed and coached by a GB Taekwondo S&C Coach

From £55

20% discount

From £68.75

/session (/term programs available)

Equipment hire

A range of competition equipment is available to hire, for example, for varsity events

See BSTF Hire Webpage

33% discount*

See BSTF Hire Webpage

.

BSTF Online Shop

Purchase equipment at wholesale prices

See BSTF Shop Webpage

~25% discount on retail prices on average

Not available

.

Umpire Course (L4)

Online modules + Online exam

£0

100% discount, free

£45

Includes 1x exam

Umpire Course 1-day (L3)

In person course ~10am – 6pm

£0

100% discount, free

£65

Required before training for L2 cert. 

Passes are valid for the whole academic year in which they were registered, from the 1st of October to the following 30th of September, inclusive. Membership Perks only apply to paid Pass levels, see the Annual Membership Pass Types tab for more details. *Terms and conditions apply – contact us for more information.

We understand the cost of living challenges facing our student members this year. We will be upfront with you about some price rises this year, why this is required, and what we are doing to both keep costs down and enhance the value of your membership and competition experience. As a charity we reinvest every penny of revenue into the delivery of events and services, but we think it’s useful to explain exactly what our cost pressures are and what action we are taking to help keep costs low for you.

  • Developing this year’s annual budget, the charity’s board needed to balance keeping costs as low as practicable for student-athletes, continuing a sensible level of development and investment in our primary tournaments & operations, and meeting rising costs of venues, suppliers and commodities due to inflation.

  • In 2023-24 BSTF will be raising fees by 20.8% when compared with 2018’s competition series fees (on average, the amount varies by pass type and by discipline)

  • Our plan for any future fee increases is for smaller changes made every 1-2 years

  • For several reasons, most prominently a decision to support university clubs’ recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, the charity has not raised baseline membership fees (0%) or entry fees (0%) at all over 2018-2023.

  • In contrast, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that ‘average’ costs due to inflation, comparing  2018 up to August 2023, have risen by 24%

  • The CPI is calculated on various products and services (including a loaf of bread, a bus ticket, a car, a holiday etc.,) and underestimates the cost increases for sports organisations

  • BUCS have also increased the fees they charge us from 12.5% up to 15% of all entry fees collected, in order to cover their own administration and BUCS Play maintenance costs

  • Between 2018-23 BSTF had fixed fees while costs gradually increased each year for things like: venue hire, member insurance, medical staffing, umpire teams, equipment hire, transportation, medals, catering and consumables, as well as back office costs like software licences. In the last 18 months inflationary pressure has been much more rapid.

  • The scale of BSTF’s delivery costs are significant because of the sheer size of our events, for example, we require larger than standard hall sizes; our equipment provision is substantial, for example events requiring 860 jigsaw mats; while the cost for insurance plus medical provision for the Taekwondo Championships Series approaches £10,000 /yr – no compromise would ever be made by BSTF on event safety expenditure

  • We have spent scores of hours balancing our budget carefully to minimise fee increases as much as possible

  • If a student-athlete only competes 3 times per year then we will ensure those 3 events are the very best: safe, well organised, well respected, BUCS point awarding events. You will never see a medal that looks like it came from a cereal packet at our events.

  • The BSTF’s board continues to grow in scale and scope the BSTF BUCS Taekwondo Championships Series, committed to maintaining our role delivering the UK’s premier, most popular and most competitive university combat sport and martial art events

The following updates have been implemented to help reduce costs for members and clubs, support access to our events for those students facing acute financial difficulties, and, rather than take the easy route of downsizing the events, to increase the value of your BSTF membership and keep enhancing the events.

  • We have implemented a new means tested Access Fund which provides free BSTF membership for student-athletes facing the most acute financial challenges

  • Rather than downsizing because of inflation, we have opted to increase the value of BSTF memberships. Our club members continue to benefit from substantial savings on training equipment by purchasing through the BSTF online shop. In addition, we are introducing several new membership benefits, including: students and clubs will able to access discounted S&C programming services from a GB Taekwondo S&C coach; we are rolling out several new online tools for athletes, captains and administrators; we are introducing a huge new library of umpire training modules and free umpire training courses (worth £110 and free to members); a range of new equipment hire options will be available to clubs; and more.

  • Our 2023-24 programme includes two, lower fee level, single elimination bracket championships in Autumn and Winter, followed by our largest ever event, we currently plan a full double elimination Spring Championships Finals, providing the best of both worlds for fee level and competition scale

  • We have rebalanced the membership fees for A-class, B-class and C-class; where a C-class membership used to have a 67% discount this is now a 50% discounted rate, which maintains our objective to helps the cost of entry for the newest members, but is a less dramatic difference and spreads the costs more evenly

  • You continue to pay only the difference in membership fee level if and when you upgrade your pass type mid-term

  • Club captains and Institution administrators are still able to bulk purchase passes, upgrading as many free Affiliate Pass levels to General/ Student-athlete Pass types as you want to seamlessly via the Club Committee Portal or Institution Administrator Portal

  • The change of category fee has been reduced from £30 to £20. Raising this fee for 2022-23 had only a small impact on reducing weight changes. This is outweighed (no pun intended) by our objective to reduce unplanned costs to clubs. A deterrent fee remains necessary because of the huge number of entries our events attract, where any rise in on-the-day weight changes can introduce event delays which ultimately raises entry fees (e.g., to fund increased medical staff hours). As we reduce this fee we kindly ask club captains to support us by tracking their athlete’s weight more frequently in the run up to entering competitions.

  • The absent L4 trainee umpire fine has been reduced from £75 to £45 to reduce unplanned costs

  • The absent L3 trainee umpire fine will be maintained at £75 as the unplanned absence of individuals from this smaller, but more highly trained cohort, is far more difficult to mitigate

  • Expenditures like competition insurance costs for head-coaches, assistant coaches, umpires and trainee umpires are no longer funded from student-athletes’ membership fees. Instead, these members will now pay £1.99 for a 3-year General/ Umpire/ Head-coach membership pass (67p /yr). This is revenue neutral overall, providing a saving for student-athletes pass holders with smaller fee increases than otherwise needed.

  • A new accreditation system has been developed, both improving the system and providing savings that have been passed on to participants with smaller fee increases than would otherwise be needed

  • New equipment has been purchased, lowering the event hire costs, providing savings that have been passed on to participants with smaller fee increases than otherwise needed

  • BSTF have been successful in finding savings where possible, including efficiency savings and negotiating price reductions

  • BSTF entry fees remain competitive with our professional organisation peers and partners, for example, a British Taekwondo single elimination sparring entry this year costs £59 VS £33.74 for a similar BSTF entry, and a British Taekwondo single elimination patterns entry this year costs £50 (or £45 for Kup grades) VS 27.74 for a similar BSTF entry

  • Our aims are to keep fee rises to a minimum, to minimise the impact of the changes through the measures above, and to be clear and honest with you about the necessity for these changes

How do I enter a BUCS Taekwondo Championships Series event?

To apply for the competition all eligible participants must follow these steps:

  1. Athletes, head-coaches, assistant coaches and trainee umpires must first register/ renew their membership pass on the BSTF website and record their BSTF ID code*.
    1. Competitors must obtain an Athlete Pass membership which matches their class level i.e., grade level for competition entry (A, B or C-class)
    2. Head-coaches must hold a Head-coach Pass type
    3. Assistant coaches (who are not current Athlete Pass holders) and trainee umpire quota entrants (who are not current Athlete Pass holders) must hold a General Pass type (and not an Affiliate Pass type)
  2. Coaches, assistant coaches and trainee umpire quota entrants must enter themselves via the BSTF registration form
    1. The number of qualified trainee umpires who register themselves on behalf of your team must meet the quota detailed in the entry information
    2. If a participant is entering an event in more than one role, for example as a competitor and an assistant coach, they must register on both BUCS Play (for their competition discipline(s) entry) and the BSTF registration form (for their assistant coach role entry)
  3. Competitors apply to the event on BUCS Play (instructions on how to do this can be found here) inputting their BSTF ID code where indicated during registration*
  4. Institution administrator approves BUCS Play entries
  5. BUCS approves/denies entry into competition and publishes confirmed entry list

*Your BSTF ID code can be found by logging in to manage your account (new accounts are typically reviewed and activated within 5 working days). Please apply for your annual membership as early as possible.

The number of qualified trainee umpires submitted must meet the quota detailed in the Entry Information.

Any data will be handled in accordance with BUCS Privacy Policy

By participating in this event, you agree to adhere to BUCS General Event Disclaimer.

To check whether you are eligible to compete in BUCS competitions, please visit REG 4 Individual Eligibility

How do I complete pre-accreditation?

Prior to an event’s entry closing date you must have completed the following Pre-accreditation steps (you will only need to complete these steps for your first event entry, since no further action is required except when you need to replace a form of ID that has expired/ update records):

  • Log in to the Manage Your Account page and upload a passport style profile picture in the Profile Tab (required for all participants, including: Student-athletes, Umpires, Trainee Umpires, Head coaches and assistant coaches)
  • Log in to the Manage Your Account page and upload valid photo ID in the CompetitionPreAccreditation Tab (required for all participants, including: Student-athletes, Umpires, Trainee Umpires, Head coaches and assistant coaches)
  • Log in to the Manage Your Account page and upload a copy of your student ID card in the CompetitionPreAccreditation Tab (required for Student-athlete competitors only)
  • Log in to the Manage Your Account page and update your referee/ judge certification in the UmpireExternalCertifications Tab (required for Umpires L2+ with external certification only)

When student-athletes register for competitions via the BUCS Play website, do they need to pay for their entries individually?

No, entry payments are made collectively by each team/ institution, unless otherwise indicated. Once the institution administrator has approved your team members’ entries and the confirmed entry list has been published by BUCS an invoice will be issued by BUCS to your union/ sports department for payment. Individual student-athletes will not be asked to pay for their entries during the BUCS Play event registration process.

Do I need a General Pass or a Student-athlete Pass to take part in BUCS Championships?

All BUCS Championships competitors must have a Student-athlete Pass and this must be of the correct grade class; either a Student-athlete: (Class-C), (Class-B) or (Class-A) Pass to enter the C, B or A class divisions respectively. Student-athletes you must update your account level as soon as you grade to a higher class division. Your entry grade (i.e., class division) is determined by your membership pass level at the time of entry and cannot be amended in any other way. Please login and upgrade your pass (C->B or B->A), using the “upgrade” button on the Account tab, completing this before submitting your next event entry.

Trainee umpires and assistant coaches require a (paid) General Pass or (paid) Student-athlete Pass.

When should I create my BSTF account (or for existing account holders update your pass type)?

As soon as possible. All student-athletes, coaches and volunteers must complete a Pass Registration to receive their unique BSTF ID code. Your ID code is required for all student taekwondo event entries, including BUCS Taekwondo Championships entry.

How long do membership passes last?

Passes are valid for the whole academic year in which they are registered, from the 1st of October to the following 30th of September, inclusive.

Where may I find my BSTF ID code?

Simply log-in and select the Account tab. Pass registrations must be approved by an BSTF administrator before an ID code is generated and so will take some time to populate (typically 5 working days) after registering your details. Captains, please ensure that all of your student-athletes, coaches and volunteers are registered well in advance of an event entry to ensure their ID codes are available.

If I register for a (free) Affiliate Pass can I upgrade it to a (paid) Student-athlete Pass later?

Yes, simply log-in to the Manage Your Account page and you may upgrade anytime; go to the Account Tab then scroll down to the “Renew, Upgrade or Update Billing” button.

I am an Institution Administrator or Club Committee member – is it possible to review a list of my team’s ID codes to refer to when making BUCS Play entries?

Yes, Institution Administrators and Club Committee members only can review their team’s registered members and ID codes anytime, simply log-in to your account and select the Team tab. Only special Club Committee accounts and activated Institution Administrator accounts have access to the registered team members list. Please contact us if you wish to to request authorisation for an existing account.

How do I enter training camps, umpire courses and other (non-competition) events?

Via BSTF Event Entry Portal, including online tournaments, individual training camps, S&C courses, corner judges courses, and other individual events. To enter an event simply complete your individual/ team registration before the event’s entry deadline via the online Event Entry Portal. If the event appears on the website’s main calendar but is not yet listed the event registration portal then registration is not yet open for that event – please check back later 🙂

I am an Institution Administrator or Club Captain, may I upgrade multiple (free) Affiliate Passes to (paid) Student-athlete Passes all at once for my team members (bulk Student-athlete Pass purchase)?

Yes, registered Institution Administrators and Club Captains can upgrade all of their team members’ accounts from (free) Affiliate Pass accounts to (paid) General Pass and (paid) Student-athlete Pass accounts in a few clicks. Go to the the Institution Administrator Portal or Club Committee Portal respectively and input the BSTF ID codes of the accounts you wish to upgrade (each student-athlete must have an existing (free) Affiliate Pass in order to upgrade).

If I register for a Student-athlete C-class pass may I upgrade it to an Student-athlete B-class Pass later in the year?

Yes, simply log-in to the Manage Your Account page and you may upgrade anytime; go to the Account Tab then scroll down to the “Renew, Upgrade or Update Billing” button. Student-athletes you must update your account level as soon as you grade to a higher class division. Your entry grade (i.e., class division) is determined by your membership pass level at the time of entry and cannot be amended in any other way. Please login and upgrade your pass (C->B or B->A), using the “upgrade” button on the Account tab, completing this before submitting your next event entry.

I am an Umpire (a national and international L2 / L1 umpires (referees &/or pattern judge), what type of account should I create?

Please go to the Register Your Account page and select Master Pass (Umpire). Once your account has been approved by a BSTF admin (typically 5 working days) please visit the Umpire’s Portal to review the event registration page and other tools available to you.

I am an Institution Administrator managing BUCS entries or EUSA entries, what type of account should I create?

Please go to the Register Your Account page and select Staff Pass (University Staff). Once your account has been approved by a BSTF admin (typically within 5 working days) please visit the Institution Administrator Portal to review the team members tab and other tools available to you.

I am a my institution’s head-coach, what type of account should I create?

Please go to the Register Your Account page and select Staff Pass (Contracted head-coach).

May I edit my own account details once I have registered without having to send emails via my team captain or university staff?

Yes, simply log-in to your account and edit your details directly.

How may I end my membership, close my account, and have my personal data, results, rankings and certificates expunged?

See the close account guide.

Find this menu by logging in to Manage Your Account.

How may I stop receiving occasional BSTF newsletters via MailChimp?

Simply click “Unsubscribe” at the bottom of a newsletter email. Please note newsletters and account holder emails operate on separate systems – you can close your membership account and still receive newsletters, or unsubscribe from newsletters while keeping a membership account open, which itself receives standard account holder emails. To receive no communications from us at all you must  unsubscribe from the newsletter as above, and also end your membership and close your account via the membership management “Delete” tab.

What are BSTF’s membership terms and conditions?

Please see the legal notices page.

What are BSTF’s transgender athlete policies?

Please see the legal notices page.

I have a different question!

Please contact us and we’ll be happy to help 🙂