The Inter Varsity Dance Competition (IVDC) is an annual student dancesport competition organised by Inter Varsity Dance Association (IVDA). The IVDA write rules regarding entries, dress code and which dances will be part of the competition.
All UK universities may send representatives provided they are a member of the IVDA, and students who study at universities that do not have teams may gain special consideration to dance for another university. Teams from all across the UK compete including teams from Wales (e.g. Cardiff), Scotland (e.g. Edinburgh) and England (e.g. London). 30 UK university teams took part in the 2026 IVDC.
Whilst dancesport in the UK has seen a decline that shows like Strictly Come Dancing have rectified, the Inter Varsity Dance Association (IVDA) has remained consistently popular and struggles to find a UK venue large enough for its annual competition. Since 2007 the competitions have been hosted at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The 2026 competition saw 592 couples compete, which is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, as the 2020 competition saw 678 couples compete.
As of 2026 the US has a similarly strong student scene, culminating in various tournament's across the country. Mainland Europe has the slightly smaller European Tournament for Dancing Students, which has been running in multiple countries since 1989, with participants attending from Great Britain on a smaller scale.
Competition and events IVDC is an annual event running since 1962 and hosted by different UK member universities and normally occurs in the last weekend in February or first weekend in March each year. There are individual competitions during the day in ballroom, Latin, salsa, rock'n'roll, offbeat and the Team Match.
For the Latin and Ballroom Events students are divided according to experience: Beginner, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. Ex Students are also able to compete in some competitions. In lower ranking competitions dress restrictions apply. Beginners are encouraged and there is the "Best Beginners Team Trophy" which presented to the university with the most successful beginners overall. Other individual returnable trophies available: The Timur Olegovich Gulinskiy Advanced modern Trophy (In memory of a Leeds Dancesport Student who died whilst studying in 2000) The Novice Modern Trophy The Intermediate Modern Trophy The Far’s Advanced Latin Trophy The Novice Latin Trophy The Intermediate Latin Trophy Ex-students ballroom trophy Ex-students Latin trophy The Dance Basics best Beginners’ Trophy (awarded to the Beginner couple finishing highest over all four Beginners’ events) The Choice of London Rock ‘n’ Roll Trophy The Edna Murphy Shield (presented to the most promising couple, as decided by the Chairman of Adjudicators) The Far’s Dance Best Newcomer Trophy (awarded to the couple who receive the highestmarks in the team match and who have never competed in an IVDC team match before)
The Offbeat Competition is a "Fun" team "freestyle" even - the university can enter a three-minute routine in any dance style. Interpretations vary from fun routines such as "The Full Monty" to serious high quality street dance routines. The Offbeat Winners Shield is presented to the winning team.
The most important event of the competition is the team match, which pits teams of up to 48 dancers from each member university against each other. These are split into teams of four couples (A, B, C, D, E, F) and each couple represents their University in one of Waltz, Cha Cha, Quickstep, and Jive. Progression is done as a team and scored across all four dances. This competition has undergone a drastic overhaul in recent years following innovations by Alistair Braden whilst at Bristol University. The team match is now a two-division system that ranks all universities entered, instead of the traditional team match. The following Team Trophies are awarded at IVDC: The EADA Overall IVDA Champions Trophy (presented to the university placed first in the overall rankings) The Choice IVDA Overall Runners-Up Trophy The Far’s Dance A-Team Winners Trophy The Choice IVDA A-Team Runners-Up Trophy The B-Team Winners Shield The IDTA B-TEam Runners-Up Trophy The C-Team Winners Shield The IDTA C-Team Runners-Up Trophy The D-Team Winners Trophy The IDTA D-Team Runners-Up Trophy The EADA IVDA Division 2 Winners Trophy The Choice IVDA Division 2 Runners-Up Trophy The IVDA Challenge Trophy (presented to the highest-placed university composed entirely of teams in division 2)
The trophies held in the highest regard are the EADA Overall trophy and the A-Team trophy.
History of results
Year A-Team Winners Overall Champions Ex-Student team match Advanced ballroom Advanced Latin Offbeat Location2026OxfordCambridgeBirminghamThomas Winter, Anna Duncan (Oxford)Vladimir Dementyev, Wing Yeung (Bristol)LiverpoolWinter Gardens, Blackpool2025OxfordCambridgeBirminghamThomas Winter, Anna Duncan (Oxford)Grant Connor, Anna Duncan (Oxford)BathWinter Gardens, Blackpool 2024 Oxford Cambridge Birmingham Shaoyang Yuan, Chongxuan Qi (Edinburgh) Peter Bath, Rosanna Shurvinton (Bristol) Durham Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2023 Imperial Imperial Imperial Yo-Der Song, Maria Volovaya (Imperial) Arthur Mui and Beth Gardiner (Birmingham) Bath Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2022 Imperial Cambridge Imperial Tom Winter, Anna Duncan (Oxford) Edoardo Chidichimo, Emily Gibbs (Cambridge) Durham Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2020 Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Victor Solecki, Iris Roatis (Imperial) Mathias Kirkegaard, Maria Pieridou (Bath) Leicester Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2019 Imperial Cambridge - Pawel Bzinkowski, Aleksandra Modrzejewska (Oxford) Matthew Cavuto, Mariya Pozdeyeva (Imperial) Warwick Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2018 Cambridge Cambridge - Mathias Kirkegaard, Claire Kilding (Bath) Nikita Fedorov, Katerina Tse (Durham) Warwick Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2017 Cambridge Cambridge - Mathew Stoneman, Yasmine Young (London) Tianci Ma, Adela Capilnasiu (Imperial) Nottingham Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2016 Cambridge Cambridge - Filip Bar, Yasmine Young (Cambridge) Roland Parandi, Jessica Quirke (Oxford) Nottingham Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2015 Cambridge Cambridge - James Lewis, Rebecca Murray (Nottingham) Kien Trinh, Kirsty Mary Davies (Cambridge) Cardiff Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2014 Cambridge Cambridge - Joe Johnson, Eva Johnson (Cambridge) Nathan Clark, Sarah Buckley (Bristol) Manchester Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2013 Oxford Oxford - Kyle Taylor, Polina Shklyaeva (Liverpool) Kyle Taylor, Polina Shklyaeva (Liverpool) Kent Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2012 Cambridge Cambridge - Kyle Taylor, Polina Shklyaeva (Liverpool) Kyle Taylor, Poline Shklyaeva (Liverpool) Liverpool Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2011 Oxford Oxford - Graham Dixon, Robyn Price (Nottingham) Arman Sahovic, Maria Naumchenko (Imperial) Birmingham Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2010 Oxford Oxford - Arman Sahovic, Maria Naumchenko (Imperial) Tudor Balan, Janet Gooi (Manchester) Imperial Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2009 Cambridge Cambridge - Arman Sahovic, Anne Marie Wirth (Imperial) Peter Kecskemethy, Reka Balogh (Oxford) Warwick Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2008 Cambridge Cambridge - Ryan Lamb, Katie Armstrong (Durham) Ivan Lubenko, Pippa Underwood (Oxford) Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2007 Cambridge Cambridge - Ryan Lamb, Katie Armstrong (Durham) Lev Kravchencko, Toni Isaacs (Bristol) Imperial Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2006 Cambridge Cambridge - Paul Fannon, Vesna Kadelburg (Cambridge) Alexander Hobbs, Samantha Jayatilaka (Imperial) Guildford Spectrum 2005 Bristol Oxford - Nick Faull, Ju Min Wong (Oxford) Arun Arumugam, Lisa Pesik (Bristol) Imperial Winter Gardens, Blackpool 2004 Oxford Oxford - Paul Fannon, Vesna Kadelburg (Cambridge) Nick Faull, Harriet Smith (Oxford) Sheffield Stoke-on-Trent 2003 Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff (3 way tie) Oxford - Paul Fannon, Vesna Kadelburg (Cambridge) Scott Bradley, Sarah Adams (Cambridge) Bristol Watford 2002 Oxford Oxford - Martin Bird, Shelley Bird (Reading) Igor Strukov, Rebecca Emmott (Sheffield) Sheffield Stoke-on-Trent 2001 Oxford Oxford - Martin Bird, Shelley Bird (Reading) Ellis Williams, Indika Gunaratne (Imperial) Cambridge Stoke-on-Trent 2000 Cambridge Oxford - Martin Bird, Shelley Bird(Reading) George Georghiou, Lucy Jones (Cambridge) London Guildford 1999 Imperial Imperial - S Richmond & J.Silmon-Clyde (Imperial) Essex Oxford (Oxford Brookes Sports Hall) 1998 London London - A Walker & S.E Long (Liv/York) Sheffield Manchester (Winsford) 1997 Imperial Imperial - A Walker & J Killup (Liv) Imperial London (Watford Colosseum) 1996 Imperial Imperial - Mark Birchenough, Shannah Long (Liv/York) Bath UEA 1995 Oxford - Mark Birchenough, Shannah Long (Liv/York) Imperial Hull 1994 Imperial - Mark Birchenough, Shannah Long (Liv/York) Nottingham Liverpool 1993 Imperial - P Latter & H Schafer (Cambridge) Imperial London (Grosvenor House Great Room) 1992 Imperial - MC Bath & G Rydill (Liv) Manchester Nottingham 1991 Imperial - MC Robinson & CA Turner (B'ham) Bath Birmingham 1990 Oxford - MC Robinson & CA Turner (Aston) Hull 1989 Cambridge - S Thompson & M Webber (Bristol) Southampton 1988 Leeds - Liverpool 1987 Cambridge - Bristol 1986 Cambridge - Leicester 1985 Imperial - Cambridge 1984 Oxford - Warwick 1983 Oxford - Lancaster 1982 Oxford - Southampton 1981 Lancaster - Oxford 1980 Oxford - Cambridge 1979 Cambridge - Lancaster 1978 Liverpool - Liverpool 1977 Liverpool - Imperial 1976 Liverpool - Exeter 1975 Liverpool - Newcastle 1974 Liverpool - Manchester Imperial - Lyceum Ballroom 1973 Leeds - Manchester 1972 Leeds - Liverpool 1971 Leeds - Leeds - Leeds Refectory 1970 Manchester - Bristol 1969 Cambridge - 1968 UCL - 1967 Liverpool - 1966 Liverpool - 1965 Leicester - 1964 Liverpool - 1963 Manchester -
See also Ballroom dance Competitive dance Dance basic topics
References
External links Inter Varsity Dance Association Constitution IVDA home page for more rules, dates and guidelines and to see which universities have representatives IDTA EADA European Students Dancesport Tournament Links to American Collegiate Dancesport