Approximately 25,000 students from 400 colleges nationwide took part in the eight regional championships in order to qualify for the nationals.

The winning teams and individual players then went on to the home of sporting excellence, Loughborough University, where over three days, they competed against the best 16-19 year olds in the country.

Nineteen students from Chichester College, including two sports therapy students, secured their places in the championships.

The party comprised ladies' volleyball, badminton men's doubles and singles, ladies' and men's golf and squash players.

Medals were awarded to the men's golf team, consisting of Tom Robson and Mark Sawford, who also secured silver and bronze as the best golfers in the competition.

Suzanne Taylor brought home a bronze in the ladies' golf as part of the south-east team despite hail and a bitter wind – not the best conditions to be playing in at such a level.

Men's singles badminton player Ben Tier, already ranked in the England squad, played against three other ranked England and Wales players from other colleges and managed his best ever performance, taking gold.

The men's doubles badminton pair, consisting of Lai Kwan Yui Elphick and Mark Burtenshaw, missed the gold medal by one point but secured silver.

The ladies' volleyball team were magnificent. The team including two England International representatives, Susan Hoare and Jess Grimson, and one International Brazilian player, Jess Degeus, provided a strong base and a great deal of confidence for fellow team members Rebecca Goodman, Aneliese Flynn, Amy Gilmour, Lucy Seymour, Kirstie Wingate and Emily Burgess.

Having played every match in the tournament without losing a set, they went on to win the gold.

So impressive was their performance that Loughborough have asked some of the girls to join their development squad with a view to a full scholarship to the university when they leave Chichester College.

Jade Markwick and Fran Judd, in their second year of a sports therapy course, provided all the hands-on help to the students.

The extra treatment and sport massages appeared to keep the competitors fully fit throughout the competition and made a significant contribution to the phenomenal success.

The only student not returning with a medal, although securing fourth place in the squash event, was Kelly Eastment.

However from 1,500 female competitors Kelly was awarded the accolade of Best Sportsmanship of the Games.

Having brought home a bronze medal last year she said that this meant more than anything else she had ever achieved.

This was the 30th year of the competition and previously it had been held at a different university each year.

However, it has been staged at Loughborough for the past three years as the campus has expanded its sports facilities to host the 3,000 competitors.

Sky Sports will show highlights of the weekend.

With teams coming in the top three in every event, a landslide victory for the south east was secured, winning the overall trophy – the Wilkinson Sword.

Ros Slaughter, team manager for Chichester College said: "Having been present for every championship for the past 25 years, this has been the most memorable and a major highlight in my sporting career. I feel proud of the sporting success of the college, the coaching staff and their medal winning students."