Background: University students are typically highly sedentary, and few meet national physical activity (PA) recommendations. Embedding PA into the university education system offers one potentially fruitful way to increase student PA and reduce sedentary behaviour (SB), as low intensity PA could be used to break up sedentary time with minimal required effort. University staff are key stakeholders in this system, and therefore their perspectives need to be understood before effective PA promotion or SB reduction interventions can be developed. This study explored staff stakeholder perspectives on how the university education system helps and hinders student PA and SB, treated under the umbrella of ‘student movement behaviours’ for the purposes of the study.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 staff members from 26 different UK universities. Participants included student-facing teaching staff, learning technologists and designers, senior leaders/management staff, library staff, estates staff, disability and academic support service staff, and sport department staff involved in active campus initiatives. Data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis.

Results: Five themes were constructed capturing: the perceived incompatibility of PA and education; external constraints and lack of affordances for PA; competing priorities and the relative importance of PA; the need to respect student autonomy; and balancing potential benefits with inclusivity. Several tensions were identified in university systems, including between efficiency, education provision, student movement, autonomy, and wellbeing.

Conclusion: Our findings point to ways in which PA promotion and SB reduction could be encouraged among university students within the educational experience. Changes to the built environment, relevant policies, and the broader education system may be needed to address student movement behaviours in university education, requiring whole-university approaches to implementation. Such systems-based solutions suggest embedded PA should primarily be viewed as a governance and systems issue, rather than an individual teaching practice issue.