Transgender students should not have to declare their birth gender when applying to university sports clubs, the National Union of Students (NUS) is expected to rule.

At the moment transgender or intersex students are only allowed to join the teams that they were assigned to at birth rather than the gender that they identify with now.

This can act as a “barrier” from transgender students which can sport “inaccessible” and “unwelcome”, according to a motion due to be debated on Tuesday at the NUS annual conference in Brighton.

The motion proposes that “trans and intersex students should be able to train and compete in whichever sports team best fits their gender identity”.