Athletes are increasingly engaging in a dual career which balances sporting endeavours with off-field activities including formal education. The potential benefits of the sporting dual career are significant and include improved wellbeing, improved sporting performance and enhanced career options. Nevertheless, successfully navigating a dual career pathway involves a complex interaction of personal, organisational, structural and pedagogical elements (EU Commission, 2012). Academy level athletes encounter additional challenges primarily relating to transition, and are in particular need of additional support networks and processes in order to fulfil their potential within the sporting and academic domains simultaneously (Knight et al., 2018). This project aims to explore the phenomenon of dual careers at the elite academy level from the perspective of a range of stakeholders (e.g. athletes, academy coaches, education officers, academics, support staff, parents) through qualitative research methodologies. Identification of important factors and multi-agency approaches to enabling the dual-career amongst this cohort will provide valuable information which may inform policy and best practice for sporting and educational institutions. Edinburgh Napier University hosts both the Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy and the Cricket Scotland Performance Academy and also has partnerships with a number of professional football academies with a large number of academy level athletes enrolled onto programmes of academic study. The university's dual career policy is comprehensive and forms part of the academic regulations demonstrating a strong commitment to supporting student athletes.