Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the amount of physical activity undertaken by young people at school.

The Department wants all schools to understand the importance of Physical Education (PE), sport, and physical activity in keeping pupils healthy, and the positive impact it can have on pupils’ wellbeing and educational outcomes.

The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey is a national sample of 5 to 16 year olds conducted by Sport England, which is published annually. The headline data from the most recent survey for 2021/22 shows that the proportion of children who are active for an average of 60+ minutes a day has increased by 2.6% to 47% compared to the previous academic year, bringing activity levels back in line with those seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. The report states that there is a positive association between levels of sport and physical activity and levels of mental wellbeing, individual development, community development and loneliness. The full report can be found at: https://www.sportengland.org/research-and-data/data/active-lives.

On 8 March 2023, the Department committed to £600 million across the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years for the continuation of the Primary PE and Sport Premium, which is funding to improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help pupils benefit from regular activity.

The Department is also funding up to £57 million to deliver phase three of the Opening School Facilities programme, which allows schools to open their sport facilities outside of the core school hours.

Alongside this, £977,068.60 over three years has been made available to improve and increase opportunities for more girls to access competitive sport and sport leadership opportunities. Up to £900,000 has also been made available over three years to increase and improve opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities to engage and participate in PE and school sport.

The Department will shortly be publishing an update to the School Sport and Activity Action Plan. The plan will set out actions to help all pupils take part in sport and do more physical activity. It will align with the Government’s new sport strategy.