WIREDGOV

A new benchmark for youth sport has been set today with the publication of the PE and Sport Survey 2008/09. The survey – commissioned by the DCSF and conducted by TNS-BMRB – is the sixth carried out by the Government and the first one since the target for 5- to 16-year-olds to do at least two hours of sport each week was smashed last year. Today’s benchmark for the five-hour offer has now been set as the 2008/09 survey reveals: 

• 51% of pupils took part in at least 3 hours sport in a typical week
• 69% of pupils participated in intra-school competitions during the school year
• 44% of pupils participated in inter-school competitions during the school year
• schools provided an average of 18.6 different sports including football, dance, athletics, badminton and volleyball
• schools had links to an average of 8.2 sports clubs.
• new sport coordinators in FE colleges organised a total of 92 different events
• 16% of full-time students aged 16-19 in FE colleges had participated in sport events and activities
• 99% of schools held at least one sports day
• following Britain’s domination in cycling at the Beijing Olympics the 2008/09 survey shows a surge of interest in cycling with half of all schools offering it to pupils (up from 21% in 2003)

Minister for Children, Schools and Families, Iain Wright said:

Today we are raising the bar on youth sport in this country in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. Thanks to our national PE and Sport Strategy for Young People and world class investment, school and youth sport has never been so well funded or enjoyed by young people – with £2.4 billion committed until 2011 and 51 per cent of pupils now doing at least 3 hours of high quality PE and sport each week.  But we are not going to stop there.  We want even more children to join in across the country.
 
We are aiming high for our young people because they deserve nothing less - setting our sights on 5 hours sport each week. For the first time ever a government is willing to legislate to make this a reality for all young people. In June we published the 'Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future' White Paper which proposes a new Pupil Guarantee setting out what every young person should get during their school careers, including the offer of five hours PE or sport a week in and out of school.     
 
This won’t be easy, but no true sporting success ever really is. And like all the great sporting success stories of this country I know we are going to get there thanks to the team effort of schools, professional sport and sport in the community all pulling together with the same goal in sight for young people.

The national Strategy involves 450 School Sport Partnerships, incorporating all 21,526 maintained schools and 356 Further Education (FE) colleges as well as a network of 225 competition managers who are breathing life back into competitive school sport in this country. Representatives are meeting in Telford this week for the Youth Sport Trust’s annual School Sports Partnership Conference. This will include a keynote address by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Ben Bradshaw.
 
Further information
 
The PE and Sport Survey 2008/09 is available here 

Listen to Iain Wright discussing sport in schools here

Listen to the minister discussing sport in schools via the audio player on this website

Read the full press notice here

Minister for Children, Schools and Families, Iain Wright is available for interviews between 1.00 and 2.00 Wednesday 14 October. Please call DCSF press office on the number below if you are interested.
 
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are jointly responsible for delivering part of Public Service Agreement (PSA) 22 which was set to cover 2008-11 and aims to: 'Deliver a successful Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and get more children and young people taking part in high quality PE and sport.'  Within PSA 22 DCSF and DCMS are jointly responsible for delivering indicator 5 which concerns creating a world-class system of PE and sport for young people. The PE and Sport Strategy for Young People is delivered by the Government’s partners the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England. 

The survey was conducted in schools and FE colleges during May, June and July 2009.  21,464 schools responded (response rate of 99.8 per cent) along with 352 FE colleges (98.9 per cent response rate).

The 2008/09 survey measured participation in at least 3 hours of high quality PE and out of hours school sport.  Previous surveys measured participation in at least 2 hours.  Data was collected for the first time from pupils in Years 12 and 13 (previous surveys concentrated on Years 1 to 11 only) and FE students aged 16 to 19.
 
There are minimal differences in participation rates in different regions:
 
North East  51%
North West 52%
Yorkshire & Humberside 48%
East Midlands 50%
West Midlands 48%
East 50%
South West 52%
South East 47%
London 49%

The PE and Sport strategy was launched in October 2002.  Its aim was to have 85% of pupils participating in at least 2 hours of high quality PE and sport by 2008 – this target was met a year early.  The Prime Minister extended the ambition of the strategy in July 2007 to offer 5 hours of sport to 5-16 year olds, and 3 hours to 16-19 year olds both in and out of school by 2011.

The Pupil Guarantee was announced earlier in the year in the Schools White Paper: Your child, your school, our future: building a 21st century schools system
 
PE Curriculum

• PE is a compulsory component of the national curriculum at all Key Stages for all pupils.
• DCSF and QCDA guidance recommends that at least 75 minutes PE per week at key stages 1 and 2 and 90 minutes per week at key stage 3 are needed to effectively cover the PE programme of study. No guidance has been issued for key stage 4 where the emphasis is on health, fitness and well being.
• The secondary curriculum gives schools greater flexibility in the activities they provide to ensure that pupils find the type of activity they enjoy and are able to continue for life.

Find out more about the Youth Sport Trust

Find out more about Sport England