Charity urges action to tackle decline in PE hours

Data released by the government shows nearly 4,000 PE hours lost in the last year amid worsening school sport crisis, with 11–14-year-olds hit the hardest.

The Youth Sport Trust is calling for urgent action to protect and prioritise physical education as it publishes its latest PE and School Sport Report: a comprehensive annual analysis of the state of PE, school sport and physical activity across the UK.

The launch comes as newly released Government figures confirm a significant decline in the number of hours allocated to PE in secondary schools, with nearly 4,000 dropped in the last year alone; in comparison, hours for Maths and English have increased by 13% and 10% respectively. Overall, this is a decline of almost 45,000 hours since the London Olympic games in 2011/12. The number of PE teachers in England has also dropped by 7% over the same period.

The most significant drop in hours has affected 11 – 14 year olds (years 7-9) with over 2,800 hours and 347 PE teachers lost last year for this group alone. This is at a time when the fastest growth in childhood obesity rates in England is among 11 - 15 year olds.

The charity’s report highlights the harmful effect this decline is having on children’s physical and mental wellbeing. In England, 2.2 million children are now doing less than 30 minutes of activity a day — a rise compared with pre-pandemic levels — and only 48% are meeting the UK’s Chief Medical Officers’ recommendation of at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Girls, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and those from disadvantaged backgrounds continue to face the greatest barriers to being active.

Key findings in the report, shows that one in ten children in the UK are obese or at risk of obesity and 70% of parents believe that as a result of digital distractions children are spending less time being active.

The report finds that nearly 1 in 5 students have had PE lessons cancelled this academic year, and poor physical development is impacting school readiness with teachers reporting one in three children were not school ready .

However, despite these concerning figures, the report does indicate young people have aspirations to be more active. There is both a desire and a readiness across schools and communities to reimagine how we prioritise movement and wellbeing: 93% of young people believe PE is important, 71% want to be more active at school, and 96% of teachers agree that sport and play benefit mental wellbeing.

In response to the latest dataset, the Youth Sport Trust is renewing its call for a bold and coordinated national plan to guarantee every child the opportunity to be physically active every day. 

Key priorities include ensuring all children are healthy movers before starting school, with strong foundations for lifelong activity, and delivering greater opportunities for physical activity in schools, including by reimagining the successful school sport partnership model which drove up activity levels in the past.

The report also calls for targeted support to those most affected by inequality, embracing youth voice and removing the systemic barriers that prevent participation, and embedding physical activity into wider policy reform.