Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increasing focus on academic performance in education settings on levels of participation in sport and physical exercise in those settings.

Schools are free to organise and deliver a flexible, diverse, and challenging curriculum and extra-curricular provision that suits the needs of their pupils. The Department believes that PE and sport is an important part of a broad and balanced curriculum and has made it compulsory at all four Key Stages in the National Curriculum.

Evidence suggests that participation in sport and physical activity can be an important factor in supporting academic attainment, mental wellbeing, and personal development. Many schools already provide a minimum of two hours of PE and sport to pupils each week. The Department will look at how to support all schools to do so, supplemented by a good range of extra-curricular opportunities.