Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average number of hours per week of sport and physical activity undertaken by pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of sport and physical activity participation in schools.

The Department does not collect information from schools on the time pupils spend each week on sport and physical activity.

Sport England’s annual Active Lives Children’s Survey collects information on the proportion of pupils who do 30 minutes or more of physical activity in school each day. It was first carried out in the 2017/18 academic year. The most recent survey is available here: https://www.sportengland.org/news/active-lives-children-and-young-people-survey-academic-year-201819-report-published.

The results of the 2019/20 Active Lives Children’s Survey will be published in the new year and will include information on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Schools have the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport, and physical activity will be provided during the COVID-19 outbreak, whilst following the measures in their system of controls. The Department recognises that the COVID-19 outbreak has had an impact on schools’ ability to teach PE and to provide opportunities to take part in sport. This is especially the case for swimming, where access to venues has been restricted due to water safety measures. To help schools provide the best possible range of activities, the Department’s guidance for the full opening of schools refers to more detailed advice and support from organisations such as the Association for PE, Youth Sport Trust, Sport England, and Swim England: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.