Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the quality of provision of physical education and school sport in secondary schools.

The government is providing primary schools with over £150 million per year of ring-fenced funding, paid directly to head teachers to improve PE and sport.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched a public consultation to inform the development of a new sports strategy and solicit views on how the government can ensure the continued engagement and participation of primary school pupils as they progress to secondary level. The consultation closes on Friday 2 October and can be found at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-new-strategy-for-sport-consultation.

In January 2015, the Department for Education published revised content for PE GCSEs and A levels. We have reformed the qualifications to ensure they are high-quality, demanding and academically rigorous and prepare students for further and higher education, and employment. The new qualifications will be taught from 2016.

Over 4,000 secondary schools across the country are taking part in the Sainsbury’s School Games - the government’s framework for competitive sport. Over three quarters of children aged 11-15 years old (77.6%) played sport against other people in PE or games lessons. Half (49.8%) played sport in their school in organised competitions. There are currently 6,890 satellite clubs on education sites. These are community sports clubs based predominantly on school or college sites which provide new opportunities for young people. They aim to increase participation as students progress through education. Young people aged over 11 can also take part in Sportivate which offers six to eight weeks of free or subsidised coaching in a range of sports. A total of 518,860 young people aged 11-25 have been engaged in Sportivate to date.