England’s annual PE and School Sport Survey ended

As part of the government’s comprehensive spending review, the comprehensive survey of children and young people’s participation in PE and School Sport has been ended after seven years, as the axe falls on the entire £162m School Sport Partnership programme.

 Department for Education, Data Series: 2003/04 to 2009/10

 Cost in 2009/10: £329, 275.  Source: http://www.education.gov.uk/research/data/general/Contract%20Awards%20DCSF%20March%202010.pdf, Contractor: TNS-BMRB

 Most recent report at: http://www.education.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DFE-RR032-WEB.pdf

 Survey Summary: The largest most comprehensive survey of children and young people’s participation in PE and School Sport.  Seven annual surveys on behalf of the Department for Education (formerly Department for Children, Schools and Families). The surveys aimed to collect information about participation in PE and out of hours school sport, and took place between 2003/04 and 2009/10. The most recent survey comprised a census of all schools in England, and achieved a response rate of 99.8% (21,436 schools), with data collection taking place during May – July 2010. In addition, a separate survey was also conducted among FE colleges in both 2008/09 and in 2009/10: the most recent of these surveys had a response rate of 99.4% (357 colleges).

Cut details: £162m funding for School Sport Partnership programme removed on 20th October 2010. Ref: http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a0065473/refocusing-sport-in-schools-to-build-a-lasting-legacy-of-the-2012-games 

Extract from the letter from Secretary of State to Baroness Sue Campbell Chair of the Youth Sport Trust:

“I am removing the need for schools to:

– plan and implement their part of a ‘five hour offer’;
– collect information about every pupil for an annual survey;
– deliver a range of new Government sport initiatives each year;
– report termly to the Youth Sport Trust on various performance indicators;
– conform to a national blueprint for how to deliver PE and sport, and how to use their staff and resources; and
– get permission from the Youth Sport Trust and the Department to use their funding flexibly or to vary how they do things.”

Information supplied by Simon Tanner, Research as Evidence Ltd