Earlier this week, the Youth Sport Trust’s Chief Executive Ali Oliver MBE gave evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee as part of their ‘Game On’ inquiry into school and community sport.

Ali was sat on a panel alongside Olympian (and Strictly Come Dancing and Gladiators star) Montell Douglas, Anna Hopkin MBE – who won a swimming gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and Alistair Patrick-Heselton, who was part of the CP football team (consisting of players with cerebral palsy and other brain injury injuries) at the 2012 London Paralympics.

The Committee – made up of MPs from across the political spectrum – gave witnesses the opportunity to share their experiences and insights into how to improve access to PE and sport in schools, so all children are able to enjoy the associated benefits, including for wellbeing and skills development.

The session explored the challenges facing this generation of children and young people, with less than half achieving 60 active minutes each day as recommended by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers, and many dealing with poor mental, physical and social wellbeing. In schools, 41,000 fewer hours were taught in PE in 2023-24, and there are fewer PE teachers since London hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. At the same time, PE has been squeezed within the curriculum as a result of demands on other subjects and with many children unable to being active outside the school day, provision within schools is more important than ever.

Ideas to improve PE and school sport now and in the future included:

• Making PE a core subject on the national curriculum. Committee Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP noted this proposal has been widely supported amongst organisations submitting written evidence to the inquiry, and Ali explained making PE a core subject would give it a higher status within education, helping drive up standards and prioritisation, and reflecting that PE should be part of the foundation of every child’s learning.
• Reimagining the aims of PE. Ali outlined the need for clear outcomes at each key stage to better shape what is being taught, and to inform how children are expected to develop, all aligned to a unifying ambition to prepare every child for an active and healthy life, and supporting their progress in education and employment in the future.
• Rebuilding school sports partnerships for the current education landscape. Whilst reinforcing the importance of ringfenced funding for PE and sport, Ali reiterated that greater impact could be achieved by using investment to develop an infrastructure delivering universal support for every school, building on the legacy of the school sports partnerships which did so much to increase activity levels in the past, and also strengthening ties between school and community provision.
• Making PE and sport fun and inclusive. The panel reflected the need for all children and young people to find activities they enjoy, so no child misses out. This can be achieved through inclusive sport, and by providing opportunities to experience a range of different sports and activities to help everyone develop a passion.
• Improving cross-government policy development and implementation. Ali highlighted the impact that could be achieved with a holistic approach across government, reflecting on progress made when there was a national strategy in place linking different departments together including making progress against different outcomes.
• Opportunities on the horizon. With the Curriculum and Assessment Review ongoing, the development of the new National Youth Strategy and the rollout of the primary breakfast clubs programme, there are many existing opportunities the Government can use to increase the role of PE and sport so every child can be active each day. As Alistair concluded, now is the time for action.

Over the next few weeks, the Committee will hear evidence from additional witnesses before making a series of recommendations to the Government. We hope the evidence they heard this week can inform those proposals and encourage the Government to take action so every child has an active start in life.

You can find out more about the session via the links below:

• Watch the evidence session via the Parliament website
• Read a written transcript of the session
• Britain has 7,000 fewer PE teachers since London 2012 Olympics, MPs told – Guardian
• Gladiators and Strictly’s Montell Douglas warns of ‘digital distractions’ facing children – Daily Express 
• Primary school PE training ‘woefully inadequate,’ MPs told – tes magazine