A new report by Youth Sport Trust finds:
- Nearly 45,000 fewer hours of PE were taught in 2024/25 (281,291) compared with 2011/12 (326,277). The largest decrease in PE hours has been for Key Stage 4 (ages 14-16) and Key Stage 5 (ages 16-18)
- The main reasons for cancelled PE lessons were because the teacher wasn’t available (42%), the space wasn’t available (31%), or the weather (29%)
- 71% of young people say they would like to be more active at school
- 75% of children are aware that children should be active for 60 minutes or more a day, compared to just 32% of parents and 34% of teachers
- A third of teachers surveyed as part of the Youth Sport Trust teacher survey in 2024 reported physical development challenges for children entering reception year and 10% reported seeing children with unhealthy weight