Youth Sport Trust: PE & Sport Strategy for Young People

Our work

PE & Sport Strategy for Young People

The Youth Sport Trust plays a central role in supporting the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the delivery of the PE & Sport Strategy for Young People. The overall aim of the PE & Sport Strategy is to enhance the take-up of sporting opportunities by 5 to 16 year olds.

The aim was for 85% of children to have access to two hours per week of high quality PE and school sport by 2008. Remarkably, this target was achieved a year early, as the 2007 School Sport Survey found that 86% of young people were taking part in a minimum of two hours per week.

Now the ambition is for each child to have access to five hours a week by 2012. This should be made up of two hours of physical education within the curriculum and three hours offered on school sites or in the community.

PE & Sport Strategy in action

The PE & Sport Strategy has key strands, each designed to maximise opportunities for young people to access high quality PE and school sport.

As part of the strategy, the Youth Sport Trust works in partnership with the DCSF and DCMS to support the development of Specialist Sports Colleges and School Sport Partnerships. In addition, we support the following strands:

Step into Sport – a programme which focuses on young people aged 14 to 19, giving them a chance to become involved in sports leadership and volunteering.
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Gifted and Talented – a programme designed to help elite young athletes realise their potential.
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The National Competition Framework - which aims to build a world-class system of competitive sport for young people.
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