The Youth Sport Trust has responded to the report which found that 56 per cent of primary and 37 per cent of secondary schools said they had reduced hours for certain subjects, “particularly music and PE”.

Alison Oliver MBE, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said:

“The findings today from the DfE Recovery Research are of huge concern and should prompt immediate action in us all. Young people are not taking part in enough physical activity and many will have returned to school having done no physical activity at all during the holidays. We know that schools in England have already seen significant cuts to the amount of PE on the school timetable with 42,285 hours of PE lost from state-funded secondary schools between 2011/12 and 2020/21.

“Physically active children are happier and achieve higher levels of academic attainment than their less physically active peers. Schools using Active Recovery Curriculums are flourishing through the prioritisation of physical activity to support outcomes for young people following the pandemic. PE and sport are not a ‘nice to have’ in children’s lives, and today more than ever they are essential to their physical, social and emotional development. We ask the government to not delay on delivering the detail of a joined-up School Sport and Activity Action Plan and move much more quickly.”

Schools can access ideas on how to implement Active Recovery Curriculums and more information on the benefits here.