The government is reviewing the £320 million PE and sport premium for primary schools and considering a “different approach” to funding increased activity, the schools minister has said.
Catherine McKinnell told MPs on the culture, media and sport committee this morning the fund was “not delivering the step change that we would like to see”, with “stubborn data that shows that activity levels are not increasing despite great efforts from schools”.
Primary schools use the annual funding to improve their PE and sport offer, improve equal access for boys and girls and train up teachers and offer continuing professional development.
But an Ofsted subject report on PE warned in 2023 that most schools do not provide “clearly defined and broad” physical PE, with many “not matching the ambition of the national curriculum”.
The government recently confirmed the PE and sport premium would continue for 2025-26, but has not set out funding beyond that.
McKinnell said the government “wanted to get the confirmation of that funding out because we know how important it is for schools to be able to deliver their activities.
“But we also know that it’s not delivering the step change that we would like to see and that you set out yourself in terms of the stubborn data that shows that activity levels are not increasing despite great efforts from schools.”
‘Patchy’
She cited the Ofsted report, and warned the current approach was “patchy”.
“It’s not upskilling staff, so it’s not creating sustainable change, and it relied quite heavily on bringing in external resource and provision, which are often very fantastic grassroots clubs.
“But whether that’s a model that we want to continue is something we’re rightly looking at very closely, and we’re looking at a different approach.”
She was speaking in response to concerns from former Conservative education secretary Damian Hinds that PE and sport premium funding could simply be rolled into broader school cash, under what the Treasury terms “tucking it under”.
“All four of you on the panel will be familiar with the phrase tucking it under, which is not a phrase known or in general usage among the public.
“It’s a favourite phrase of HM Treasury, which is where you make one large budget look like it’s growing. But you take another budget and you now say, well, the large budget has to now include the smaller budget.
“So for example, you take the large schools grant and you make the PE and sport premium simply a part of.”
‘Schools would welcome a coordinated approach’
Hinds pressed McKinnell on whether government would take decision-making on how to spend sports funding away from schools.
She replied: “This is all in discussion because we do appreciate that each school has particular circumstances that they need to meet and address as part of their PE and sports offer.
“But also, I know schools would welcome a more coordinated approach and support and bolstering of capacity within the school to be able to provide both in school PE but also intra-school and community wide activities, whether that’s within the school day or also on an out of school provision basis as well.”
She added that the “bit that bothers me mostly is the patchy nature of it, because we have amazing examples of where this has been done brilliantly, but if it’s not being done brilliantly everywhere, then it’s not job done”.
£57m opening facilities scheme not extended
McKinnell also confirmed at the hearing that the £57 million opening school facilities fund is not being extended in its current form.
The prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, announced earlier this year plans for new school sport partnerships. But details won’t be set out until next autumn.
The £57 million in cash to support schools to open their facilities to their communities was announced in 2023 by the previous government.
McKinnell said the government had “really taken lessons from the three years that the scheme was in place.
“It was a relatively limited scheme. It didn’t reach all schools, so we are basically taking the lessons from that, and we are going to apply them into our partnership model that we are working on.”
‘We will learn the lessons’
Matthew Hopkinson, deputy director of the life skills division at the Department for Education, told the committee there were “genuine challenges” to schools opening facilities, including relating to safeguarding and insurance.
He said lessons learned included the need to have “knowledge in the system” and properly signposting the “right person in the school” to join up with clubs.
“This was a three year programme of the previous government that clearly had an impact, and we can learn the lessons from that,” said McKinnell.
“But in terms of a sustainable approach going forward, we want to make sure that is built in to the system and the partnership model that we are building, and we will learn all the lessons from it, and make sure that the that we can maximise access to facilities, whether that’s on a community basis or indeed a school basis.”
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