This Ofsted report evaluates the common features of PE in primary and secondary schools visited between November 2022 and June 2023. It identifies strengths and areas for development in how pupils are taught the subject.
For many pupils, physical education (PE) will be the first and only place where they are taught safe, efficient and intelligent movement. In PE, pupils are also taught important health-related knowledge to help them make informed decisions about how to live a healthy, active life. When taught well, high-quality PE challenges myths, misconceptions and ingrained inequalities that can limit participation for all.
In addition to timetabled PE lessons, schools also offer extracurricular experiences that can provide additional time for high-quality instruction, practice and feedback to increase pupils’ competence and confidence in PE, physical activity and sport.
The report found that stubborn differences between ethnicities, sex and levels of affluence remain. For example, pupils are still twice as likely to be able to swim 25 metres unaided if they are from a high affluence family than from a low affluence one. That is why it is important for high-quality PE to make a positive difference to pupils’ opportunities and experiences and contribute to levelling the playing field for all, regardless of individual starting points.
The report makes a number of recommendations to schools and to the government, which include:
- Schools should develop a clear and ambitious curriculum for PE, which is aligned with the national curriculum and which meets the needs of all pupils.
- Schools should ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to learn from high-quality teaching and to develop a broad range of skills and knowledge in PE.
- Schools should use assessment to inform planning and to identify pupils who need additional support.
- Schools should promote physical activity across the school day and encourage pupils to participate in extracurricular activities.
- The government should provide more support to schools to develop high-quality PE provision. This could include providing more training for PE teachers and developing resources to help schools implement the recommendations in the report.