§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of the school day is accounted for by sports activities in each county. [141918]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggThe Department for Education and Skills does not collect information on the percentage of the school day devoted to sports activities broken down by county.
The Government are investing more than £1 billion in England to transform physical education, school sport and club links. The funding will help deliver an ambitious Public Service Agreement target, shared by the Departments for Education and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport, to increase the percentage of 5 to 16- year-olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006. Data collected during the autumn term 2002 suggested that about a third of schools provided this entitlement at Key Stage 1, two fifths at Key Stage 2 and a third at 293W Key Stages 3 and 4. Data are now being collected for the first time—for publication in April 2004—on the number of pupils who choose to take up this entitlement.