School Sport Survey 2011

The 2011 Survey

The first School Sport Survey took place in the summer term of 2011. Building on twenty years of Sport Wales surveys on young people's participation in sport, and school-based provision of sport, the data from this survey enables us and our partners to strategically monitor and track trends in Physical Education (PE) and school sport, and provide a base from which to shape sports policy and practice.

In the 2011 survey, nearly 40,000 pupils from Years 3-11 completed the questionnaire, making this the largest national survey with children and young people in Wales. 

Headline statistics and a report on young people's participation in sport are now available. 

Evidencing well-being

Well-being has become an increasingly important policy area for the education, health and sport sectors.  As you will keenly be aware, Estyn's school inspection framework places well-being at the centre of pupils' learning experience. 

To ensure our sports policies locally and nationally deliver for our children and young people, listening to their views and opinions is of paramount importance. The School Sport Survey is an effective way of giving pupils a voice, as well as allowing us to identify gaps in sports participation in Wales.

It is also imperative for sport to better understand and advocate the associations between sport and well-being, and importantly, for us, at Sport Wales, to advise the Welsh Assembly Government in this area as part of its Creating an Active Wales policy. The survey has their full support.

Physical education and school sport play a vital role in contributing to the physical, social, and emotional well-being of all pupils.  The School Sport Survey provides an opportunity to help schools evidence how sport and physical education is contributing to the well-being agenda.

Each school that completed the School Sport Survey with a sufficient sample of pupils received a bilingual report of their data. In 2011, 198 reports were distributed to schools across Wales.  The report is structured around the four well-being outcomes, as outlined by Estyn: attitudes to keeping healthy and safe; participation and enjoyment in learning; community involvement and decision-making; and social and life skills.