The Government invests £320 million per year directly to primary schools to help them make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of their PE, physical activity and school sport.
In July 2023, the Department of Education updated their guidance and conditions for the use of the funding.
New Reporting Template
The deadline for schools to publish their Primary PE and Sport Premium report is 31 July 2024.
Please Note: The Premium must be spent in full by 31 July 2024 (for academies this is by the end of the 2023 to 2024 academic year)
New reporting template for 2023-24
Webinar outlining changes to guidance and reporting
On 13 September 2023 the Department of Education in collaboration with Association for Physical Education and the Youth Sport Trust delivered a webinar on the 2023-24 updates to the Primary PE and sport premium. The webinar focused on the changes to the guidance, and reporting procedures.
Follow this link to view the webinar recording
How to use the PE and Sport Premium
Schools should use the premium to make sustainable improvements to the PE, sport and physical activity they provide, such as:
- funding high-quality PE and sport for at least 2 hours a week, complemented by a wide range of extracurricular sport and competitive opportunities
- providing or improving equal access to sport for boys and girls
There are 5 key indicators that schools should look to seek improvement against:
- Increased confidence, knowledge, and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport
- Engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity – the Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that all children and young people aged 5 to 18 engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, of which 30 minutes should be in school
- The profile of PE and sport is raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement
- Broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils
- Increased participation in competitive sport
The DfE have now given guidance and examples on what the premium should and should not be used for:
Good use of the PE and Sport Premium:
- CPD – this should be seen as a key priority to ensure the future quality of the teaching of PE is sustainable
- Embedding physical activity into the school day
- Providing targeted activities or support to involve and encourage the least active children
- Helping to provide equal access for all pupils to a range of sports and physical activities that the school offers
- Raise attainment in swimming by funding top-up swimming lessons for those not meeting the national curriculum requirements
You should not use your funding to:
- Employ coaches or specialist teachers to cover planning preparation and assessment (PPA) arrangements – these should come out of your core staffing budgets.
- Fund annually repeated coach-led initiatives
- Teach the minimum requirements of your existing PE curriculum – with the exception of top-up swimming lessons after pupils’ completion of core lessons.
- But services that will be delivered or used in following academic years
- Buying staff PE kit
- Fund capital expenditure – the Department for Education does not set the capitalisation policy for each school. School business managers, school accountants and their auditors are best placed to advise on a school’s agreed capitalisation policy.
The DfE have provided the following examples of what comes under capital expenditure:
- Multi-use games areas
- Daily Mile tracks
- Buying vehicles
- Fixed playground equipment, such as climbing frames
- Trophy cabinets or similar
Accountability and Reporting
The school’s senior leadership team should make sure that the funding is spent for the purpose it has been provided – that is to make additional and sustainable improvements for PE, sport and physical activity offered. As part of their role, governors and academy trustees should monitor how the funding is being spent and determine how it fits into school improvement plans and assess the impact it is having on pupils.
The DfE recommends that schools use the reporting template to plan and record how they use the PE and sport premium throughout the year, to be ready to publish the report on the schools website at the end of the school year. The deadline for this report is 31 July 2024.
This year the DfE will be piloting a new digital tool. This digital tool will capture details on how a school has used its PE and sport premium and the impact it has had on achieving the aims and objectives of the funding. The digital tool will become a mandatory requirement for schools to complete it from the 2024 to 2025 academic year.
Charlie Sharp
Assistant Project Officer (Children and Young People)
- Tel: 03000 416031
- Email: charlie.sharp@kent.gov.uk
"I love to stay active by going to the gym during the week and playing football at weekends."