Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Robert Flello (Labour). It was answered by Richard Caborn (Labour) on Monday, 11 July 2005 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Sports Scholarships

Question: If she will make a statement on the interaction between the talented athlete scholarship scheme and the 2012 Olympic scholarships.

Answer: The talented athlete scholarship scheme—TASS—which was launched last August, provides funding for our talented young athletes in further and higher education and employment. More than 1,100 athletes participated in the first year of the scheme. The 2012 scholarship is one strand of TASS. It was launched this year and is designed to fast-track our most talented young people between the ages of 12 and 18 into the world class performance programme. There are currently 120 people on the 2012 scholarship. There is already strong evidence to show that TASS is starting to pay dividends. Indeed, our young people are winning medals in international competition.

Secondary information