Written question asked by Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 20 December 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 January 2012. It was answered by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 10 January 2012 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Physical Education

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take to support children who are not motivated by competition in physical education lessons to meet guidelines for levels of physical activity.

Answer: Physical Education (PE) is a compulsory subject of the National Curriculum for all pupils aged five to 16. PE will remain compulsory following the review of the National Curriculum, but will have a greater focus on competitive sport. Competitive sport will not, however, be the only element of the revised programme of study for PE. As they do now, schools will teach PE in a way which motivates and engages all pupils and encourages them to be physically active.

Secondary information