A range of recreational board games, including chess, is available to prisoners in five of the six prisons located in Wales. Chess facilities are currently available at HMP Cardiff, HMP Swansea, HMP Usk, HMP Prescoed and HMP Parc. HMP Berwyn does not currently have chess-related facilities. Access to chess study materials is also available through the prison library arrangements at HMP Usk and HMP Prescoed.

There are no current plans to include chess players in either the International Sportsperson (ISP) visa route or the Global Talent visa route, but we keep all routes under review.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

From the 2026/27 financial year, the department intends to invest up to £250,000 per year for three years (a total of £750,000) to partner with an organisation to deliver a national programme for chess in schools.

It will aim to increase pupils’ participation in chess, embed sustainable provision, and ensure regular opportunities to play chess are made available across all nine regions of England. This includes resources and training for staff, support for pupil-led delivery, and opportunities for schools to join local and online tournaments to celebrate achievement and encourage engagement.

We will prioritise mainstream primary and secondary schools with higher proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals, as well as special schools and alternative provision settings, and improve access for girls and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

The department intends to publish an invitation to tender for delivery of the programme in due course.

In line with my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement last year, we intend to invest up to £250,000 per year for 3 years (a total of £750,000) from the 2026/27 financial year to partner with an organisation to deliver a national chess in schools programme. This programme will aim to increase pupils’ participation in chess in schools across all nine regions of England.

It will prioritise mainstream primary and secondary schools with higher proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals, as well as special schools and alternative provision settings, and will include work to improve access for girls and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

I absolutely join the right hon. Lady in wishing those pupils the very best. It is a wonderful opportunity for all the young people taking part.

A game of strategy, tactics and sometimes outright brinkmanship might sound familiar to the Cabinet at the moment, but I am actually talking about chess. Meadow View primary school in my constituency has qualified for the London chess classic, which takes place tomorrow. Will the Education Secretary join me in congratulating the pupils on getting so far and wishing them luck?

​​My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced £1.5 million in funding from 2026 to support participation in chess, which includes funding for chess in schools. The department will reflect upon insights gathered from the strengthening chess in primary schools grant in developing arrangements for use of the new funding. Further details will be announced in due course.​

The core funding schools receive is not ringfenced, and it is for headteachers to decide how best to manage their budgets.

The Ministry of Justice is aware of research that is in progress in relation to regular chess sessions across the prison estate. To date, no formal assessment has been made of any effect on re-offending.

As chess is not a structured physical activity, it is not included in the management information that is collected centrally. To determine how many prisons hold regular chess sessions, it would be necessary to consult each individual establishment, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

The Ministry of Justice is aware of research that is in progress in relation to regular chess sessions across the prison estate. To date, no formal assessment has been made of any effect on re-offending.

As chess is not a structured physical activity, it is not included in the management information that is collected centrally. To determine how many prisons hold regular chess sessions, it would be necessary to consult each individual establishment, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the department allocated £200,000 through the Strengthening Chess in Primary Schools grant, supporting primary schools to improve their pupils’ access to chess.

More broadly, at the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion next year.

Each year schools receive core funding from the department to cover their expenditures. These expenditures could include teacher salaries, school lunches, electronic resources, art and craft supplies, or any other number of items.

It is for headteachers to decide how best to manage their budgets, including spending on the promotion of extracurricular activities such as chess. This funding is not ringfenced.

Schools may also choose to utilise their pupil premium funding to support enrichment. The pupil premium grant is funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England. Schools must use this funding in line with the menu of approaches which are based on the evidence of how best to improve attainment for disadvantaged pupils. This includes the flexibility to use pupil premium to tackle non-academic barriers to success, including providing enrichment opportunities to benefit those pupils who may not be able to have access otherwise.

85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.

We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.

Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.

Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.

Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.

Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.

85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.

We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.

Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.

Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.

Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.

Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.

85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.

We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.

Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.

Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.

Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.

Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.

85 local authorities that received Levelling Up Parks Fund funding were invited to apply for the chess tables funding. In total, 55 local authorities applied for the funding. We have provided funding to those 55 local authorities to install 99 chess tables across England.

We have asked local authorities to consider how the location they choose creates new opportunities, helps to strengthen relationships, builds local social cohesion and provides opportunities for people to come together in a joint activity.

Prior to the announcement of funding, we engaged stakeholders across Government, as well as local authorities and the English Chess Federation.

Local authorities know their communities best and are best placed to manage the use and assess the effects of the chess tables locally, if they choose to do so.

Any decisions to provide chess sets are for local authorities to take.

Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.