How should I use my School Sports Premium?

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On 17th July 2017, the Department for Education confirmed the government’s commitment to doubling the Primary PE & Sport Premium from September 2017.

Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that all primary schools will receive an increase in their PE and Sport Premium funding in this new academic year. The government have committed to the funding up to 2020.

From September 2017:

• Schools with 16 or fewer eligible pupils will receive £1000 per pupil; and
• Schools with 17 or more eligible pupils receive £16,000 plus an additional payment of £10 per pupil

This essentially doubles the formula from September 2016 with the intention that every primary school will be able to improve its PE and Sport provision.

The mechanism for payment remains the same, with schools receiving 7/12ths of funding directly in Oct/Nov and the remaining 5/12ths in April/May.

The Department for Education is due to publish the school level breakdown of funding for the academic year 2017 to 2018, including conditions of grant, in October 2017.

Separately from the PE and Sport Premium, the government is proposing to invest a further £100 million of funds expected from a levy on the soft drinks industry, dubbed a “Sugar Tax”, for “healthy pupils” capital.

While it appears that the government is no longer proceeding with the previously proposed Healthy Pupils Capital Programme, instead prioritising core school funding, it is expected that the £100 million from the levy will be used to improve school facilities to support a range of healthy pupils activities, including PE and sport, after school activities and healthy eating.

How are schools entitled to spend their PE and Sports Premium?

The government is clear that primary schools must spend their Sports Premium on additional, sustainable improvements to their provision of physical education and sport.

This means that schools should use the premium to develop or add to the PE and sport activities already offered.

There should be an element of longevity, making improvements now that will benefit future pupils joining the school. However, schools have the freedom to choose how they go about this.

Schools can use their Sports Premium to:

• Offer teacher training and to hire qualified sports coaches to work with teachers
• Provide resources to help teach PE and sport more effectively
• Introduce new sports or activities and encourage more pupils to take up sport
• Support and involve the least active children by running or extending school sports clubs, after school and holiday clubs
• Run sport competitions
• Run sports activities with other schools

The Sports Premium should not be used to:

• Employ coaches or specialist teachers to cover planning preparation and assessment arrangements
• Teach the minimum requirements of the national curriculum (or, in the case of academies and free schools, to teach their existing PE curriculum).

From this, you can see that Sports Premium CAN be used to improve your playground with exciting new facilities and equipment to support sport and physical activity.

Download our Sports Premium Guide below to discover the most effective ways to spend your Sports Premium and build a lasting legacy at your school:

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