For millions of adults, the memory of school physical education is not one of fresh air and team spirit, but of cold showers, public humiliation and a lasting aversion to exercise. A growing body of evidence suggests that negative or traumatic experiences in school sport are actively deterring lifelong activity, a problem that campaigners and health bodies say requires far more than a fresh coat of paint on the sports hall.
Lasting scars of school sport
Jane Hall, a schoolteacher from Birmingham, recalls her own 1980s PE lessons with visceral clarity. “Being last to be picked for teams was the tip of the iceberg,” she writes. “Try running butt-naked through communal showers while being shouted at, strategically placing your arm across your chest while tucking your hand in front of your lady garden.” Hall says no amount of “buoyant promotion” will ever convince her to enjoy sport. Her verdict is blunt: “An apology would be a better place to start.”
Hall’s experience is far from unusual. A survey conducted by Age UK has found that more than four million mid-lifers remain traumatised by memories of their school PE lessons, with a similar number saying they were actively discouraged from physical activity by what they went through at school. The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend that children and young people get an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day, rising to 20 minutes for those with disabilities. Yet fewer than half of children currently meet those guidelines, and almost one in three achieve less than half the recommended amount. The decline is particularly steep among adolescents, with fitness and motor competence falling.
Cath Bishop, an Olympic medallist rower and former senior British diplomat, has spoken of her own negative school sport experience. She discovered a more positive, communal approach to physical activity only when she took up rowing at university. In a recent article, Bishop argued for a shift away from a “win-at-all-costs” culture and towards sustainable performance and well-being — a message that resonates with the growing recognition that school sport must be fundamentally reshaped if it is to encourage rather than repel.
Systemic barriers to change
The problem, however, is not simply one of traumatic memories; it is embedded in decades of policy decisions that have eroded the place of physical activity in schools. Ruth Daniels, chief executive of British Triathlon, points out that school is mandatory, and so sport and physical activity should be too — yet the opposite has happened. “We have reduced the amount of time given to sport on the school curriculum, said competition is bad, sold off playing fields and reduced the number of those able to teach multiple sports or activities,” she says.
The numbers bear her out. Between 2010 and 2019, there was a 16% reduction in secondary school PE hours nationally, a period that also saw decreases in adolescent health-related fitness measures including grip strength, broad jump and 20-metre shuttle run. The 1970s are widely regarded as a “golden decade” for PE, with more time, better facilities and higher employment for specialist teachers, but the 1990s and 2000s saw a steady decline.
Playing fields have been a particular flashpoint. An estimated 10,000 were sold off in the 1980s and 1990s before protections were introduced. While Sport England says it protected more than 1,000 playing fields in 2021-22, there are warnings that proposed planning reforms could weaken those protections, especially for academies and free schools. The Sport and Recreation Alliance has welcomed new supplementary guidance that provides clearer controls on sales, requiring schools to demonstrate sufficient outdoor space and reinvestment in facilities, but campaigners remain concerned.
Funding is another area of uncertainty. The government has committed more than £600 million to the Primary PE and Sport Premium across the academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25, intended to help schools improve their PE, sport and physical activity provision. Yet a survey has found that 73% of primary schools say they would be unable to maintain their current provision without continued funding, leaving the future of the premium in doubt.
The School Sport and Activity Action Plan, updated in July 2023, recommends at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity and emphasises equal access for boys and girls. New guidance published in March 2024 builds on that plan, supporting schools to offer a minimum of two hours of PE per week and to remove barriers to participation. In August 2023 the government also published “Get Active: a strategy for the future of sport and physical activity”, which aims to increase the number of active adults and children in England by 2030. But as Daniels notes, “Without behavioural change, without improved attitudes to sport and activity, the status quo will remain.”
Pathways to a more active future
Despite the scale of the challenge, there are initiatives that suggest a different approach is possible. Parkrun, which Daniels credits with creating a “social sporting community led by enjoyment and social connection,” now has one in ten schools participating. The parkrun primary initiative, which connects primary schools with local junior parkrun events, has signed up more than 2,000 schools. Registrations from these schools are twice as ethnically diverse as other registrations, and the programme is seen as a key way to remove barriers for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, fostering a sense of belonging and confidence.
The Youth Sport Trust, an independent charity, delivers the School Games programme and advocates for better PE, highlighting the needs of what it calls the “Class of 2035”. Sport England has committed £250 million to boosting activity in deprived areas. The Association for Physical Education works to empower the workforce to deliver outstanding PE, school sport and physical activity. These organisations all agree that improving provision in the PE lesson alone is not enough. A holistic approach is needed, embedding physical activity throughout the school day and extending into the community.
The economic argument is stark: inactivity costs the UK economy an estimated £7.4 billion each year. Ruth Daniels, reflecting on her own role at British Triathlon, says she wants everyone to be able to swim, cycle and run. “Surely this is not too much to ask of our society?” she asks. Yet for those like Jane Hall, the starting point is not a new initiative or a participation target. It is an acknowledgment of what went wrong. The push for structural change and innovation at scale, Daniels argues, must be matched by a change in attitudes — and for millions of people, that change cannot begin until the hurt of the past is recognised.