The Youth Sport Trust has recently published the fifth edition of its PE and School Sport: The Annual Report.
The report backs up what we're seeing day to day with hard data — and it also points to how movement doesn't have to be squeezed into break, lunch or a separate PE slot to make a difference. It can live inside the lessons you're already teaching.
As you plan for September, here's what the report actually says, and some practical ways to think about it as you look at your own timetable.
Only 46% of pupils are active for 30 minutes in the school day
Just 49.1% of young people in England meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily activity, and only 46% get 30 active minutes within the school day — the government's own benchmark for schools. One in ten pupils say they never do any sport or activity beyond PE at all.
For a lot of children, school is the only place they'll move properly all day. That's the whole idea behind Teach Active: instead of trying to find extra time for activity, you build it into the Maths and English lessons you're already delivering. No extra slot on the timetable, no extra kit, no extra planning time — the movement is already inside the lesson plan.
PE is the subject most likely to get cancelled
The report doesn't hold back here: PE is by far the most cancelled subject, usually because a teacher or space isn't free. Only 57% of teachers say their school manages two hours of PE a week, and that figure is even lower in schools in less affluent areas.
If you've ever lost your hall booking to an assembly, a test, or wet weather, you'll know exactly why this happens. Because Teach Active is delivered in the classroom as part of core lessons, it doesn't depend on hall access, good weather, or a free PE slot. If PE gets cancelled that week, the children you teach are still moving.
There's now strong evidence that active lessons help pupils learn
This is one of the most useful findings in the report for anyone already using active teaching methods. New UK research followed primary pupils doing physically active maths lessons over two years and found measurable improvements in both cognitive function and gross motor skills. Separate longitudinal data also shows that teenagers who took part in structured, moderate-to-vigorous activity — especially team ball games — went on to have stronger executive function, better working memory, and even better GCSE results.
In other words, the research is increasingly backing up what Teach Active lessons have always been built on: movement woven into the lesson content itself, not bolted on afterwards, genuinely helps children learn — not just stay fit.
Attendance and belonging are closely tied to activity
Absence sits at 6.9% nationally, poor mental health is strongly linked to that absence, and only 64% of pupils in England say they feel they belong at school. But the report also found something encouraging: moving pupils from the least to the most active group was linked to a 26% improvement in school experience, a 32% improvement in happiness, and a 14% improvement in general health.
Daily active lessons, done alongside classmates as part of the normal school day, are a low-effort way to build in exactly the kind of routine and positive experience the evidence links to better attendance — without it needing to be a separate wellbeing programme bolted onto an already busy week.
Government policy is heading in the same direction
It's also worth knowing that this isn't just Teach Active's view — it's where national policy is going too. The Department for Education's response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review commits to a redrafted PE curriculum and a new core enrichment offer from 2028, and the Youth Sport Trust's Class of 2035 Commission has recommended that every school "deliver a minimum amount of physical activity within every school and early years setting" and improve staff skills and confidence in delivering it.
If your school is thinking about how to respond to that direction of travel, active lesson delivery is a practical way to start now, rather than waiting for a national framework to land.
Heading into September
Between falling PE time, patchy teacher confidence, squeezed breaktimes and widening gaps between pupils, this report makes clear that schools can't rely on PE lessons or breaktime alone to get children moving enough. But it also shows that when activity is built into everyday learning, the benefits go well beyond fitness — better attendance, better wellbeing, and better outcomes in the subjects you're already teaching.
That's the gap Teach Active lesson plans are designed to fill — not as one more thing on your to-do list, but as a way of making the lessons you already teach do double duty.
Want to see what an active lesson actually looks like in your classroom?