Participation trends

Participation means taking part in physical activity and sport. It is measured by:

• surveys that ask people how much activity they do, and how often
• membership numbers of clubs and governing bodies
• attendance at sessions, leisure centres and events.

The results show trends: changes over time, and differences between social groups (such as age, gender or disability) and between activities.

A common measure is whether people meet the Chief Medical Officers' guidelines: for adults, at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week; for children and young people, an average of at least 60 minutes a day.

• Sport England is the organisation that funds and promotes community sport in England. Its Active Lives surveys ask adults, and children and young people, about their activity each year.
• National governing bodies (NGBs) run each sport, such as the Football Association or Swim England. They count members, clubs and players, and track their own sport.
• The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the government department responsible for sport. It funds Sport England and publishes statistics.

Use sources like these because they are valid and respected: they survey large numbers of people, the same way every year.

From Sport England's Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, academic year 2024–25 (published December 2025), for 5 to 16-year-olds in England:

• More children are active. The share meeting the guideline of 60 minutes a day rose from about 43% in 2017–18 to 49.1% in 2024–25, the highest since the survey began. But fewer than half meet it.
• Boys are more active than girls. In 2024–25, about 52% of boys met the guideline, compared with about 46% of girls. The gap is smaller than in 2017–18.