The Youth Sport Trust welcomed the results of the Government survey that showed a sharp increase in the numbers of young people taking part in PE and school sport across England.

The results showed that 80% of pupils now take part in at least 2 hours of high quality PE and sport a week, against a target of 75% for 2006.

As well as competitive sport being on the rise in schools, there is much evidence of stronger links between schools and local sports clubs. More than a quarter of pupils (27%) are doing sport in local clubs through formal links set up with schools, up from 19% since the first survey 2 years ago.

These results show that School Sport Partnerships have proved key to improving participation in PE and sport. School Sport Partnerships bring primary, special and secondary schools together in a network benefiting from extra staff and funding to increase sports opportunities for pupils and strengthening links to local clubs for the benefit of all.

The increasing number of Clubmark accredited clubs in all regions of the country and across 25 different sports will allow those young people to participate in a safe environment within the community. This will hopefully encourage young people to have a lifelong involvement in sport with all the ensuing benefits.