Active Lives Children and Young People Survey

Two young boys playing football illustration

1. What is The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey?

The Active Lives Survey: Children and Young People provides a world-leading approach to gathering data on how children engage with sport and physical activity.

Designed by Sport England, the Department for Education (DfE), the Department for Health (DfH), and the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), its purpose is to gain a detailed insight into the current physical activity habits of the nation's children and young people (5 to 16).

The survey is school-based and covers measures of children's:

Activity levels
Physical literacy
Swimming proficiency
Well-being
Self-efficacy
Levels of social trust.

What does the Active Lives Survey tell us locally?

The following document is our first Active Lives Survey impact report, looking at what the national results mean at a local level across Dorset and BCP. This forms a basis for us to better understand local trends in the physical activity behaviours of Children and Young People aged 5 to 16.

Active Lives Report Jan 23 (PDF, 799 Kb)

2. What are the benefits of my school completing the survey?

All randomly selected schools will receive the following:

• A confidential, bespoke school report from Sport England about their pupils
• Credits to exchange for sports equipment
• A Healthy Schools Rating from the Department of Education.

One survey takes 15 minutes to answer on-line, the results of which will influence local decision-making and inform government policy.

Non-selected schools can also 'opt in' to participate in the survey. For details on how to opt in to the survey, pease contact Annie Hargreaves.

3. How do I complete the survey?

Schools are randomly selected and invited to participate by Sport England, you can see the latest list of selected Dorset schools below. Typically, a school will be invited to survey three individual classes in the school, and one teacher. Schools have an option to 'top up' their classes, to include all young people in their school, if desired.

Sport England has created two guides to help you complete the survey. They will help you to understand what the Survey is, how you take part and the incentives for doing so. They also contain links to key documents such as pupil information sheets and privacy notices. One guide is for Years 1-6, and the other is for Years 7-11. Middle and all-through schools may need to view both guides, depending on the year groups sampled.

Active Lives Children & Young People Survey Guide - Years 1-6 (PDF, 214 Kb)
Understanding pupils’ levels of participation and attitudes to sport and physical activity to help them move more.
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Guide - Years 7-11 (PDF, 195 Kb)
Understanding pupils’ levels of participation and attitudes to sport and physical activity to help them move more.
2023 Participating Schools (MS Excel, 24 Kb)
A list of the 2023 participating schools can be found here.