Why our state schools do so badly at sport

Teachers ‘unwilling’, says Ofsted

THE dire plight of competitive sport in state schools means a ‘ disproportionately high number’ of athletes and sports stars are privately educated, says the head of Ofsted.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector of schools, will today warn that too many pupils are being let down by head teachers who ‘treat competitive sport with suspicion or as an optional extra’.

Not enough state schools are ‘developing the talents of the next generation of Mo Farahs’ and this lack of

‘This simply can’t be right’

sporting participation is ‘ cementing the social inequality that holds our nation back’.

Children are being hampered by teachers unwilling to run teams, sports being taught at a ‘superficial level’ and ‘limited facilities’ such as a lack of playing fields.

Sir Michael will call on the Government to do more to enable competitive sport to thrive.

Ofsted launched an in-depth assessment of school sport after it emerged that 41 per cent of UK medallists at London 2012 were privately educated. The watchdog investigated the backgrounds of English athletes who compete at Olympic and Paralympic standard and also at the highest levels in football, rugby union, hockey, netball and cricket.

Despite state schools educating up to 93 per cent of the population, they only produce about a third of top sportsmen and women, the analysis found. Fifty-four per cent of hockey players, and 73 per cent of the equestrian team at the London 2012 Olympics were privately educated.

In the Rugby Union English Premiership, 61 per cent of players attended independent schools. Cricket and hockey also have an ‘overrepresentation’ of privately-schooled players. Football is the ‘most demographically representative’ with 94 per cent of English players in the Premier League educated by the state.

Sir Michael will tell the Festival of Education conference at Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire, today: ‘It simply can’t be right that state educated athletes are so woefully under- represented in our elite sports.’

Ofsted also visited 35 state schools and ten independent schools. It surveyed the views of more than 500 heads and 1,000 11 to 18-year-olds for its report Going the Extra Mile.