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The Active People Survey is the largest single survey of sport and active recreation ever undertaken in Europe and provides more detail on sports participation than any previous research. It was commissioned by Sport England and has been carried out by Ipsos MORI.

It provides statistical information about the levels of participation in sport and active recreation in England. It includes robust data for all 354 local authorities across the country, providing a picture of participation by local authority area for the very first time. The survey also gives a breakdown of levels of participation in different sports and the proportion of people volunteering to support sport.

The survey results will help Sport England and its partners target future investment to areas of greatest need and where it will have the greatest impact. This will help us succeed in the drive to create an active nation through sport. Sport England will work with its national and regional partners, with County Sports Partnerships at the sub-regional level, and through them with local partners to take forward this work.

The results of the Active People Survey will also inform the new sport and recreation indicators in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).  The findings have been welcomed by the Audit Commission, the Local Government Association and many National Governing Bodies of sport.

The survey will complete existing tools, including the Active Places website which allows us to analyse facilities around the country.

Active People results for the East Midlands

The results of the Active People Survey for the East Midlands can be found by accessing the links below:
Active People headline results
Detailed analysis by County Sport Partnership Area
Community Sport Profiles

The results can also be viewed in map form.  The Active People maps show the geographical distribution of Active People Survey results.  The data results have been mapped at a Local Authority level using a quantile classification method.  This method of classification divides the total sample into four classes with each class containing the same number of Local Authorities or as close as possible.  Therefore this classification method allows for the identification of those Local Authorities in the top 25% or top quarter.

Participation map
Volunteering map
Club Membership map
Tuition map
Organised competition map
Satisaction with local sports provision map

Repeat of the Active People Survey

The Active People Survey was initiated in 2004, and the survey ran from October 2005-October 2006.  Active People has helped establish a strong understanding of sports participation - nationally, regionally and locally. The survey has proved to be an effective tool in embedding sport at a local level and is being used to drive strategy, planning and investment across Sport England and its partners.  

The initial ambition was to repeat Active People every three years (so the next survey was to be carried out from October 2008-October 2009) to measure progress. However, the appetite for information created by the 2005/6 survey results and the positive response to the survey has led Sport England to consider ways of delivering interim results.  In short, the Active People Survey will be repeated sooner than originally planned to ensure that the baseline evidence provided can be built upon to measure change more quickly across the counties and region.

Further information about the repeat of the survey can be found by accessing the link below:

Repeat of Active People Survey

Repeat Active People Survey - Timescales