You can download the latest surveys using the links below:
Overview
Measuring the nation's activity levels
We run two surveys annually: Active Lives Adult, which replaced our Active People Survey, and the world-leading Active Lives Children and Young People.
Both give a unique and comprehensive view of how people are getting active.
Our most recent reports are available to download below, while a summary of the findings of our latest Adult report can be read here. You can also explore and filter the data yourself using our Active Lives Online tool.
A summary of our Children and Young People report can be found here.
We know that people take part in sport and physical activity in different ways, with many doing a range of activities.
In this section we'll explain how we measure sport and physical activity in our Active Lives surveys, both Adult and Children and Young People.
Adult survey
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Levels of activity
We measure activity based on the number of moderate intensity equivalent minutes, whereby each ‘moderate’ minute of activity counts as one minute and each 'vigorous' minute of activity counts as two moderate minutes.
Read moreModerate activity is defined as activity where you raise your breathing rate, and vigorous activity is where you’re out of breath or are sweating.
The Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for adults recommend doing 150 minutes or more of moderate intensity equivalent a week.
As a result, we present activity data for three groups.
- Active - doing at least 150 minutes a week
- Fairly active - doing 30-149 minutes a week
- Inactive - doing fewer than 30 minutes a week
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Types of activity
Activities are broken down into broad groups (i.e. sporting activities), activity groups (i.e. team sports), activities (i.e. football) and disciplines (i.e. walking football).
Read moreParticipation is reported for those who have taken part at least twice in the last 28 days. This gives us:
- An entry-level view of participation overall
- A useful measure of engagement in different sports and physical activity
- An understanding of the contribution of activities achieving 150+ minutes per week.
Twice in the last 28 days is defined as the equivalent of 30 minutes’ activity at least twice in the last 28 days. Each session must last at least 10 minutes and be of at least moderate intensity. An individual can reach the minimum threshold by a combination of two 30-minute sessions across the last 28 days or by six 10-minute sessions, for example.
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Volunteering to support sport and physical activity
We count a person as having volunteered if they’ve taken part in a volunteering role to support sport or physical activity twice in the last 12 months.
Read moreVolunteering roles are defined as:
- Provided transport to help people other than family members to take part
- Coached or instructed an individual or team(s) other than solely for family members
- Refereed, umpired or officiated at a match, competition or event
- Administrative or committee role (e.g. chairperson, treasurer, social secretary, first aid officer or welfare officer)
- Stewarded or marshalled
- Provided any other help (e.g. helping with refreshments, sports kit or equipment).
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Measuring outcomes
The Active Lives Adult Survey captures data designed to better understand impact against four of the five social outcomes identified in the government’s Sporting Future strategy.
Read moreFor the mental wellbeing measures of life satisfaction, happiness, feeling your life is worthwhile and anxiety, we ask respondents to answer on a scale of 0-10, with responses averaged to give a mean score.
The questions asked were:
- Life satisfaction: How satisfied are you with life nowadays?
- Happiness: How happy did you feel yesterday?
- Feeling your life is worthwhile: To what extent are the things you do in your life worthwhile?
- Anxiety: I can achieve most of the goals I set myself.
For the individual development and social and community development measures, we ask respondents to rate their agreement to a statement on a five-point scale from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1).
Responses are averaged to provide a mean score.
The questions asked were:
- Individual development: I can achieve most of the goals I set myself
- Individual development: If I find something difficult, I keep trying until I can do it
- Social and community development: Most people in your local area can be trusted.
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Sport spectating
Spectating is measured as having attended two or more live sports events, whether professional or amateur, over the previous 12 months.
Read more Read less
Children and Young People survey
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Levels of activity
We measure activity based on the average number of minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per day.
The Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for young people recommend doing an average of 60 minutes of activity a day across the week, with activity being of at least moderate intensity.
As a result, we present activity data for three activity groups:
- Active – doing an average of 60 minutes or more a day
- Fairly active – doing an average of 30-59 minutes a day
- Less active – doing less than an average of 30 minutes a day.
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At and outside school
Government policy aims that children and young people should get 30 minutes of their daily physical activity through the school day and 30 minutes outside of school, with activity being of at least moderate intensity.
Read moreFor at-school activity, every day is five days (weekdays), for outside school, activity every day is seven days.
We present data for two categories for both inside and outside of school:
- Those who average 30 minutes or more a day
- Those who average less than 30 minutes a day
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Types of activity
Information is presented on whether or not the pupil has done a specific activity for any duration with at least moderate intensity in the last week. Activities are presented individually (e.g. cricket) and as broader groups of activities (e.g. team sports).
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Volunteering to support sport and physical activity
We count a child as having volunteered if they’ve taken part in a volunteering role to support sport and physical activity at least twice in the last 12 months.
Read moreExamples of volunteering activities include being a sports leader or ambassador, coaching, refereeing, umpiring and stewarding, helping set up and clear away, helping with refreshments and any other activities which support sport and physical activity.
Activities which only help family members are not included and activities which involve sport and activity to raise money are also not included.
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Measuring outcomes
Three dimensions of mental wellbeing are measured: happiness, life satisfaction and the extent to which children and young people feel that the things they do in their life are worthwhile.
Read moreThe way the data is collected differs slightly between year groups.
- For Years 1-2 (ages 5-7), a smiley face question was used to measure happiness and is expressed as three categories in our data, whereby a smiley face is happy, a sad face is sad and a straight face is neither happy nor sad. This was the only outcome measured for Years 1-2 and is presented as percentages.
- For Years 3-6 (ages 7-11) the standard Office for National Statistics (ONS) ‘how happy did you feel yesterday?’ question was used. This was the only outcome measured for Years 3-6 and is presented as a mean score out of 10.
- For Years 7-11 (ages 11-16), the standard ONS questions were used for happiness, life satisfaction and feeling worthwhile (‘How happy did you feel yesterday?’; ‘How satisfied are you with life nowadays?’; ‘To what extent are the things you do in your life worthwhile?’). These are presented as mean scores out of 10.
Individual and community development was captured from Years 3-11 pupils using a question about trying difficult things (resilience) and a question about trusting peers (positive levels of social trust).
Each question is asked on a five-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
The questions asked were:
- Individual development: If I find something difficult, I keep trying until I can do it
- Community development: How much do you feel you can trust people who are a similar age to you?
Results are presented as a percentage of those who strongly agree.
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Swimming capability and confidence
Guidelines indicate that children should be able to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25m by the time they leave primary school.
Read moreData is collected through the following questions:
- Capability
- Can swim
- Can swim 25m unaided
- Can tread water
- Can swim 200m (Years 7-11 only)
- Which strokes they can swim (Years 7-11 only)
- Confidence
- Do you like swimming (Years 1-2)
- Can self-rescue from a lake (Years 3-11)
- Would like to swim more often (Years 3-11)
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Attitudes towards sport and physical activity
Asking children and young people about their attitudes towards sport and physical activity captures physical literacy.
Read moreThe way the data is collected differs slightly between year groups.
- For Years 1-2, three questions are asked covering the elements of enjoyment and competence
- For Years 3-6, four questions are asked covering enjoyment, confidence, competence and understanding
- For Years 7-11, the same four questions are asked as Years 3-6, with a fifth question asked to capture knowledge.
The following questions are used:
- Enjoyment (Years 1-2): I like playing sport (love, like, don’t like, hate)
- Enjoyment (Years 1-2): I like being active (love, like, don’t like, hate)
- Enjoyment (Years 3-11): I enjoy taking part in exercise and sports
- Confidence (Years 3-11): I feel confident when I exercise and play sports
- Competence (Years 1-2): I find sport easy (yes, no)
- Competence (Years 3-11): I find exercise and sport easy
- Understanding (Years 3-11): I understand why exercise and sports are good for me
- Knowledge (Years 7-11): I know how to get involved and improve my skills in lots of different types of exercise and sports.
Unless stated otherwise above, each question has a scale of strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree and results are presented as a percentage of those who strongly agree.
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Sport spectating
Spectating is measured as having attended two or more live sports events, whether professional or amateur, over the previous 12 months.
Read more Read less
On this page
We collect data for two surveys.
Our Active Lives Adult Survey focuses on people aged 16 and over, while our Active Lives Children and Young People Survey looks at the activity levels of children aged 5-16.
Both surveys represent a way of measuring the number of people taking part in sport and physical activity.
Collection of data for our Active Lives Adult Survey began in November 2015 and replaced our Active People Survey.
The first Children and Young People survey detailed activity levels during the September 2017 to July 2018 academic year and was published in December 2018.
The two surveys have differing methodologies.
Each section below details the methods of data collection and provides key documents for your reference.
Adult survey
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Scope and background
Active Lives Adult, which was established in November 2015, provides a world-leading approach to gathering data on how adults aged 16 and over in England engage with sport and physical activity.
Read moreIt’s carried out by leading research company IPSOS-MORI and produced by us in collaboration with Arts Council England, Public Health England and the Department for Transport.
The results will shape and influence local decision-making as well as inform government policy.
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Data collection methodology
The survey is sent out to a randomly selected sample of households across England. Two adults (aged 16+) are invited to take part by logging online and entering the password in their invite letter.
Read moreThere's also an option to complete a paper questionnaire which is supplied with the second of three reminders.
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Sampling
The overall sample size is around 175,000 people for each survey.
From the year 9 survey onwards (mid-November 2023), new sample allocations will be in place using an updated approach that has been informed by findings from our external consultation that took place in May-July 2023.
More information about the consultation can be read here.
Read moreOur minimum annual sample size for each English local authority (excluding the City of London and Isles of Scilly) is 400. The remaining sample is allocated based on the following criteria:
50% based on places with the greatest need:
The Place Need Classification is used as the basis for this allocation. Local authorities that fall within the top 20% (top 2 deciles) for both an adult sporting and physical activity need and social need, will receive an additional sample of 500.
This version of the Place Need Classification uses a slightly different approach to the one used for place expansion work, with a focus only on adults at a local authority level which is based on updated geographical boundaries to align to fieldwork requirements.
50% based on places with the largest population size:
Local authorities with larger populations will have their sample boosted, the minimum boost based on population size will be 300 increasing in increments of 100 up to a maximum of 1,100 in the most populated local authority area in England (Birmingham).
Year 9 survey allocations for each local area can be viewed here.
Local areas have the option to pay for additional sample. This is an annual process and the cost for the year 9 sample boost is £2,000 per 100 interviews.
If you are interested in boosting sample in a local area, please get in touch with Sport England at [email protected] where you’ll be advised on the next window for this.
The survey sample is randomly selected from the Royal Mail’s Postal Address File (generally regarded as the ‘Gold Standard’ for population surveys), which is a list of addresses in the UK that is maintained by the Royal Mail and has a very high coverage of private residential addresses.
Data is weighted to Office for National Statistics population measures for geography and key demographics.
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Survey development
The survey was developed in two phases.
Phase one covered the core activity tracking questions and went live in November 2015.
The second phase covered volunteering, wider outcomes and motivation questions.
Read moreThese questions were developed through desk research and two rounds of cognitive testing. It went live in May 2016.
The first data was published in January 2017.
The questionnaire is reviewed annually with key changes documented in the questionnaire summary.
Click here to read the questionnaire summary.
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Releasing results
Data is published annually in April (mid-November to mid-November results).
Historically, data was published twice a year in April (mid-November to mid-November) and October (mid-May to mid-May interim results) but was reduced to one annual release in 2022.
Read moreThe results will cover the mid-November to mid-November period and the first of these annual releases will be published in April 2023.
More information on the consultation can be found here.
Note: publication of the Active Lives Child Survey results is unaffected and will remain in its December slot.
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The predecessor: Active People Survey
The Active Lives Adult Survey replaced the Active People Survey.
Active People ran from 2005-2015 and remained largely unchanged over that period. It measured a wide range of sports and provided useful local data to a wide range of local authorities.
Nevertheless, it needed to change.
Read moreActive People was a landline telephone survey and, as patterns of telephone and technology use changed, so our data collection methodology needed to too.
Added to this, our 2017-21 Towards an Active Nation strategy provided an opportune moment to refresh the wider range of metrics collected through the survey.
Data collected through Active Lives is not comparable with Active People due to both methodological differences and a different scope of activities covered in the definition of sport and physical activity.
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Children and Young People survey
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Scope and background
Active Lives Children and Young People, which was established in September 2017, provides a world-leading approach to gathering data on how children engage with sport and physical activity.
Read moreIt gives anyone working with children aged 5-16 key insight to help understand children’s attitudes and behaviours around sport and physical activity.
The results will shape and influence local decision-making as well as inform government policy on the PE and Sport Premium, Childhood Obesity Plan and other cross-departmental programmes.
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Data collection methodology
Schools, that have been randomly selected, arrange for up to three mixed ability classes in up to three randomly chosen year groups to complete an online survey.
Read moreThe survey has a different design for Years 1-2, Years 3-6 and Years 7-11 to ensure it's suitable for each age group.
In addition to this, parents of children sampled in Years 1-2 are asked to complete a questionnaire to provide more detail about their child’s physical activity behaviours.
One teacher per school is also asked to complete a questionnaire on facilities, teacher training, active travel, types of physical activity on offer and the impact of PE and School Sport Premium funding, to provide context to children's responses.
Key details of the differences between surveys are below:
Years 1-2 (5-7 year olds)
These year groups have a simpler survey and it mostly focuses on their attitudes towards sport and physical activity.
Years 3-6 (7-11 year olds)
This survey asks pupils about the sport and activities they've done, as well as their attitudes. Years 3-4 are not asked questions about volunteering and spectating.
Years 7-11 (11-16 year olds)
This is the same as the Years 3-6 survey, but asks additional questions on some topics for more information.
Parents (of 5-7 year olds)
The parent survey is very similar to that for Years 3-6 and asks parents about the activities that their child or children have done. Parents are not asked about their child or children’s attitudes to sport and exercise.
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Teachers
The teacher survey asks about the sport facilities that are available, the impact of the pupil premium and other school-level information, such as the time spent by pupils in PE lessons.
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Sampling
A sample of schools is drawn each year from the ‘Get Information about Schools’ database, a register of educational establishments maintained by the Department for Education. The sample includes both state-funded and independent schools.
Read moreThis includes academies, free schools, and boarding schools. Infant, junior, primary, middle, secondary and all-through schools are all included and results in 96% coverage of all Year 1-11 pupils in England.
The sample is split across the three terms, with 35% in the autumn term, 35% in the spring term and 30% in the summer term.
Schools are selected randomly within each local authority. Up to three year groups are randomly chosen per school and within these year groups a single mixed-ability class is randomly selected. Therefore, each school will carry out the survey with up to three classes.
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Survey development
The survey went through two rounds of cognitive testing and a pilot study. It went live in September 2017, with the first set of data published in December 2018.
Read moreThe questionnaire is reviewed annually, with key changes documented in the questionnaire summary.
Click here to read the questionnaire overview.
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Releasing results
Data is published in December.
Read more Read less
Information for adults completing the survey
The Active Lives Adult Survey is sent out to a randomly selected sample of households across England.
If you've received a request to answer the survey, you'll have received a letter like this.
Your responses are really valuable as they help to give an in-depth picture of how many people take part in sport and physical activity by demographic group, location and activity type.
As a thank you, we’ll give you a £5 gift voucher, which can be redeemed from a range of retailers including department stores, fashion stores and restaurants.
To answer the survey, just go to www.activelivessurvey.org and type in one of the passwords on your invitation letter.
If you have any further questions about the survey, or how to complete it, please email [email protected].
On this page
Information for schools
The Active Lives Children and Young People survey provides a world-leading approach to gathering data on how children engage with sport and physical activity.
It gives anyone working with children aged 5-16 key data to help understand children's attitudes and behaviours around sport and activity.
Schoolchildren across England are asked to take part in this survey, which sits at the heart of our vision – that everyone in England, regardless of their age, background and level of ability, should feel able to take part in sport and activity.
The survey was developed with the Department for Education (DfE), the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It'll provide us, government and other partners with a broad and deep understanding of activity levels and behaviours, to help shape future policy and investment decisions.
The video consists of a series of quick-cuts between a range of children participating in a different sports and physical activities. It focusses on the benefits for schools, teachers and children of taking part in the Active Lives Survey for children and young people.
Title: Introducing the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, including Sport England and The National Lottery Logos.
A young child plays tennis.
Onscreen copy: Understanding how children and young people choose to get active.
Two schoolgirls walk to school.
A group of children sit on the side of a swimming pool being taught to swim.
Two girls pass a ball between them.
Onscreen copy: How children aged 5-16 engage in sport and physical activity.
A young boy plays football.
Two children play on a roundabout.
Three children on roller-skates in a park.
Onscreen copy: What motivates young people to be active.
Children playing hockey.
A young girl throwing a ball.
Onscreen copy: Understanding the physical activity and wellbeing levels of children within your school.
A girl and male tutor practicing martial arts.
A young male playing wheelchair basketball.
A disabled male diving into a swimming pool.
Onscreen copy: Supporting children to be active and to tackle inequalities.
An overhead shot of a football pitch.
A group of children celebrating after a sack race.
Onscreen copy: Launched in 2017, completed by around 120,000 children and young people.
A parent and child working on a laptop.
Onscreen copy: 5,000 parents, 1,300 teachers.
A teacher and group of children in a classroom.
Onscreen copy: From around 1,500 schools across England each year.
A young child holding a balance bar.
Onscreen copy: Funded by UK Government.
A boy in a harness walking through a climbing tunnel.
A rolling basketball being picked up on an outdoor court.
A boy playing a tennis shot.
A girl throwing a ball in a playground.
A school game of cricket.
Onscreen copy: How sport and physical activity can contribute to whole-school improvement.
Two girls in ana engineering class.
Onscreen copy: And improve children’s mental health and wellbeing.
A child ringing a bike by a rugby pitch.
Onscreen copy: And we need your help.
A child walking in a coat and bobble hat.
Children doing gymnastics outside.
Onscreen copy: The ask.
A teacher and two students with tablets in a classroom.
Children on a desktop computer.
Onscreen copy: Easy to access and simple to complete within the school day. Secondary schools can also share the survey as homework.
Boy at home on his bed with a laptop.
Onscreen copy: Tailored to different age groups. Complete in around 20 minutes.
Children in a classroom.
Onscreen copy: One class, in up to three different year groups, fill out the questionnaires.
A teacher sat outside completing the survey on a tablet.
A young girl on a playground slide.
Onscreen copy: One teacher from each school, complete a 10-minute survey.
Parents with children completing the survey on a home computer.
Onscreen copy: Parents of Years 1 and 2 children encouraged and incentivised to complete a short survey.
Children swinging on climbing frame bars.
An adult and child running up stairs in a football kit.
Onscreen copy: Who can take part?
Classrooms with children filling in the survey.
Onscreen copy: All schools, including independent schools can take part in the free survey.
An overhead shot of a PE lesson.
Onscreen copy: Schools are randomly selected and invited to take part.
Children playing with a football in their hands.
A boy catching a cricket ball in a playground.
Two girls walk past a basketball court.
Children in school playing catch.
Onscreen copy: Non-selected schools can also opt in.
A coach teaching his pupils.
Onscreen copy: Support
A child riding a bike in a field.
A teacher and class in the classroom.
Onscreen copy: Local Active Partnership has been funded by Sport England to provide guidance and support.
A close-up of the survey onscreen.
Two teachers talking.
Onscreen copy: With class selection and provide top tips and resources.
Children running outside with a football.
Onscreen copy: The Benefits.
A school playground.
Onscreen copy: Three main benefits.
Children running back and forth on a playground.
Two adults and a child playing cricket outside.
Onscreen copy: Sampled schools can receive credit to spend on a range of sport and wellbeing equipment.
Children on a climbing frame.
Onscreen copy: Parents can also earn additional credits.
A group of children in on a football pitch in a class.
Onscreen copy: We’ll provide a bespoke and confidential report.
A group of children doing exercises inside.
A child in a wheelchair on an athletics track.
A teacher holding a child in a swimming pool.
A PE Lesson in a school playground.
Children playing outside a block of flats.
Onscreen copy: Use it to inform your PE, school sport and physical activity.
A teacher talks to pupils in a playground.
Three children push a child in a wheelchair down a school corridor.
A shot of a school and tennis courts in the foreground.
Onscreen copy: Receive a Department for Education Healthy Schools Rating.
A certificate being hung on a school wall.
Children playing outside.
A group of children playing with hula-hoops in a sports hall.
A child riding a bike through trees.
Onscreen copy: Be part of a national collective effort to help children and young people lead healthier, happier, and more active lives.
A girl on a swing.
Happy children running down school steps.
Onscreen copy: To find out more and to get involved contact your local Active Partnership.
A group of children in football kit holding a trophy. A QR code is in the top right corner to the following link.
Onscreen copy: www.activepartnerships.org/active-partnerships
The final screen has logos for Sport England, The National Lottery, Ipsos, Active Partnerships, and a line saying a special thanks to The Valley Community School and GreaterSport.
The full script can be read below:
Help us to create a healthier, happier future, by understanding how children and young people choose to get active.
The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey gather’s valuable data on how children aged 5-16 engage in sport and physical activity.
It helps schools, parents, policy makers and local communities understand what motivates young people to be active.
It provides a unique understanding of the physical activity and wellbeing levels of children within your school.
and informs how resources are invested to support children to be active and to tackle inequalities.
Launched in 2017, the survey is completed by around: 120,000 children and young people; 5,000 parents; and 1,300 teachers, from around 1,500 schools across England each year.
Sport England developed the survey together with Government and take pride in the collective effort and the valuable insight it provides.
We want to further build our understanding of the attitudes and behaviours of children...
And reveal how sport and physical activity can contribute to whole-school improvement and improve children’s mental health and wellbeing.
And we need your help.
We have designed the survey to be easy toaccess online and simple for schools to complete within the school day.
Secondary schools can also share the survey as homework.
The survey is tailored to different age groups so the children find them enjoyable to complete - in around 20 minutes.
One class, in up to three different year groups, is asked to fill out the questionnaires.
We also ask one teacher from each school to complete a 10-minute survey to give some broader context.
Parents of Years 1 and 2 children are encouraged and incentivised to complete a short survey to help build a stronger picture of their child’s activity levels.
Who can take part?
All schools with pupils in years 1-11, including independent schools, can take part in the free survey – even if they have taken part before.
Schools are randomly selected and invited to take part in the Active Lives Survey by Sport England and invited by their local Active Partnership to participate.
Non-selected schools can also opt-in to do the survey as they too find the data valuable.
Support
We appreciate that schools and teachers are very busy, so your local Active Partnership has been funded by Sport England to provide guidance and support.
They can assist you with class selection and provide top tips and resources to help everyone complete the surveys.
The benefits
As a school, there are three main benefits to completing Active Lives:
Sampled schools can receive credit to spend on a range of sport and wellbeing equipment.
Parents can also earn additional credits by completing the parent survey for Year 1 and 2 pupils.
We’ll provide a bespoke and confidential report providing valuable insight on children’s activity levels, physical literacy, swimming proficiency, wellbeing, self-efficacy and levels of social trust.
Use it to inform your PE, school sport and physical activity, as well as supporting evidence for Ofsted.
By taking part, schools will also receive a Department for Education Healthy Schools Rating (HSRS) and a certificate that can be displayed in school.
This is your opportunity to be part of a national collective effort to help children and young people lead healthier, happier and more active lives.
To find out more and to get involved, please contact your local Active Partnership.
How does the survey work?
Schools are randomly sampled to take part on an annual basis and those selected will be contacted by their local Active Partnership, who are the first point of call for schools.
One class, in up to three different year groups, is asked to fill out the questionnaires.
We've designed the survey to be as easy for schools to administer as possible. The questionnaires can be completed on desktop computers, laptops or tablets and take around 20 minutes to complete.
The survey can be done at any point during the allocated term, depending on what works best for the school involved.
The data is collected and processed by Ipsos MORI.
What do the questionnaires involve?
The questionnaires have been designed to be simple and enjoyable for pupils to complete and are tailored to different age groups.
We also ask one teacher from each school to complete a 10-minute survey to give some broader context to the pupils’ responses.
In some schools, for the youngest pupils in Years 1 and 2, we're also asking parents to fill out a questionnaire, to give more information about their child's physical activity behaviours.
What are the benefits to schools?
Each school that takes part will receive a school report summarising their own results from the survey. This is subject to a certain threshold of valid responses being received.
The report covers measures of children's activity levels, physical literacy, swimming proficiency, wellbeing, self-efficacy and levels of social trust.
It gives schools evidence and insight into how they're performing in terms of engaging its pupils in sport and physical activity.
These reports aren't published, shared with anyone - bar the school itself - or used to compare schools. They're purely designed for the benefit of the individual school.
We also offer each participating school credits to the value of around £100, to spend on a range of sports, wellbeing and health eating equipment or materials, to thank them for their involvement in the study.
In schools where parents are asked to take part, we reward each parent response with an additional £10 worth of credits for the school to spend, so every response really does count.
As part of the school report, if the teacher survey is also completed, the school is assessed as part of the DfE's Healthy Schools Rating Scheme (HSRS), for a rating and certificate that can be displayed.
Take part
We need your ongoing help to build our collective understanding of the attitudes and behaviours of children and young people towards sport and physical activity.
Please speak to your local Active Partnership to find out more and to take part in the survey.
School resources
To make taking part as easy as possible for schools, we've prepared a number of documents that can be accessed via the link below, including school guides that encompass the key information schools need to know.
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Year 1-6/Key Stage 1-2 materials
A1-Y1-6-school-guide-2024-25
Download the file - 708.61 KB
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A2 - Y1-2 parent letter 2024-25
Download the file - 52.96 KB
A3 - Y3-6 parent letter 2024-25
Download the file - 41.95 KB
A4-parent-guide-for-schools-2024-25
Download the file - 891.88 KB
A5 - Y1-2 parent postcard 2024-25
Download the file - 370.57 KB
A6 - Y1-2 parent email template 2024-25
Download the file - 51.74 KB
A7 - Y1-2 parent text template 2024-25
Download the file - 49.69 KB
A8 - Y1-2 parent poster 2024-25
Download the file - 289.53 KB
A9 - Y1-6 pupil information advice 2024-25
Download the file - 76.15 KB
A10 - Y1-2 school report example
Download the file - 212.33 KB
A11 - Y3-6 school report example
Download the file - 584.08 KB
A12-Y1-2-questionnaire-summary-2024-25
Download the file - 155.72 KB
A13-Y3-6-questionnaire-summary-2024-25
Download the file - 412.37 KB
A14-Parent-questionnaire-summary-2024-25
Download the file - 184.48 KB
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Year 7-11/Key Stage 3-4 materials
B1-Y7-11-school-guide-2024-25
Download the file - 306.72 KB
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B2 - Y7-11 parent letter 2024-25
Download the file - 42.33 KB
B3 - Y7-11 pupil information advice 2024-25
Download the file - 80.54 KB
B4 - Y7-11 school report example 2024
Download the file - 500.25 KB
B5-Y7-11-questionnaire-summary-2024-25
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B6 - Y7-11 privacy policy 2024-25
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All year groups/schools
C2-School-report-requirements-2024-25
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C3-Teacher-questionnaire-summary-2024-25
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C4 - privacy policy 2024-25
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C5 - teacher email address privacy policy 2024-25
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C6-ESPO-email-address-privacy-letter-2024-25
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Completing the survey voluntarily
As well as providing data for the official statistics via random selection, the survey can be completed voluntarily by schools.
Schools that ‘opt in’ to the survey aren't eligible to receive credits to spend, but do receive a report summarising their survey responses, providing enough valid responses are received.
They're also assessed for the HSRS, if the teacher survey is completed.
Find out more
For further information about taking part in the survey, please contact your local Active Partnership.
Report archive/Access the data
All Active Lives Adult and Children and Young People reports are available to download in this section.
We’ve also produced a series of Spotlight reports that delve deeper into the results of our Active Lives Adult Survey.
These Spotlight reports explore the detail behind our Active Lives Adult Survey, each one focusing on a particular theme.
Active Lives Adult
Active Lives Adult Survey November 2023-24 Report
Download the file - 3.86 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 2022-23 Report
Download the file - 4.58 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 2021-22 Report
Download the file - 4.37 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 2020-21 Report
Download the file - 2.76 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey May 2020-21 Report
Download the file - 5.26 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 2019-20 Report
Download the file - 5.23 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey May 2019-20 Report
Download the file - 3.29 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey May 2019-20 Coronavirus Report
Download the file - 1.94 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 2018-19 Report
Download the file - 2.78 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey May 2018-19 Report
Download the file - 2.83 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 16-17 Behaviours Report
Download the file - 1.98 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 2017-18 Report
Download the file - 3.31 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey May 17-18 Report
Download the file - 2.41 MB
Active Lives Adult Survey November 16-17 Report
Download the file - 1.17 MB
Spotlight on Active Lives
Impact on mental health and wellbeing
Download the file - 1.17 MB
Spotlight on gender
Download the file - 380.99 KB
Spotlight on older adults
Download the file - 195.54 KB
Spotlight on lower socio-economic groups
Download the file - 366.82 KB
Spotlight on volunteering and gender
Download the file - 466.31 KB
Spotlight on volunteering and lower socio-economic groups
Download the file - 253.79 KB
Active Lives Children and Young People
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey - academic year 2023-24 report
Download the file - 8.09 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey - academic year 2022-23 report
Download the file - 3 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Academic Year 2021-22 Report
Download the file - 5.19 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Academic Year 2020-21 Report
Download the file - 5.11 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Academic Year 2019-20 Report
Download the file - 2.78 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Academic Year 2019-20 Coronavirus Report
Download the file - 1.85 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Academic Year 2018-19 Report
Download the file - 3.73 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2017-18 Attitudes Report
Download the file - 3.07 MB
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Academic Year 2017-18 Report
Download the file - 3.5 MB
The Active Lives Surveys are a major investment for us and continue to be foundational to our data, insight and learning work.
However, as we continue to implement Uniting the Movement, there were aspects of the Active Lives Adult Survey we wanted to review and improve.
A central element of the survey design is that it provides robust estimates of activity levels for all English local authority areas.
For most of these we'd previously set a target of 500 responses each year, with some areas receiving boosted samples.
This broad approach had always been used to ensure robust estimates were produced for all local authority areas.
We felt the time was right to review this approach, based on feedback received from users of Active Lives statistics and recognition that there's not been a comprehensive review of the sample allocation to local areas since the survey began in 2015/16.
During that time, we've seen considerable local government reorganisation (typically district authorities combining to form new, larger unitary authorities).
In response to this, we ran an external consultation to establish the basis upon which future samples should be allocated to local areas.
The consultation ran for 12 weeks from May-July 2023.
We've analysed and reviewed the findings and made decisions based on the balance of views expressed through the consultation.
The consultation summary report is available to view below.
The new approach has a new minimum sample allocation of 400 per local area (a reduction from the previous 500), with the remaining 57,000 samples allocated based on the following criteria:
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50% based on places with the greatest need
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50% based on places with the largest population size.
With this approach it's important to acknowledge the loss of precision in survey estimates by reducing from 500 to 400 is small and outweighed by the benefits of allocating more survey samples to places of greatest need and with larger populations.
A sample size of 400 will still support robust and useful estimates for all local areas.
As with previous survey years, local areas have the option to pay for additional samples, with more information available on our methodology page.
The sample allocation spreadsheet attached below provides further details on how places with the largest populations and those with greatest need are allocated sample and sets out the year nine sample allocation for each local authority.
These changes will be implemented from the start of the year nine Active Lives Adult Survey fieldwork, starting mid-November 2023.
