Inequalities Metric | Sport England

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What's the Inequalities Metric?

The Inequalities Metric recognises the intersectionality of individuals' characteristics and provides a comprehensive measure of inequalities.

By understanding the multiple personal, social and economic characteristics that influence activity levels, we can take effective action to close the gap and ensure everyone benefits from sport and physical activity.

Key insights from the Inequalities Metric

58% of adults have at least one inequality characteristic

75% of adults with no inequality characteristic meet activity guidelines, compared to 44% for those with two or more

62% of children and young people hold one or more inequality characteristic

51% of children with no inequality characteristics meet activity guidelines, compared to 39% for those with two or more

The Inequalities Metric is built on data from:

Active Lives Adult Survey (2021–23)

Active Lives Children and Young People Survey (2021–23)

The data highlights that people with two or more inequality characteristics are least likely to be active.

If everyone with one or more characteristics of inequality could be as active as those with none, there'd be 4.9 million more active adults and 328,000 more active children and young people.

Who's most affected?

The Inequalities Metric identifies key characteristics that have the most impact on minutes of activity.

For adults:

Disabled people and those with a long-term health condition
Age 65 and over
Lower socioeconomic groups (NS-SEC 6–8)
Asian, Black, and Chinese adults
Pregnant women and parents of children under one
Adults of Muslim faith

For children and young people:

Girls
Other gender (secondary-aged children)
Low affluence
Asian and Black children
Lack of access to a park, field, or outdoor sports space (secondary-aged children)

The key driver is not any one characteristic on its own, but rather how many different characteristics a person has. The more you have, the less active you’re likely to be.

While we acknowledge there are other inequalities not included in this model, and continue work to mitigate their impact, greater focus on people with two or more characteristics will have more impact on reducing overall inequalities.

Previously, we focused on a narrower set of factors, overlooking other important differences, which limited how well our partners could support communities. Now we’re taking a broader, fairer approach that tackles inequalities from the ground up.

Inequalities Metric in action

The Inequalities Metric is helping organisations make better decisions to reduce inequalities in sport and physical activity. It's being used to:

guide investment – ensuring funding reaches those most in need
shape campaigns and programmes – engaging underrepresented groups more effectively
support local authorities and partners – identifying priority audiences and tailoring interventions.

We have produced a set of Place Needs Assessment resources to help organisations explore how the Inequalities Metric and Place Needs Classification can be used to identify inequalities in sport and physical activity.

Place Need Classification

Place Need Assessments

We encourage organisations to explore how they can integrate the Inequalities Metric into their work.

For further information or to collaborate with us, please contact [email protected].

Frequently asked questions

What data is the metric based on?

The current Inequalities Metric is based on minutes of activity data from two-year combined Active Lives datasets that have been weighted accordingly:
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The model was created using data from the Active Lives Adult Survey, November 2019-2021 and the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, Academic Years 2020-2022.

To keep the inequalities metric relevant and up to date, we refreshed the model in 2024, incorporating the latest data from the Active Lives Adult Survey, November 2021-2023 and the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, Academic Years 2021-2023.

The next review and update is scheduled for summer 2026.

Due to the timing and sequencing of other research projects, earlier versions of the inequalities metric may be referenced.

Where feasible, we'll update these to align with the latest data and will clearly reference the data sources used.
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What method has been used to create the metric?

We've analysed the Active Lives data using regression analysis, which is a statistical technique that's more complex than a simple descriptive analysis of activity levels by a single characteristic.
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Regression analysis provides us with a model of expected activity levels, which tells us which demographic characteristics (and importantly combinations of these) have an impact on minutes of activity, while controlling for the impact of other characteristics.

The model tells us the number of characteristics an individual has is a more important driver of activity levels than what the characteristics are.

There's a separate model for adults and children, which is why different characteristics are identified for each.
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Why are specific characteristics included/not included?

Regression analysis looks at combinations of characteristics on activity levels.
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In some instances, characteristics that you might expect to see are picked up through the intersections and therefore don't drive activity levels on their own.

For example, women is not included as a characteristic on its own but they are highly represented among those with two or more characteristics of inequality.
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Are there any tools to help me use and apply the metric?

We're creating tools and resources to support organisations apply the Inequalities Metric in their places.
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In 2025 we'll share Place case study guidance documents that explore how the Inequalities Metric, along with other relevant data, can be applied to help diagnose the different nature of need in different places.

We're in the process of updating the Active Lives Online tool so users will be able to filter the data by the number of characteristics of inequality.
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