Sports participation increases among Scottish school children

There's been a 13 per cent increase in the number of school children in Scotland getting involved in sports during term time.

Figures from Sportscotland show that participant sessions increased to 5,063,000 during the academic year 2012-13 from 4,499,000 in 2011-12 – a rise of more than half a million.

The increase has been attributed to the government's Active Schools campaign, which aims to provide more and higher quality opportunities for children to participate in school sport and to increase capacity through the recruitment of volunteers who deliver the activity sessions. In 2012-13 Sportscotland invested a total of £11.9m into the Active Schools Network, which delivers the programme.

As a result of the investment, the number of people delivering Active Schools supported sessions has significantly risen by 22.3 per cent from 15,792 in 2011-12 to 19,321 in 2012-13, with more than 16,000 being unpaid volunteers.

Louise Martin CBE, chair of Sportscotland, said: "These are excellent figures that show significant increases across all Active Schools measurements.

"There are more than 400 Active Schools coordinators working in schools across all 32 local authorities in Scotland and they are supporting the delivery of more and better opportunities to take part in sport and physical activities before school, during lunchtime, and after school."

Sportscotland works in partnership with all 32 local authorities to invest in and support the Active Schools Network of managers and coordinators who work with primary, secondary, and Additional Support Needs (ASN) schools across Scotland.