Background Information - PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP)
Overview
The PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP) was launched in 2008, building on the success of the PE, School Sport and Club Links Strategy (PESSCL) which operated from 2003.
The strategy is being delivered through 10 interlinked workstrands including coaching, competition, gifted and talented and leadership and volunteering. PESSYP contributes to other educational agendas including attendance, behaviour, attitudes to learning and raising standards and other cross-Government initiatives including active play; positive activities for young people; and combating childhood obesity.
The percentage of young people doing at least two hours of high quality PE and sport each week has risen from 25% in 2002 to 90% in 2008, beating the 2008 target by 5%.
From 2009/10 the aim of the strategy is to:
Give every young person aged five to sixteen in England access to five hours of PE and sport every week (three hours for 16-19 year olds).
The recently published PE and Sport Strategy for Young People: A Guide to Delivering the Five Hour Offer has set the following targets:
- By the end of the academic year 2010-2011, 40% of young people to take part in five hours a week PE and sport (three hours per week for 16 to 19 year olds)
- By the end of the academic year 2010-2011, 80% of five to 16 year olds in every School Sport Partnership to take part in three hours a week of PE and sport organised by schools
- By the end of the academic year 2012-2013, 60% of young people to take part in five hours a week PE and sport (three hours per week for 16 to 19 year olds)
PESSYP Grants
The core ring-fenced PESSYP grant funds a full time Partnership Development Manager (PDM), along with School Sport Co-ordinators and Primary Link Teachers. 
In addition to the core PESSYP grant, School Sport Partnerships also draw on a number of programmes which they use to help them deliver on their targets. These programmes are:
- Coaching: additional funding to employ professional, qualified coaches to be used to enhance PE and Sport provision across the School Sport Partnership
- Swimming: additional funding to ensure that more primary school pupils become confident swimmers
- Competition Managers: to increase the quality and quantity of inter-school competitive sport
- Further Education Sport Coordinator (FESCo) in every Further Education (FE) College
School Sport Partnerships
The driver of the PE and Sport Strategy has been the creation of a network of 450 School Sport Partnerships (SSPs). These are families of schools that come together to enhance sporting opportunities for all. The partnerships are usually made up of a Sports College, eight secondary schools and around 45 primary or special schools clustered around the secondary school and the College. Every maintained school in England is included.
Throughout the country the infrastructure comprises:
- 501 Specialist Sports Colleges
- 450 School Sport Partnerships
- 450 Partnership Development Managers (PDM)
- 55 Assistant Partnership Development Managers
- 3239 School Sport Co-ordinators (SSCo)
- 365 Further Education Sport Co-ordinators (FESCo)
- 18,128 Primary Link Teachers (PLT)
- 225 Competition Managers (CM)
- 230 Community Sports Coaches
Management of PESSYP
PESSCL and PESSYP have been developed by, and are the joint overall responsibility of the Departments for Education and for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
PESSYP’s delivery partners are the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England who deliver most of the workstrands that make up the strategy. The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) is responsible for the swimming workstrand and Ecorys manages the financial administration of PESSYP and related programmes.
Other key stakeholders include:
- Schools and FE colleges
- County Sports Partnerships
- Regional Government Offices
- Local Authorities
- National Governing Bodies of sport
- Local sports clubs and community providers
- Primary Care Trusts
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Department of Health
- Big Lottery Fund
