This year, 116,038 pupils from 1,000 schools in Wales took part in the 2022 Sport Wales School Sport Survey. This document shares the data by gender, highlighting key figures and patterns.
We’ve structured this around the Vision for Sport in Wales: ‘An active nation where everyone can have a lifelong enjoyment of sport’. We want as many people as possible to be inspired to be active through sport, where everyone feels able to take part no matter their sporting background, in a sporting landscape that responds to the needs of people at different stages of their life, to create a wide range of positive experiences.
Active Nation
The Vision for Sport in Wales is to create an active nation. We want as many people as possible to be inspired to be active through sport. This section explores participation by frequency, setting and sports, as well as volunteering.
- Boys are more likely than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ to participate in sport outside of the curriculum three or more times per week (Future Generations Indicator 38). 43% of boys participate in sport outside of the curriculum three or more times per week, compared to 36% of girls and 28% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’.
- Girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ participate less than the national average of participation in sport outside of the curriculum three or more times per week.
- Boys are more likely than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ to participate in extracurricular sport at least once a week. 41% of boys, 39% of girls, and 27% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’ participate in extracurricular sport at least once a week.
- Boys are more likely than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ to participate in community club sport outside of school at least once a week. 58% of boys, 54% of girls and 42% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’ participate in community club sport outside of school at least once a week.
- Girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ participate less than the national average of participation in both extracurricular and community club sport at least once a week.
- The top three sports that boys participate in at least once a week in a community club are football, rugby, and swimming.
- The top three sports that girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ participate in at least once a week in a community club are swimming, dance, and football.
- Boys are more likely than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ to volunteer or help with a sport at school or in their community. 25% of boys, 22% of girls and 18% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’ volunteer or help with a sport at school or in their community.
Everyone
The Vision is for everyone. From people who don’t see themselves as sporty to people who win medals, across all demographics. This section explores participation within Regional Sport Partnerships.
Table 1: The percentage of pupils who participate in sport three or more times per week, by gender and Regional Sport Partnership area.
| Percent of boys that participate three or more times per week | Percent of girls that participate three or more times per week | Percent of pupils who identify as ‘Other’ that participate three or more times per week | |
| Central South | 43% | 37% | 33% |
| Mid Wales | 44% | 38% | - |
| West Wales | 46% | 39% | 29% |
| Gwent | 42% | 34% | 29% |
| North Wales | 43% | 36% | 23% |
- Less than 30 responses are supressed.
Lifelong
The Vision is for life. It responds to the needs of people at different stages of their life. This section explores demand and motivators/enablers to do more sport.
- 52% of boys, 59% of girls and 65% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’ have unmet demand for sport.
- The top three sports in latent demand with boys are football, basketball and cycling.
- The top three sports in latent demand with girls are swimming, trampolining and cycling.
- The top three sports in latent demand with pupils who identify as ‘Other’ are archery, swimming and trampolining.
- Boys are more likely than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ to think PE lessons and sport help them to have a healthy lifestyle ‘a lot’. 56% of boys think PE lessons and sport help them to have a healthy lifestyle ‘a lot’, compared to 48% of girls and 30% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’.
- The 2022 School Sport Survey asked pupils to select responses to the question ‘I would do more sport if…’. The top three selected responses across all genders are ‘If there were more sport opportunities that suited me’, ‘If I had more time’ and ‘If I was more confident’.
FOOTNOTE: Unmet demand refers to those who do not participate in sport three or more times a week, yet have a demand to do more sport.
Enjoyment
The Vision focuses on creating a wide range of positive experiences so everyone can enjoy sport. This section explores enjoyment, confidence and pupil voice.
- Boys enjoy PE/sport ‘a lot’ across all settings more than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’.
- Of the three settings, boys and girls enjoy PE the most, and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ enjoy community club sport the most.
Table 2: Enjoyment of sport in different settings, by gender.
| Enjoyment of PE ‘a lot’ | Enjoyment of extracurricular sport ‘a lot’ | Enjoyment of community club sport ‘a lot’ | |
| Boy | 67% | 45% | 52% |
| Girl | 49% | 35% | 43% |
| Pupils idenitfying as ‘Other’ | 26% | 22% | 31% |
- Boys are more likely than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ to feel ‘very confident’ in trying new sports. 34% of boys, compared to 21% of girls and 16% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’ feel ‘very confident’ in trying new sports.
- Boys are more likely than girls and pupils who identify as ‘Other’ to feel their ideas about PE and school sport are ‘always’ listened to. 18% of boys, compared to 13% of girls and 6% of pupils who identify as ‘Other’ feel their ideas about PE and school sport are ‘always’ listened to.
