Over Half of Young People Not Meeting 60 Active Minutes – #BeeWell 2025 Findings

More than 20,000 young people in Years 7 and 10 have shared their views in the latest #BeeWell Survey, covering a range of topics, including physical activity.

Just 40% of young people say they’re doing enough physical activity to meet the Chief Medical Officer’s health guidelines.  The findings suggest lower activity rates than recent data collected by the Sport England Active Lives survey, which also captures additional information on activity such as walking and cycling to school.

Now in it’s third year locally, #BeeWell is a youth-centred programme focused on improving wellbeing by listening directly to young people.  

Across the three surveys run so far, #BeeWell has collected over 63,000 responses from 46,000 young people across 115 secondary schools. The annual surveys capture insight directly from students across Hampshire, including Southampton and Portsmouth, and the Isle of Wight. 

• Younger students are more active than older ones
• Girls are consistently less active than boys
• Boys become less active as they get older

The results show that younger students tend to be more active than older ones, and that boys are consistently more active than girls across all years. However, when you follow the same group of students over time, girls’ activity levels stay pretty similar. The overall drop in activity seems to be mainly down to boys becoming less active by the time they reach Year 10.

The findings also show that experiences can vary significantly depending on factors such as gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), and age. 

James Robertson, National Director of #BeeWell, commented:

“This is why we remain committed to working closely with our partners and collaborators. Together, we can better understand what support is needed, respond to what young people are telling us, and take meaningful action. Addressing these disparities will require joined up, multiagency effort, combined with a stronger focus on prevention, early help, and targeted support for the young people who need it most” 

We know that physical activity can impact both mental and physical activity. So, where could it play a supporting role? 

Other findings show: 

• There has been a slight improvement in feelings of loneliness. Just under one in 10 young people (8.2%) said they often or always feel lonely, compared to 10.2% in the previous year’s findings.  However, this increases for trans young people and SEND young people. 
• Many young people, particularly those in Year 10, do not feel listened to within school settings. 
• Overall wellbeing is improving. However, those from disadvantaged backgrounds consistently experience lower wellbeing, lower life satisfaction and higher emotional difficulties. 
• Many young people have faced discrimination, most commonly related to race (21%) and gender (19%). 

Across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton, the #BeeWell results have highlighted the need to: 

• Amplify the voice of young people 
• Access, awareness and equity to mental health support 
• Promote healthy, positive behaviour choices 

Want to learn more?

Read the full report.

Individual grants of up to £5000 are available to support organisations that work with young people to create positive activities and opportunities that improve their wellbeing.

If you’re an organisation working in the voluntary, community or social enterprise sector, supporting young people in Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton then you’re eligible to apply.

Closing date for applications: Friday 1st May 2026

View the full eligibility criteria on the #BeeWell website.