Understanding how children and young people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are getting active, and why it matters.

The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey helps us understand how active young people are across our region. It helps schools, communities, and organisations make informed decisions to support healthier, happier lives.

The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey is run by Sport England, and collects physical activity insight from pupils in Year 1 to Year 11. It looks at children’s activity levels, physical literacy, swimming proficiency, wellbeing, and levels of confidence and social trust.

It is the largest survey of its kind and gives valuable insight on a national and local level. For schools that take part, you’ll receive a report unique to your individual school. Purely designed for the benefit of your school, the individual reports will not be shared with anybody else.

Energise Me is managing the Active Lives survey for children and young people across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, on behalf of Sport England.

The latest results for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight show:

• 47.6% of children and young people in our area are meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of 60 minutes of activity per day.
• 28.6% are classed as less active, doing fewer than 30 minutes a day.
• Overall, there is still a gap in activity levels between boys and girls.
• There is a significant gap in activity levels between those with high family affluence and low family affluence. (30.9% of children from families with low affluence are doing less than 30 minutes of activity a week compared to 23.4% of children from families with high affluence.)

You can explore more detailed breakdowns using the Sport England Active Lives data tool, which lets you filter by location, age, gender, and more.

The Active Lives survey isn’t just about ticking a box. It’s about giving us the evidence we need to make real change.

For schools, the results provide a detailed picture of how active their pupils are, how they’re feeling, and what barriers they might be facing. This insight can help shape PE lessons, lunchtime and after-school activities, and whole-school wellbeing strategies. It’s also useful evidence for Ofsted, the PE and Sport Premium, and school development plans.

For activity providers, it highlights which groups of young people are most likely to be missing out. Whether that’s due to cost, confidence, lack of time, or access. That means better-targeted sessions, more inclusive programmes, and ultimately, a bigger impact.

For local councils, health teams and community organisations, it builds a shared understanding of where support is needed most and what’s working.

Most importantly, it helps make sure young people’s voices are heard so the activities and support they’re offered reflect their real lives and real needs.

The more schools that take part, the clearer the picture.

Selected Schools

Schools are randomly selected to take part in the Active Lives survey. If you are selected, you will get an email from Energise Me, inviting you to take part.  As well as your bespoke report, you can also receive vouchers of around £100 to spend on sports, wellbeing, or healthy eating kit. If you complete a minimum number of surveys, including a teacher survey, your school could also be provided with a Healthy Schools Rating,

Opt-in

Even if your school has not been selected you can still take part in the survey. If you’d like to opt-in please email sarah.taylor@energiseme.org.

Sport England Information

The Active Lives survey was developed with the Department for Education (DfE), the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It provides Sport England, government and other partners with a broad and deep understanding of activity levels and behaviours, to help shape future policy and investment decisions.

Data is collected by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Sport England.

More information on the Active Lives survey can be found on the Sport England Website.