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Publication - Statistics

Attainment, school leaver destinations and healthy living: education statistics summary

Published
20 June 2017
Directorate
Learning Directorate
Topic
Children and families, Education
ISBN
9781786529985

Results of the initial and follow-up surveys of leaver destination (S3-S6), post-appeal attainment, school meals and physical education provision.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Chapter 6: Physical Education

  • 98 per cent of schools (99 per cent of primary and 93 per cent of secondary schools) were meeting the target level of PE provision (98 per cent in 2016).

Increasing the amount of Physical Education (PE) pupils receive in school has been a government priority for a number of years. Increased physical activity can have a positive impact on a pupil's health, educational attainment and life chances. In 2011, the Scottish Government made a commitment to ensure that by 2014, every pupil will benefit from at least two hours of Physical Education in primary school and two periods (100 minutes) in S1 to S4 per week. In order to monitor progress in meeting this commitment, questions on physical education provision in schools have been included in the Healthy Living Survey since 2012. The latest Healthy Living Survey was conducted in the week beginning 20 February 2017.

In 2017, 98 per cent of all primary and secondary schools were meeting the target level of PE provision, the same as in 2016. In primary, 99 per cent of schools were providing at least 120 minutes of PE to all pupils, the same as in 2016. In the secondary sector, 93 per cent of schools were providing at least 100 minutes of PE to all pupils in S1 to S4, compared to 95 per cent in 2016. The data clearly show that provision is lowest at S4. Focusing on S1 to S3, 99 per cent of secondary schools were meeting the target, the same as in 2016.

For schools which are not meeting the required amount of PE, the main reasons given are lack of facilities and problems with timetabling (for example, some schools operate a 45 minute period system, and so would need to provide three periods of PE per week to meet the target).

PE data by urban rural classification, size of school and local authority are available in the supplementary tables. The supplementary tables also contain school level PE data. In the background notes section there is a list of the tables published.

Table 10. Percentage of primary schools meeting PE target 1 by local authority, 2013 to 2017

  Percentage
Local Authority 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Aberdeen City 67 96 96 100 100
Aberdeenshire 87 97 96 99 99
Angus 100 94 98 98 100
Argyll & Bute 87 98 100 94 98
Clackmannanshire 95 100 100 100 100
Dumfries & Galloway 82 96 100 100 100
Dundee City 100 100 100 100 100
East Ayrshire 100 95 100 100 98
East Dunbartonshire 95 100 100 100 100
East Lothian 83 100 100 100 100
East Renfrewshire 100 100 100 100 100
Edinburgh, City of 89 93 95 92 97
Falkirk 62 100 100 100 100
Fife 94 100 100 100 100
Glasgow City 96 97 99 99 98
Highland 84 97 99 100 100
Inverclyde 75 80 80 100 100
Midlothian 77 100 100 100 100
Moray 96 100 100 100 91
Na h-Eileanan Siar 89 100 100 100 100
North Ayrshire 92 96 98 96 96
North Lanarkshire 95 99 99 100 100
Orkney Islands 100 100 100 100 100
Perth & Kinross 90 99 99 95 100
Renfrewshire 98 100 100 100 100
Scottish Borders 79 78 95 100 100
Shetland Islands 84 94 97 97 100
South Ayrshire 98 100 100 100 100
South Lanarkshire 81 97 100 100 100
Stirling 85 98 100 100 100
West Dunbartonshire 100 100 100 100 100
West Lothian 85 86 100 100 100
Scotland 2 88 97 99 99 99

1. Target provision of Physical Education refers to at least 120 minutes per week in primary.
2. The Scotland total includes Jordanhill, the mainstream grant aided school.

Table 11. Percentage of secondary schools (S1 to S4) meeting PE target1 by local authority, 2015 to 2017

  Percentage
Local Authority 2015 a 2016 S1 S2 S3 S4 2017
Aberdeen City 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Aberdeenshire 94 94 100 100 100 88 88
Angus 100 88 100 100 100 100 100
Argyll & Bute 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Clackmannanshire 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Dumfries & Galloway 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Dundee City 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
East Ayrshire 89 100 100 100 100 100 100
East Dunbartonshire 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
East Lothian 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
East Renfrewshire 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Edinburgh, City of 100 96 100 100 100 96 96
Falkirk 63 63 100 100 100 50 50
Fife 89 95 100 100 100 89 89
Glasgow City 93 100 97 97 97 97 97
Highland 93 93 100 100 100 97 97
Inverclyde 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Midlothian 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Moray 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Na h-Eileanan Siar 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
North Ayrshire 100 100 100 100 100 67 67
North Lanarkshire 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Orkney Islands 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Perth & Kinross 100 90 80 80 80 70 70
Renfrewshire 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Scottish Borders 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Shetland Islands 57 86 100 100 100 86 86
South Ayrshire 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
South Lanarkshire 76 82 100 100 100 76 76
Stirling 57 71 100 100 100 100 100
West Dunbartonshire 80 60 100 100 100 80 80
West Lothian 82 100 100 100 91 91 91
Scotland 2 93 95 99 99 99 93 93

a. In 2015 there was one junior high school in Na h-Eileanan Siar which offer only stages S1 and S2.
1. Target provision of Physical Education refers to at least 100 minutes per week in secondary timetabled periods.
2. The Scotland total includes Jordanhill, the mainstream grant aided school.

Contact

Email: Marion MacRury

Phone: 0300 244 4000 – Central Enquiry Unit

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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