Procurement description
THIS IS AN INVITATION TO A MARKET ENGAGEMENT EVENT
Physical Education is a mandatory part of the school curriculum, and many schools also offer extracurricular physical activity and sporting opportunities. However, evidence shows that access to high-quality PE, school sport, and wider physical activities is not equitable. Too many children, particularly girls and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are missing out on meaningful opportunities to participate, progress, and benefit from sport and physical activity, both in school and in their communities.
To address this, the Department for Education actively supported by the Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Culture Media and Sport is seeking to procure a national delivery partner to design, implement, and manage a PE and School Sport Partnerships Network across England. The aim is to establish a new local partnerships network to support schools to consistently deliver high-quality experiences in PE, sport, and physical activity.
The network will focus on three core areas:
A) Support reintegrating PE, Sport and physical activity into Core Curricular and Extracurricular Activities for All Pupils to access:
- Ensuring schools are supported to embed physical education, physical activity and sport into curricular and extracurricular programmes, fostering holistic development for every student.
- Focussing on strong school-community links to maintain activity levels beyond the core school day.
- Demonstrating co-design and collaboration with schools, communities, national governing bodies and parents.
- Emphasising equal and fair access for girls and disadvantaged pupils.
- Providing targeted support within a universal offer, including flexibility to meet evolving local needs.
B) Elevate the Quality and Standards of PE Experiences for All Pupils
- Enhance the quality and standards of physical education by emphasising the importance of early positive relationships with physical activity, through structured and engaging experiences that promote physical literacy principles from a young age.
- Emphasis on upskilling the school workforce, engaging volunteers, and ensuring diverse representation. Ensure children with SEND are central to the new model (including children with long-term health conditions or mental health conditions).
C) Expand Access to High-Quality PE, Sport, and Physical Activity Opportunities
- Increase the availability and accessibility of physical education, sports, and physical activity opportunities, ensuring every student has equal opportunity to participate and benefit from high-quality experiences.
- Include a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to track engagement, impact, and long-term change, whilst avoiding overburdening schools.
A strategic national delivery partner will be awarded a contract up to £30m over a 3-year period to design, implement, and manage a national infrastructure which we are currently calling the PE and School Sport Partnerships Network which will focus on enhancing PE, physical activity and school sport across England. This national delivery partner through robust processes, governance and clear accountability will be responsible for the allocation, management and distribution of a significant multimillion budget which will be confirmed following Departmental funding processes. Funding will support targeted provision in local areas where it can have the greatest impact, particularly in increasing physical activity among the least active children.