Government guidance on extra-curricular sport during the lockdown

The most recent guidance from the Department for Education, published on 6 November, advised that:

"Schools can and should continue offering sports clubs or activities before or after school, in addition to their regular PE lessons, in order to support parents to work, seek work, or to undertake education or training, and for the purposes of respite care for vulnerable children.”

It also said that:

"All out of school activities which are not being primarily used by parents for these purposes should close for face-to-face provision for the duration of the national restrictions.”

The Youth Sport Trust, Sport and Recreation Alliance, ukactive and Association for Physical Education have together sought clarity from government on how schools should interpret this guidance.

Following consultation with government departments, we can advise that:

• Schools should continue to provide extra-curricular sport as long as they can do so in a way which i) maintains the integrity of schools’ COVID 19 protocols such as approach to bubbles, staffing and social distancing and ii) is subject to appropriate risk assessment.
• Where the guidance refers to supporting parents to work, there is no additional need for schools to prove that extra-curricular clubs are helping parents to work or seek work.
• Extra-curricular clubs should not take place if they are bringing together groups of young people who would not otherwise be spending time together. Competition between different schools should not take place, in line with the wider restrictions on grassroots sport.

This interpretation of the full guidance has been approved by the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

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