7 Sep 2015

Sport England opens consultation on participation measurement methods

Sport England opens consultation on participation measurement methods news article image

Sport England, the non-departmental public body for sport, is reviewing how it gathers data around the measurement of sports participation.

Currently, Sport England releases participation data as part of its Active People Survey. The Active People Survey is carried out via a large landline telephone survey with an annual sample size of around 165,000.

However, given changing patterns of telephone use, surveys based purely on residential landlines do not have complete or even coverage of the target population.

With increasing changes in technology, Sport England are looking to explore new and alternative approaches to data gathering to ensure the right arrangements are in place for the next 5-15 years.

Survey designs reflecting newer methods, such as online and mobile phone, have been explored and proven to be viable alternatives to meet Sport England’s strategic and performance measurement requirements in the future.

The new survey, designed to support a new strategy, will mean new data and information being presented in new ways to enable the sector to identify trends and increase participation.

Sport England is keen to emphasise that it regards any fresh process as a new survey, not the continuation or evolution of the current Active People Survey.

Sport England will consult with users and other interested parties on future arrangements for the measurement of sports participation.

Responses to the consultation, which closes at midnight on 14 October 2015, can be made via the Sport England website.

The Sport and Recreation Alliance will be responding to this consultation is encouraging its members to feed in their views as part of this process.

Members can send in their views and responses here.

Latest News

23 Jul 2026

Alliance responds to business rates announcement

The Government has announced that pubs, clubs and live music venues are set to receive a 20% reduction to their business rates bills from April next year.

Read more Arrow Right
14 Jul 2026

Sport and Recreation Alliance supports star-studded IWG Global Summit 2026

The Sport and Recreation Alliance was delighted to join over 900 delegates from around the world from 9-11 July, at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, for the International Working Group (IWG) on Women & Sport Global Summit 2026.

Read more Arrow Right
2 Jun 2026

Sport, volunteering and the connection crisis: four perspectives

A joint contribution from the Sport and Recreation Alliance, /Together, Sport England and the Eden Project.

Read more Arrow Right

Become a member

Joining the Sport and Recreation Alliance is pretty simple, but worthwhile!

Register now

Our Partners

Admincontrol logoAir IT logoJMW logoSport:80 logoZellar logo93FT logo