Sport England
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Further education colleges receive funding boost
Students at further education and sixth form colleges across England will have more opportunities to get into sport thanks to £4 million of National Lottery funding from the second round of Sport England’s Further Education Activation Fund.
Over the next three years, 58 projects will be delivered at 67 further education and sixth form colleges across England to help get 54,000 new students playing sport.
Sport England Chief Executive, Jennie Price, said: “Our investment in further education and sixth form colleges is vital if we are to get more young people playing sport. By investing in these 67 colleges, including 27 who are receiving our funding for the first time, we’re helping to make sport more accessible, more attractive and more convenient to young people as they move on from school to college.”
Responding to what students want, the projects will offer them the chance to take part in a range of traditional and non-traditional sports including roller skating, sub-aqua, dodgeball and surfing. They will also target female, BME and disabled student to get more of them taking part. For a full list of colleges to receive funding, click here.
Further education college students play the least sport of young people aged 16 and over who are in education. Sport England’s Active People Survey shows that around 65 per cent of school pupils aged 16 and over do sport at least once a week, compared to 53 per cent of higher education students and 50 per cent of further education students.
The Further Education Activation Fund aims to boost the number of students taking part in sport by supporting colleges to design and develop projects tailored to the sporting needs of their students.
Over two rounds of funding, 107 colleges have benefitted from £6 million of investment. As well as giving students the chance to play sport, the funding is also enabling a number of colleges to work together more closely, sharing facilities and expertise. It is also supporting the work of the 153 College Sport Makers, recruited through £17 million of investment from Sport England, who help market sports opportunities as well as linking colleges with community sports clubs, running leagues and sports groups and offering coaching for certain sports at their further education college.
