Guidance

PE and sport premium: conditions of grant 2021 to 2022 (academies)

Updated 28 April 2022

This guidance was withdrawn on

Find the latest information about PE and sport premium in our Local authorities: pre-16 schools funding collection.

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The primary PE and sport premium 2021 to 2022 (“the premium”) will be paid by the Secretary of State for Education (“Secretary of State”) to the proprietor of the academy as a grant under section 14 of the Education Act 2002. In accordance with section 16 of that Act, the Secretary of State sets the following terms on which financial assistance is given in relation to the premium payable for the academic year 2021 to 2022.

The premium for the 2021 to 2022 academic year is paid in 2 instalments from the Secretary of State to the proprietor of the academy as follows:

Financial year 2021 to 2022 academic year Payment date
2021 to 2022 September 2021 to March 2022 2 November 2021
2022 to 2023 April 2022 to August 2022 3 May 2022

2. Purpose of the premium

The premium must be used to fund additional and sustainable improvements to the provision of PE and sport, for the benefit of primary-aged pupils, in the 2021 to 2022 academic year, to encourage the development of healthy, active lifestyles.

The Department for Education (DfE) has published information on how much PE and sport premium funding primary schools receive, and advice on how to spend it.

3. Basis of allocation

Allocations for the academic year 2021 to 2022 are calculated using the number of pupils in years 1 to 6, as recorded in the January 2021 census, as follows:

  • schools with 17 or more pupils receive £16,000 plus £10 per pupil
  • schools with 16 or fewer pupils receive £1,000 per pupil

Where a school’s pupils are not recorded by year group, pupils aged 5 to 10 are deemed eligible.

In the case of a school which has opened or is due to open during the 2021 to 2022 academic year, the above formula will apply based on pupils recorded on the autumn 2021 school census. Allocations for such schools will be paid by 1 March 2022 (first instalment) and on 3 May 2022 (second instalment).

Proprietors of academies receive the premium directly from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). Schools that convert to academies on or after 1 September 2021 up to and including 1 April 2022 will be paid the April to August 2022 element of the academic year allocation direct from ESFA on 3 May 2022.

Schools that convert to academies on or after 1 September 2021 up to and including 1 April 2022 will be paid the April to August 2022 element of the academic year allocation direct from ESFA on 3 May 2022.

4. Terms on which the premium is allocated to academies and free schools

The premium must be spent in full by proprietors of academies by the end of the 2021 to 2022 academic year. This includes any carried forward under-spent funding that has resulted from the relaxations to the ring-fencing arrangements of the PE and sport premium because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Proprietors must use the funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the provision of PE and sport for the benefit of all primary-aged pupils to encourage the development of healthy, active lifestyles.

The Secretary of State does not consider the following expenditure as falling within the scope of additional or sustainable improvement:

  • employing coaches or specialist teachers to cover planning preparation and assessment (PPA) arrangements, these should come out of schools’ core staffing budgets
  • teaching the minimum requirements of your existing PE curriculum
  • fund capital expenditure

Academies and free school proprietors must publish, on their website, information about their use of the premium by the end of the summer term or 31 July 2022 at the latest.

Schools must publish:

  • the amount of premium received
  • a full breakdown of how it has been spent (or will be spent)
  • what impact the school has seen on pupils’ PE and sport participation and attainment
  • how the improvements will be sustainable in the future
  • the percentage of pupils within their year 6 cohort for academic year 2021 to 2022 that can do each of the following:

    • swim competently, confidently, and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
    • use a range of strokes effectively (for example front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke
    • perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations

If selected, schools must also take part in a sampling review to scrutinise their compliance with these terms.

5. Variation

The basis for allocation of the premium may be varied by the Secretary of State from those set out in clause 3 above, if requested by the academy or free school or at the discretion of the Secretary of State.

6. Other terms

If the proprietor of an academy fails to comply with the terms set out in the paragraphs above, including but not limited to a school misusing the premium, the Secretary of State may require the repayment of the whole or any part of the premium paid to the proprietor of the academy or the withholding of subsequent instalments of the premium.

This will be notified in writing to the proprietor of the academy and any such sum that has been notified shall be recovered against general annual grant (GAG) funding by ESFA) on behalf of the Secretary of State or withheld from subsequent instalments of the premium. Any such recoveries will be undertaken in line with the proprietor of the academy’s funding agreement.

7. Overpayments

Any overpayment of the premium shall be recovered against GAG funding by ESFA on behalf of the Secretary of State.

8. Further information

The books and other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts (for the purposes of this grant “recipient” is the academy or free school proprietor) must be made available for inspection by the Secretary of State and by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The Comptroller and Auditor General may, under section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983, carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness with which the recipient has used its resources in discharging its grant-aided activities.

The academy or free school proprietor must provide such further information as may be required by the Secretary of State for the purpose of determining whether, or to what extent, it has complied with the terms set out in this document. Failure to provide this information may result in the Secretary of State requiring repayment of the whole or any part of the premium paid to the academy or free school proprietor, according to the method outlined in paragraph 6, or the withholding of subsequent instalments of the premium.