Taking Part 2015/16 Annual Child Release: Key Findings
Published 21 July 2016
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1. Cultural engagement
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Between April 2015 and March 2016, almost all children aged 5-15 had engaged with the arts in the last year (98.3%). This was a similar proportion to 2008/09 (98.0%) and to 2014/15 (98.1%).
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In 2015/16, 70.1% of children aged 5-15 had visited a heritage site in the last 12 months, a similar proportion to 2008/09 (69.1%) and to 2014/15 (68.9%).
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In 2015/16, 65.6% of children aged 5-15 had visited a library in the last 12 months, a significant decrease from 75.3% in 2008/09 and from 70.3% in 2014/15.
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In 2015/16, 61.1% of children aged 5-15 had visited a museum or gallery in the last 12 months, a similar proportion to 63.2% in 2008/09 and 62.2% in 2014/15.
2. Sport participation
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Amongst all children (5-15 year olds), 88.9% had taken part in sport in the four weeks prior to the interview, a similar proportion to 89.9% in 2008/09 and 87.2% in 2014/15.
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In the four weeks prior to being interviewed, 83.5% of 5-10 year olds had taken part in sport outside school, a similar proportion to 84.5% in 2008/09 and 81.1% in 2014/15. Over the same period 95.8% of 11-15 year olds took part in sport in or outside school, a similar level to 2008/09 (96.0%) and 2014/15 (94.9%).
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Amongst 5-10 year olds, a significantly higher proportion of boys than girls had taken part in sporting activities in the 4 weeks prior to being interviewed (88.3% compared to 78.6%). There was no significant difference in the proportion of boys and girls, aged 11-15 years old, who took part in sporting activities 4 weeks prior to the interview, figures were 96.0% and 95.5% respectively.
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There were a number of gender differences in participation at the level of individual sports. Boys in both age groups (5-10 and 11-15) were more likely to have played football than girls, while girls were more likely to have done gymnastics, trampolining or climbing frame activities.
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In 2015/16, 80.7% of all children reported that they had participated in some form of competitive sport in the last 12 months. More than three quarters had taken part in competitive sport in school (76.9%), and over a third had taken part in competitive sport outside school (36.2%). These figures have remained stable since 2011/12 (the first full year this question was asked).