There has been much debate – both nationally and internationally and over a sustained period of time – about the subject of physical education (PE) and its place and purpose within schools (Kirk, 2010; Ekberg, 2021; Gray et al., 2022a). It has long been recognised by those within the subject that it has much potential for realising learning across multiple domains (Hooper, Sandford & Jarvis, 2020; Lamb et al., 2021) and for supporting the holistic development of young people (Bailey et al., 2009; Luguetti & Oliver, 2020). However, questions have continued to be raised about the educative capacity of the subject and the contribution it makes – or is able to make – to the education of young people (Quennerstedt, 2019). These questions typically stem from what has been considered to be the relatively limited change with regard to how PE has been conceptualised and enacted in practice (Kirk, 2010; Herold, 2020; Gray et al., 2022a) and the continued dominance of particular agendas (i.e., health) within PE (Jung, Pope & Kirk, 2016; Lindsey et al., 2020; Gray et al., 2022b). Nonetheless, advocates of the subject have continued to ‘make the case’ for the subject and to argue its value to and for young people (see UNESCO, 2017; afPE, 2019). Calls for PE to become a core subject are not new, though in England these were formalised by Harris (2018) on behalf of the PE Expert Group.

It is notable that PE is the only foundation subject that is compulsory from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 4 but while this is somewhat akin to core status it is not an equivalent and interpretations of this in practice have been varied. As such, there has continued to be sustained interest and advocacy – following the formal call from Harris (2018) – in making PE a core subject and momentum has been gained in this regard following the formation of the Association for PE (afPE) Taskforce in 2020. The afPE Taskforce was assembled to consider (and make recommendations on) the future of PE within England and comprised expert representatives from across the PE sector with support from a wider advisory group. As part of their work, the afPE Taskforce published a report on putting PE at ‘The Heart of School Life’. The afPE Taskforce report set out to make recommendations to Government about the subject of PE with two of the headline recommendations relating to making PE a core subject. However, despite the House of Lords responding positively to the recommendation to make PE a core subject, the Government’s official response was less positive, affirming that they “do not currently plan to make PE a core subject” (HM Government, 2022, p. 11). As such, despite a strong case being put forward by Harris (2018) and continued interest and advocacy in making PE a core subject, the Government remain unconvinced.

Whilst there is evidently much enthusiasm for making PE a core subject, from a range of stakeholders, there remains a dearth of evidence surrounding the impact such a move would have for pupils, teachers, schools and communities more broadly. Therefore, research is needed to explore the (potential) impact of making PE a core subject and to generate evidence that might be used to demonstrate this and ultimately to better make the case for PE being designated as a core subject. This paper presents the first phase of a research project that seeks to do this by evaluating a pilot of PE as a core subject across primary and secondary schools within a large academy trust in England.

This paper presents the first phase of an ongoing research project that examines the concept of PE as a core subject within a large academy trust. This first phase focused on scoping the perspectives of key stakeholders (i.e., PE subject leaders, teachers of PE and school leaders) to ascertain their views on PE as a core subject. It aimed to explore the (potential) impact of making PE a core subject through the following objectives: 1. To identify the position and status of PE within schools 2. To explore the perceived potential of PE as a core subject from different stakeholders’ perspectives 3. To map the opportunities and challenges that a move to PE as a core subject might present 4. To identify what support needs might arise from a move to PE as a core subject 5. To gather insight as to what PE as a core subject might ‘look like’ within schools 6. To examine what might be markers of success of a pilot of PE as a core subject within schools The research outlined with this paper took place from February to July 2022 and adopted a mixed methods approach, drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data to generate rich insights. Data were generated via online surveys sent to PE subject leaders, teachers of PE and senior leadership teams (SLT) across the academy trust and follow-up online interviews with selected PE subject leaders and teachers of PE. In total, 84 complete survey responses were received from participants (48 male, 36 female, ages 24-47 years). These participants were both PE subject leaders (n=46) and teachers of PE (n=38) and represented both secondary (n=74) and primary (n=10) contexts. In addition, 17 individual interviews were conducted with participants (10 male, 7 female), with all but one representing secondary contexts. Data analysis followed an iterative process, with quantitative data used to generate descriptive statistics and qualitative data undergoing a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This is an inductive (i.e., ‘bottom up’) process where themes are derived from close examination and interpretation of the data itself. Data were firstly read and re-read with codes being assigned to portions of text and memos being noted. Themes were then developed from codes before being reviewed and refined.

The research findings centre around several key themes, including (1): PE valued but not always prioritised; (2) opportunities and challenges; and (3) support needs. Theme 1: Data highlighted that the majority of survey respondents (83%) felt that PE was valued. However, it also suggested that it was not always prioritised within school practice, and the perceived value of PE could be easily undermined. Nonetheless, participants were largely positive about the idea of PE being a core subject, with survey respondents indicating much support. Concern was expressed though about being able to achieve this aim, with less than a third of respondents (29%) indicating their SLT would likely back this. Theme 2: Participants identified a range of opportunities that could arise from PE becoming a core subject within the curriculum. These included benefits for pupils (e.g., supporting health and wellbeing, attendance, academic achievements), benefits for staff (e.g., professional development, specialist training, leadership opportunities) and benefits for the subject (e.g., raised status, curriculum time, resourcing). However, various challenges to PE becoming a core subject were identified by participants, many reflecting the perceived low status of the subject within schools. Space in the curriculum was a key issue here, with 75% of survey respondents indicating ‘timetabling’ as a significant challenge and 24% noting that PE had lost time to make space for other subjects. In addition, there were challenges with regard to the availability of facilities, staffing and SLT support. Theme 3: It was recognised that PE would need significant support from SLT to become a core subject within schools. Linked with this, survey respondents also noted support needs relating to facilities (82%), resourcing (71%) and curriculum time (68%). It was notable that data highlighted both a need for additional support in each of these areas and a greater protection of existing provision.

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