Table of contents

Approximate read time: 5 minutes

1. A participation gap

Research has shown that girls play less sport than boys. A study commissioned by Sky and conducted by the consultancy Public First found that, on average, boys aged 11 to 18 spent 1.4 hours more per week playing sports than girls in the same age range.[1] When scaled for the adolescent population of the UK, this translated to a 280mn-hour participation gap each year and meant that girls do the equivalent of a football match less every week.

The Youth Sport Trust has also highlighted this participation gap. In 2025, it reported that for the last seven years the Sport England active lives survey had consistently found that girls aged five to 18 were less active than boys.[2] It said that the activity gap stood at 6%, with 45% of girls meeting the recommended activity levels versus 51% of boys. The charity’s own survey also found that girls are twice as likely as boys to not like taking part in physical activity, nearly four times more likely to not like PE, and twice as likely to not do 60 minutes of physical activity a day.

2. Barriers to participation

Research has highlighted a variety of barriers that may lead to this participation gap. Sky’s study reported that sexist abuse, unequal access and poorly designed provision were all issues faced by girls.[3] It said that 33% of girls aged 11 to 18 have experienced sexist comments while playing sport. This figure rose to 42% for the older girls in this age group (15 to 18). When compared to boys, girls said they experienced more sexual comments (24% of girls compared to 8% of boys). On access, 35% of girls aged 11 to 18 reported that boys at their school or college had access to a wider range of sports teams than they did, with 29% also stating that boys’ teams got priority when booking pitches and facilities. In addition, more girls reported being uncomfortable getting changed for PE compared to boys (47% to 22%). The study estimated that, due to these issues, adolescent girls missed around 2mn hours of teaching time in order to get out of sports lessons.

A 2022 survey conducted by Women in Sport also set out a number of reasons girls had given for not wanting to participate.[4] These included a fear of feeling judged by others (68%), a lack of confidence (61%), pressures of schoolwork (47%) and not feeling safe outside (43%). Body image and puberty were also found to be significant factors, with 78% of girls saying they avoided sport when on their period and 73% saying they did not like others watching them participate.

In its 2024 report ‘Health barriers for girls and women in sport’, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee found that “girls face particular challenges to participation in sport”.[5] The committee said that these come from a combination of gender stereotypes and health and wellbeing issues experienced only or predominantly by girls.

3. Missed benefits

There are various benefits associated with girls’ participation in sports. Sky’s research found that girls’ physical and mental wellbeing, confidence and future leadership potential were all affected.[6] For example, it reported that the number of hours spent playing sports as a child was as big an indicator of an adult’s future seniority at work as having a university degree. Working women who played extracurricular sports as a child were found to be 50% more likely to be in a senior professional role as an adult. The study reported that participation in team and competitive sports helps to develop leadership and teamwork skills, as well as resilience and self-esteem.

4. Government policy

The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Lisa Nandy, has acknowledged the barriers faced by girls.[7] She stated that while broadcasters have made women’s sports more visible, at the grassroots level “too often women and girls find the same old barriers still in place”. She said that to address these issues the government was investing £400mn in areas lacking sports facilities, “shaking up” the curriculum to give boys and girls the same access to sports in schools, and launching a new women’s sport taskforce.

Government press releases have provided further details of these policies. The government said the £400mn of funding would be invested in new and upgraded facilities that promote health, wellbeing and community cohesion.[8] In January 2026, the government announced that 991 projects across the UK had been awarded funding through the multi-sport grassroots facilities programme in 2025/26 with applications open for the next round of the funding.[9] It intends for this to remove barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, people with disabilities, and ethnic minority communities.

In June 2025, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced new school sport partnerships and a new enrichment framework for schools to ensure “all young people have equal access to high-quality sport and extracurricular activity”.[10] The government said that the policy aimed to “reverse a worrying trend where boys are more active than girls”. In addition, a further government press release in September 2025 explained that the women’s sport taskforce mentioned by Ms Nandy would be made up of industry experts and would:

[… aim] to understand opportunities and break down barriers to deliver equal access, best in class facilities, ongoing professionalisation of women’s sport, visible role models to inspire future generations of girls and a strong pipeline of UK hosted major events by the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup.[11]

5. Read more

Image by Ashley Williams on Unsplash.

References

  1. Sky and Public First, ‘Game changing: How sport gives every girl a better chance’, 10 September 2025. Return to text
  2. Youth Sport Trust, ‘2025 report summary’, accessed 18 February 2026. Return to text
  3. Sky and Public First, ‘Game changing: How sport gives every girl a better chance’, 10 September 2025. Return to text
  4. Women in Sport, ‘More than 1 million teenage girls fall ‘out of love’ with sport’, 7 March 2022. Return to text
  5. House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, ‘Health barriers for girls and women in sport’, 5 March 2024, HC 130 of session 2023–24, p 7. Return to text
  6. Sky and Public First, ‘Game changing: How sport gives every girl a better chance’, 10 September 2025. Return to text
  7. Rachel Hall, ‘Girls who play after-school sport in UK 50% more likely to later get top jobs, study finds’, Guardian, 11 September 2025. Return to text
  8. Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Game changer for the nation’, 19 June 2025. Return to text
  9. Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘New and upgraded grassroots sport facilities to get the UK active’, 27 January 2026. Return to text
  10. Prime Minister’s Office, ‘Prime minister meets with Lionesses ahead of the Euros to announce a new approach to school sport’, 19 June 2025. Return to text
  11. Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Government teams up with experts to supercharge women’s sport by the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup’, 8 September 2025. Return to text