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Sport or study? It is a perennial debate – and a false one. Rather than playing more sport being the enemy of a child’s performance in the classroom, more physical activity helps children enjoy better academic results. Games and grades are mutually enhancing. A major study by University College London’s Institute of Education showed how much sport benefits children in the classroom. Children who regularly played sport aged five, seven and 11 were almost 1.5 times more likely to reach a higher than expected level in their Key Stage 2 (a British national assessment) maths test. Whatever a child’s sporting ability, more active children tend to perform better in class. Regular physical activity is associated with an extra two months of academic progress over a school year, a series of studies of primary and secondary pupils alike demonstrated. Researchers in Canada, Germany, the United States and beyond have uncovered similar findings.
