Coverage: Northern Ireland Frequency: Triennial Publication
Date: 30 November 2023
Main Stories
In 2022, almost all young people in Northern Ireland (98%) had
participated in sport or physical activity, a slight decrease in the
proportion from 2019 (99%).
Boys were more likely to state that they enjoyed sport or physical
activity a lot (72%) compared to girls (53%).
The most frequently cited benefits of having participated in sport or
physical activity were “have fun”, “keep fit”, “learned new
skills/developed existing skills” and “improved health”. In addition
over two-fifths of young people said that participating in sport or
physical activity helped “develop skills as a team player” and
“opportunities to make friends”.
Over seven out of every ten (74%) young people described themselves as
being very active, with 55% stating that they ate healthily. However,
combining these behaviours shows that just over a third (35%) stated
that they both ate healthily and were very active.
Introduction
Among other policy areas, the Department for Communities (DfC) has
responsibility for the development of sport and physical recreation in
Northern Ireland. DfC provides funding for sport, develops sport policy
and supports sports initiatives. In 2022, DfC in collaboration with
other government departments, councils, SportNI and a wide range of
stakeholders, has developed Active Living - the new Sport and Physical
Activity Strategy for Northern Ireland. The Active Living Strategy
builds on the success of Sport Matters published in 2009.
Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey
This report presents the findings from the 2022 Young Persons’ Behaviour
and Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) in relation to the experience of sport by
young people in Northern Ireland which are used to inform the
development, monitoring and evaluation of policy. More information
relating to YPBAS, methodology, definitions and the interpretation of
the figures can be found in the Definitions & technical
notes section. Data tables are available in
Excel
and
ODS
format. The questions that were asked in YPBAS 2022 are available
here.
Lead statistician: Iain Bryson
Participation in sport or physical activity
In 2022, almost all young people in Northern Ireland (98%) had taken
part in sport or physical activity within the year prior to the survey,
while 94% had taken part in the last week. Boys were more likely than
girls to have participated in sport within the last year and also within
the last week.
When looking at sport participation and school year group, there was a
slight decrease in the number of pupils participating in sport in the
last year as the year group increased, with 99% in Year 8 compared to
97% in Year 12. Similarly, pupils in Year 8 were more likely than pupils
in Year 12 to participate in sport in the last week (96% and 89%
respectively).
Similar proportions of young people from the Catholic and Protestant
communities participated in sport within the last week, while slightly
more young people from the Catholic community participated in sport
within the last year than the Protestant community (99% compared to
98%). Young people who have a disability were less likely to have
participated in sport within the last year (97%) or within the last week
(89%) compared to those who do not have a disability (99% in the last
year and 95% in the last week).
Young people who were entitled to free school meals were slightly less
likely than those who were not entitled to free school meals to have
participated in sport over the last year (98% and 99% respectively) and
in the last week (91% and 94%, respectively).
Sports participation trends
Almost all young people in Northern Ireland had participated in sport in
the last year in 2022 (98%). This proportion has remained consistent
from 2013 onwards following a slight decrease from 100% in 2010 to 99%
in 2013.
The trend for the proportion of young people who had participated in
sport in the last week is very similar to that for participation in the
last year.
Analysis by gender shows that there were no changes in the proportions
of both boys and girls who participated in sport in the last year from
2013 to 2022, following a decrease from 100% participation of both boys
and girls in 2010.
The proportion of boys who had participated in sport in the last week
has decreased slightly from a peak of 98% in 2010 to 94% in 2022.
Participation rates of girls within the last week had remained
consistent over the trend period until a decrease from 96% in 2016 to
92% in 2022.
Types of sports activity
The most frequently cited sports activities that young people took part
in within the last year were football (58%),
basketball/netball/volleyball (52%), swimming or diving (49%), active
games (45%) and cycling (45%). Football was the most popular sport cited
by boys (78%), while basketball/netball/volleyball was the most popular
sport cited by girls (56%) .
For participation in sport over the last week, the most frequently cited
sports were slightly different. The most popular was still football
(44%), then walking for exercise/hill walking (28%), jogging (26%),
basketball/netball/volleyball (25%), active games (22%) and gaelic
football (21%). The most popular sport for boys over the last week
remained the same as over the last year, football (67%), however for
girls the most popular sport over the last four weeks was walking for
exercise/hill walking (34%).
Benefits of sport or physical activity
The top 5 most frequently cited benefits of having participated in sport
or physical activity were “Have Fun” (75%), “Keep Fit” (69%), “Learned
new skills/ developed existing skills” (63%), “Improved health” (52%)
and “Developed skills as a team player” (44%).
There were differences between the proportions of boys and girls citing
various responses. Boys were more likely than girls to state “Keeping
Fit”, “Improved health”, “Developed skills as a team player” and
“Developed my confidence” as benefits that they experienced from
participating in sports or physical activities.
Enjoyment of sport or physical activity
Just over three-fifths (62%) of young people surveyed said that they
enjoyed doing sport or physical activity a lot, with almost a third
(32%) stating that they enjoyed it a little. One in twenty (5%) stated
that they did not enjoy sport or physical activity at all.
Overall, boys were more likely to state that they enjoyed sport or
physical activity a lot (72%) than girls (53%). Conversely, girls were
more likely to state that they did not enjoy sport or physical activity
at all (8%) than boys (3%).
Enjoyment of sport or physical activity amongst young people gradually
diminished as school year group increased, going from over two thirds
(69%) of those in Year 8 to over half (56%) in Year 12. In addition when
looking at the proportions of those who did not like sport at all, 4% of
those in Year 8 stated this compared to 7% of those in Year 12.
Of those young people who enjoyed sport or physical activity a lot, the
gap in the levels of enjoyment between boys and girls increased as
school year group increased, from only 15 percentage points in Year 8 to
19 percentage points in Year 12.
Time spent doing sport or physical activity last week
When asked approximately how many minutes should be spent each day
playing sport, doing physical activity or playing actively to make you
out of breath or hot or sweaty, the majority of young people (77%) gave
a response of 60 minutes or more per day, consistent with the Chief
Medical Officers’ recommendations. Boys (82%) were more likely to state
this than girls (74%).
Just under a tenth (8%) of young people were involved in moderate to
vigorous physical activity for at least 60 minutes on each day of the
last week. A greater proportion of boys (11%) achieved this than girls
(6%).
On average, boys participated in 60 minutes or more moderate to vigorous
sport or physical activity on 3.7 days in the last week. For girls this
figure was 2.9 days.
Considering school year group, pupils in Year 12 (14%) were more likely
than any other school year group analysed to have not been involved in
60 minutes or more moderate to vigorous sport or physical activity on
any day in the week prior to the survey. Conversely, when looking at the
proportions of pupils who were involved in at least 60 minutes of sport
or physical activity every day of the week, younger pupils in Years 8, 9
and 10 (around 10%) were more likely than older pupils in Year 11 (7%)
and Year 12 (6%) to have done so.
Young people who have a disability were less likely to have been
involved in 60 minutes moderate to vigorous sport or physical activity
on any day in the previous week (12%) compared to those who do not have
a disability (7%).
Hours per week in sport or physical activity
Physical Education (PE) at school
Nearly three fifths (59%) of young people were normally involved in PE
for 2 hours or more each week. Boys were more likely (65%) than girls
(53%) to do so. The proportions of pupils stating that they were
normally involved in 2 hours or more of PE each week decreased as school
year group increased, with an overall 28 percentage point decrease from
71% of those in Year 9 to 43% of those in Year 12.
Young Catholics (51%) were less likely to normally be involved in 2
hours or more of PE each week than young Protestants (67%), as were
young people who have a disability (52%) compared to those who do not
have a disability (61%). Similarly pupils who are entitled to free
school meals were less likely to have normally taken part in at least 2
hours of PE per week than those pupils who are not entitled (50% and 61%
respectively).
After-schools sport or physical activity
Just under a quarter (23%) of pupils normally stayed behind after school
to take part in sport or physical activity for 2 or more hours each
week. Boys were more likely than girls to have taken part in sport or
physical activity after school (26% and 21% respectively).
Protestants (27%) were more likely to be involved in 2 hours or more of
after-schools sports or physical activity each week than Catholics
(21%). Young people who have a disability (17%) and those who are
entitled to free school meals (16%) were less likely to have normally
taken part in at least 2 hours of after-school’s sport or physical
activity than those who do not have a disability (26%) or who are not
entitled to free school meals (25%).
Outside of school sport or physical activity
Just over two thirds (68%) of young people normally took part in sport
or physical activity outside of school for 2 or more hours each week.
Boys (72%) were more likely to have done so than girls (63%).
Young people who have a disability (59%) were less likely to have
normally taken part in at least 2 hours of sport or physical activity
outside of school each week than those who do not have a disability
(71%), as were pupils entitled to free school meals (58%) compared to
those who were not entitled to free school meals (70%).
Member of a sports team or club
Young people were asked if they were a member of a school team or club
and if they were a member of a team/club outside of school which
involved them taking part in physical activity. Seven out of every ten
(70%) young people stated that they were a member of at least one such
team or club. Boys (73%) were more likely than girls (67%) to be a
member. This was also the case for both school teams or clubs and for
teams or clubs based outside of school.
Young people who have a disability were less likely to be a member of a
team or club that involved them taking part in physical activity (61%)
than those who do not have a disability (73%). This was the case for
both membership of a school team (32% and 49% respectively) and
membership of a team or club outside of school (53% and 64%
respectively).
This was also evident when considering entitlement to free school meals,
with those pupils entitled (60%) less likely to be a member of a team or
club than those who are not entitled (72%).
Membership of any sports team or club by gender
Trend analysis by gender shows that while membership of a sports club by
boys has remained fairly consistent over the available years, the
proportion of girls who are members of a sports team or club increased
from 62% in 2007 to a peak of 69% in 2016 and remained consistent at 67%
in 2022.
Sports club membership trends
Analysis of the longer-term trend shows that sports club membership has
remained fairly consistent at around seven out of every ten young people
with no obvious upward or downward trend overall.
Young people entitled to free school meals were generally less likely to
be a member of a sports team or club than those not entitled to free
school meals.
Frequency of coaching
Just under four-fifths (79%) of young people had been coached in sports
within the last year, not including coaching received during PE/games
lessons. Almost three-fifths of young people (58%) had been coached at
least once a week, with two-thirds (66%) having been coached at least
once a month. Boys were more likely to have been coached within the last
year compared with girls (81% and 78% respectively).
The proportions of pupils who were coached at least once a week in the
last year fell as school year group increased, with 68% in Year 8
compared to 46% in Year 12. Conversely the proportions of pupils who had
not been coached at all in the last year increased as school year group
increased with 13% in Year 8 having not been coached at all compared
with 31% in Year 12.
Those pupils who participated in sport and have a disability were less
likely to have been coached within the last year (74%) than those
without a disability (81%). Those who do not have a disability were less
likely to have not been coached at all (19%) compared to pupils who have
a disability (26%). Similar differences were evident when considering
free school meal entitlement.
Encourage young people to participate in sport
The most frequently cited factors that would encourage young people to
participate more in sport were “someone to go with” (59%), “facilities
nearer to home/school” (43%), “cheaper admission prices” (31%), “better
quality facilities” (28%) and “better opening hours” (23%). Almost one
in every seven young people (14%) stated that nothing would encourage
them to participate more in sport in the future.
Higher proportions of girls than boys cited “someone to go with” as a
factor that would encourage them to participate more. On the other hand,
boys were more likely than girls to have stated “better quality
facilities” and “better opening hours” as factors that would encourage
them to participate in sport more in the future.
Attendance at live sports events
Just over two-thirds of young people (69%) had attended a live sports
event in the previous year as a spectator. Over a quarter (29%) had done
so at least once a month and 13% at least once a week. Boys (15%) were
more likely to have attended a live sports event at least once a week in
order to spectate than girls (11%).
Young people who were entitled to free school meals were less likely to
have attended a sports event at all as a spectator within the previous
year (60%) than young people who were not entitled to free school meals
(70%).
Activity level and healthy eating
Young people were asked to best describe their combined activity levels
and eating habits. Over seven out of every ten (74%) young people
described themselves as being very active, with 55% stating that they
ate healthily. However, combining these behaviours shows that just over
a third (35%) stated that they both ate healthily and were very active.
Almost two-fifths (39%) stated that they were very active but did not
eat healthily, while a fifth (20%) stated that they were not very
active, but ate healthily. Just over one in twenty young people (6%)
stated that they did not eat healthily and were not very active.
Boys were more likely to describe themselves as being very active (81%)
than girls (67%). A higher proportion of boys (37%) stated that they
were both very active and ate healthily, compared to girls (33%). Girls
were more likely than boys to state that they ate healthily (59% and 52%
respectively). On the other hand girls were more likely to state that
they were not very active and did not eat healthily (8%), compared to
boys (4%).
Considering school year group, pupils in Year 8 were more likely to
describe themselves as very active (81%) and that they eat healthily
(61%) than pupils in Year 12 (69% and 49% respectively).
Young people with a disability were less likely to say that they were
very active (62%) than those young people who do not have a disability
(78%). In addition, a higher proportion of young people who have a
disability stated that they were not very active and did not eat
healthily (8%) compared to those young people who do not have a
disability (5%).
Definitions & technical notes
Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey
The Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and research
Agency was commissioned by a consortium of government departments and
public bodies to design, conduct and report on a study of the behaviour
and attitudes of young people in Northern Ireland. The Young Persons’
Behaviour and Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) is a school-based survey carried
out among 11-16 year olds and covers a wide range of topics relevant to
the lives of young people today. The main aim of the YPBAS is to gain an
insight into, and understanding of, their behaviour and lifestyle. It
also aims to influence various government policies and practices
relating to young people and to facilitate access to research findings
and expertise.
Questionnaire
Two versions of the questionnaire were used to accommodate demand for
topics on the 2022 survey. The content and structure of each
questionnaire was agreed in consultation with clients. Schools were
randomly assigned one version of the questionnaire. A copy of the DfC
questions can be accessed at:
The Department of Education (DE) provided CSU with a list of all
post-primary schools in Northern Ireland (excluding independent schools
and those which catered solely for pupils with special needs). All 192
post-primary schools, were contacted and invited to participate. Seventy
four schools agreed to participate in the study, resulting in a response
rate of 39%. One class in each of the five year groups (years 8-12) was
then randomly selected to take part in the study. A total of 3,726
pupils were surveyed using Version A (response rate 84%) and 3,772
pupils using Version B of the questionnaire (response rate 85%). DfC’s
questions on engagement of culture, arts, heritage and sport were
included in Version A.
Statistical significance in this report
The result presented in this report are based on data which has been
weighted by year group, gender and religion in order to reflect the
composition of the Northern Ireland post-primary population. Since a
three stage sample design was used: schools, classes and pupils, the
required assumption of random sampling was not met for significance
testing. In 2013, standard errors were calculated for some of the
variables in the survey using a formula for complex samples. However,
when these were compared with standard errors calculated using the
formula for random samples there was little difference (see
Technical
Report). Given those findings, and the methodology is consistent
with that used in 2013, tests of statistical significance in this
bulletin have been carried out using the formula for random samples.
Any statements in this report regarding differences between groups such
as different years and whether young people are entitled to free school
meals, are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This
means that we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups
are actual differences and have not just arisen by chance. Both the base
numbers and the sizes of the percentages have an effect on statistical
significance. Therefore on occasion, a difference between two groups may
be statistically significant while the same difference in percentage
points between two other groups may not be statistically significant.
The reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer
the percentages are to 0 or 100, the smaller the standard errors. This
leads to increased precision of the estimates which increases the
likelihood that the difference between the proportions is actually
significant and did not just arise by chance.
Other notes
The following should be noted when interpreting figures and tables:
Percentages less than 0.5% are denoted by ‘0’ and where there are no
responses, they are denoted by ‘-’.
Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
Percentages may not add to 100% for questions where multiple responses
are allowed.
Detailed tabulations are not provided where the number of respondents is
too small to allow meaningful analysis.
The base number of responses to each question, which is shown in each
table, is the unweighted count. The base may vary due to some
respondents not answering certain questions.
Official Statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics
Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and
value in the
Code of
Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics
should adhere to. Contact us directly with any comments about how we
meet these standards -
email:psu@communities-ni.gov.uk.
Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing
regulation@statistics.gov.uk
or via the OSR
website.
Click for definitions
Sport participation - Participated in at least one of the
following activities in the 12 months prior to the YPBAS:
Active games (e.g. chase, skipping, rounder’s etc.)
