What the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network means for your school

If you lead a primary school, you’ve probably seen the headlines. The PE and Sport Premium is ending, and something new is taking its place. For a lot of heads, business managers and PE leads, the first reaction has been a familiar one: what does this mean for our budget, and what do we need to do about it? 

The short version is more reassuring than the headlines. There’s no cliff edge in September; a good deal is still being decided and the sensible steps for this term are calmer than the noise suggests. Below is our plain-English guide to what’s been confirmed, what hasn’t and what it means for your school. 

What’s changing 

The government is replacing the Primary PE and Sport Premium with a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, announced on 21 May 2026. The biggest change is in how the money reaches schools. Under the Premium, the funding landed in your account and you decided how to spend it. Under the Network, most of it will flow through a national delivery partner rather than arriving directly in schools. 

The scope is wider too. The Premium was primary-only. The new Network will cover primary and secondary schools, with the stated aim of joining up PE, school sport and physical activity across a child’s whole education. 

What’s confirmed 

A few things are now firm. This is a substantial commitment: over £1 billion across three years, including £580 million for the Network itself and nearly £200 million of capital funding for school sport facilities. Primary schools will also receive a one-off transitional payment as the Premium winds down. 

The model has two halves. There’s universal support, in the form of on-demand online training available to every school. And there’s targeted support for the schools and pupils who need it most, including quality-assured coaching, top-up swimming lessons and expanded extra-curricular opportunities. Inclusion sits at the centre of it: the funding is explicitly aimed at the children who are currently least active, including girls, pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. 

The timeline gives you room to plan. The PE and Sport Premium runs through the 2025/26 academic year as its final year of direct payments. Transitional arrangements are due to begin from Autumn 2026. The Network is expected to be fully up and running by Spring 2027. 

What’s still unknown 

We’d rather be straight with you here, because a lot of the detail that matters most to schools hasn’t been published yet. 

The formal tender for the national delivery partner hasn’t gone out. As of late June the process is still at an early market-engagement stage and no partner has been appointed. The geographic structure is undecided: how many local partnerships there will be, and whether they’re organised regionally, by county or as hubs, will largely be shaped by whoever wins the contract. It also isn’t yet clear how schools will be selected for targeted support, or how local specialist delivery will be commissioned once the Network is live. 

Some of the published dates are estimates, and a few have already moved. So if you read a confident prediction about exactly how this will work in your area, treat it with care. The truthful position today is that the shape is still forming, and that’s normal this early in a change of this size. 

What this means for your school 

For all the noise, the practical advice for this term is steady. 

First, there’s no need to cut anything in a hurry. September 2026 is not a deadline for your PE provision. Your current arrangements can carry on through the summer term and into the transition, and stopping good provision now would cost children far more than it saves. 

Keeping your impact evidence sharp matters too. Whatever the Network looks like, schools that can show what their PE does for participation, confidence, inclusion and physical literacy will be best placed to make the most of targeted support when it arrives. Termly assessments and clear impact reports do more than satisfy Ofsted. They are how you’ll evidence need and outcomes under the new model. 

This is also a good term to plan ahead. Set out your PE priorities for 2026/27 and think about where specialist support will add the most value. The transitional payment only comes once, but it’s a real chance to invest in provision that lasts. 

How PH ActiveEd is preparing 

We’re following this closely, reading the source documents as they’re published rather than the headlines, and we’ll keep our schools updated as the detail firms up. 

We’re doing the groundwork too. The confirmed model names quality-assured local coaching, swimming and extra-curricular delivery as core parts of targeted support, which is exactly the work our specialists already do across the South West. We’re strengthening our partnerships with schools, clubs and governing bodies so that, whatever structure emerges, high-quality delivery is ready on the ground here. 

None of that changes what matters most right now: keeping great PE in front of children, every week, without interruption. 

If you’d like to talk through what the changes might mean for your school, or you just want to be on the list for our next update as the picture becomes clearer, we’d be glad to hear from you. If you want to talk through what this means for your school, get in touch with our Educational Lead - Abbie Morrissey 

Or Get in touch with our Team: phactiveed.co.uk/contact