Sailing and windsurfing return to the GCSE PE activity list

Sailing and windsurfing return to the GCSE PE activity list © RYA

The RYA is delighted to announce that sailing and windsurfing have been reinstated to the PE Activity List, following the Department for Education's (DfE) 2018 public consultation.

The consultation looked at proposals to add activities to the published GCSE, AS and A level physical education (PE) activity lists.

A total of 1,077 responses were received to the consultation, putting forward 82 activities for inclusion in the List. Sailing and windsurfing are two of 13 new activities that have been added to the list, having been removed in 2014.

All four Awarding Organisations that offer GCSE, AS and A Level PE will incorporate the revised lists of activities into their specification for first teaching in September 2020.

"The return of sailing and windsurfing to the curriculum is a major boost for all that we do to get young people on the water and develop the sport. It opens the door for even more young people to experience sailing and what it can do for their personal development, as well as providing even more variety across the PE curriculum", commented RYA CEO, Sarah Treseder.

"We are hugely grateful to the many RYA members, affiliated sailing clubs, schools, teachers and parents who supported our campaign for inclusion in the List by responding to the consultation and appreciate the opportunity to have worked with Department for Education officials and Awarding Organisations to explain and make the case for the inclusion of sailing and windsurfing," Sarah added.

As the National Governing Body for sailing and windsurfing, the RYA will now work with Government and its agencies to develop the guidance on how sailing and windsurfing can be taught and assessed in a consistent way. While the RYA's network of affiliated clubs and recognised training centres, will be able to provide schools up and down the country with access to the necessary facilities to offer sailing and windsurfing to their pupils.

Read the full consultation outcome here.

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