Disabled children still face exclusion in PE - here's what needs to change

Children between the ages of five and 18 should do a minimum of 60 minutes of exercise a day across the week, according to UK government recommendations. And physical education (PE) is, of course, one of the main ways in which both primary and secondary schools meet these guidelines.

As disabled children are more likely to be sedentary, it’s particularly important that they can take part in school exercise. Surveys have also shown that most disabled children would like to be able to take part in PE more often. Yet our latest research, assisted by recently retired academic and former Paralympic athlete Dr Stuart Braye, shows that disabled children attending mainstream schools still experience many difficulties in joining in with PE lessons.