The School Games

What is the School Games?

The School Games is a unique opportunity to motivate and inspire millions of young people across the country to take part in more competitive school sport, guided by 38 Sports formats designed by National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs).

The School Games are made up of four levels of activity: competition in schools, competition between schools, and competition at a county/area level: 

Intra-school Competition (Level 1)

For many young people, sporting competition is first experienced through intra-house teams, form groups or in PE lessons. This level of competition builds on school’s existing work to offer pupils a year-round programme of regular intra-school competition in a number of sports that culminate in a School Games Celebration Day.

Inter-school Competition (Level 2)

At this level, individuals and teams are selected to represent their school at inter-school competitions – regular local leagues and one off tournaments and events. School have the flexibility to decide which sports to enter, but are encouraged to involve as many pupils as possible by creating breadth in the sports they offer and depth through the creation of additional teams.

School Games Festival (Level 3)

Each county host’s a multi-sport showcase event as a culmination of the year-round inter-school competition. In Oxfordshire this is delivered across a number of days as both a ‘winter’ and ‘summer’ festival. School teams competing at Level 2 win the opportunity to compete at the County festivals. Individuals succeeding at this level are encouraged to further develop their enjoyment and talent in sport through existing NGB club and talent pathways.

More information about the Oxfordshire School Games is available at www.oxspa.co.uk/school-games.

2016 School Games (Level 4)

The Level 4 School Games is a national multi-sport event, in which the country’s most talented athletes of school age compete via progression through their NGB performance system. The Level 4 School Games takes place in high quality venues amongst a unique and vibrant atmosphere, and supports athletes development; acting as a stepping stone to further national and international competition.

The 2016 School Games will be hosted by Loughborough University from the 1st to 4th September 2016.

For full details on last year's event, please visit www.2015schoolgames.com.

Schools are encouraged to register to be part of the School Games, which provides access to competition opportunities, resources and wider programmes of support that can help schools to support ALL young to be physically active and address wider curriculum and whole school priorities. To find more information about the School Games, or to register your school, please visit www.yourschoolgames.com.