Huge disparities in state and private pupils’ access to outdoor physical education must be reduced

Fresh air, outdoor games, exercise: everyone knows children need these things and wants them to be healthy. Now more than ever, with an obesity crisis, lack of affordable housing and rising concerns about attention-hogging smartphones, it is common sense to advocate for access to green space, sports and swimming. But, as the Guardian’s research has revealed, state school pupils are at a massive disadvantage compared with private school ones. Children at the top 250 fee-paying schools, many of which are charities, have more than 10 times as much outside space as the 93% of pupils in England who are state educated (in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the proportion of private pupils is even lower).

The oldest and grandest of England’s schools are more like palaces, with websites and brochures full of pledges about the learning that takes place outside classrooms as well as in them. The contrast with skimpy provision in the public sector, particularly at some of the newest schools set up since regulations on school buildings were loosened in 2012, is shocking. More than 300 schools have under 1,000 sq metres of outside space in total, and at least 20 have no playground or sports pitches at all. There is also a downward trend in the amount of time given over to play and meal times, with headteachers pointing to behaviour and curriculum pressures. At the same time, youth services outside school have been hollowed out by austerity. Little wonder, then, that sports including cricket, rugby and rowing remain dominated by private school alumni.

Brighton primary has worked with organisation to provide better quality time outside

• Children deprived of outdoor play at higher risk of obesity, say doctors

Every Friday morning Damien Jordan can be seen walking back and forth in the local park, staring at the grass. He’s checking for dog mess and drug paraphernalia; in the next 10 minutes 30 or so of the pupils of Fairlight primary in Brighton will hit the park for their weekly football practice.

With a playground that measures just 800m² and more than 400 children, there is no room for sports on the school grounds, so about a decade ago Jordan, headteacher at Fairlight, started practice at the park. It is just one of the ways that he, like other heads, is finding to cope with the issues many state schools are fighting; shortages of green space, shortages of staff and time, and shortages of cash.

Exclusive: Medics say children with poor access to outdoor play at school at higher risk of developing lifelong health problems

• Revealed: students at top private schools have 10 times more green space than state pupils
• ‘We have to be all things to our children’: how a school made sure pupils had time to play

Doctors have warned that a “truly alarming” lack of access to outdoor space at schools is exacerbating Britain’s child obesity crisis.

Child obesity is already a significant public health problem. In England, one in three children are leaving primary school overweight or obese and face a higher risk of serious health conditions, mental health problems and dying prematurely.

Shorter playtimes and shrinking outside space in England have serious implications for children’s wellbeing and mental health

• Revealed: students at top private schools have 10 times more green space than state pupils
• Indoors at breaktime: the school in a London office block
• Private schools in England should be made to share their green space, say campaigners

Children are facing a “brutal” loss of space and time for play in school, teachers, unions and academics have warned.

A combination of factors is eating into the time children spend outside, and will have serious implications for their wellbeing and mental health.

A Guardian analysis of the space available to state school children in England has revealed that thousands are attending schools with very little outside space, with government data showing that more than 300 schools have under 1,000 sq metres and at least 20 have no outside space. In nearly 1,000 schools, there is under 10 sq metres for each pupil.

New and unpublished research from the UCL Institute of Education seen by the Guardian showed a continued downward trend in the amount of time children have for playtime in the wake of the Covid lockdowns, with the youngest losing the most time.

The demands of the curriculum have increased, and continue to diminish time outside, while staffing shortages are reducing capacity to oversee playtime.

Across England and Wales schools face difficult financial decisions, which are having an impact on the funding to care for grounds. Headteachers in the state sector have said they are in desperate need of funding to improve basic facilities for children.

School buildings are crumbling, as many were built with Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) that was not replaced within its usable lifetime, meaning in some cases playgrounds are being used to host temporary classrooms. This is squeezing out the little space some schools have for children to spend time outside.

Group that runs Oasis Academy South Bank warns councils prioritise private housing over space for children to breathe

• Children facing a ‘brutal’ loss of time and space for play at state schools
• Revealed: students at top private schools have 10 times more green space than state pupils

Oasis Academy South Bank in Waterloo sits in a densely built-up corner of south London – so densely that the only space found for the school was in a recommissioned office block. There is no playground, no sports pitch, nowhere to play football at break time.

Steve Chalke is the founder of Oasis Charitable Trust, the organisation that runs the school, one of 54 in their charge across England. He admits it is a challenging environment.

A Guardian report has revealed the huge areas of outdoor space owned by UK private schools. It’s time for this inequality to end

• Revealed: students at top private schools have 10 times more green space than state pupils

It was during the worst months of Covid that the playing fields of Eton and the vast grounds owned by hundreds of other private schools first became a matter of serious public concern. Social-distancing rules meant many children attending state schools were corralled into concrete playgrounds or sent home while their wealthier counterparts were enjoying acres of spatial freedom in gated communities.

It wasn’t long before the cry went out for private schools to open their gates to their state school neighbours. Very few schools answered that call. Today we learn the true extent of the inequality between the green-space premium enjoyed by fee-paying pupils over state-school children. A Guardian investigation has found that children at the top 250 English private schools have more than 10 times as much outdoor space as those who go to state schools.

Robert Verkaik is an author and journalist specialising in extremism and education

Guardian investigation reveals vast gap in outdoor space and lists the top 10 schools with the most of all

• Revealed: private schools have 10 times more green space than state schools
• Analysis: Green space better for young brains than we realised
• How England’s top private schools came to own 38,000 acres of land

A handful of schools, the Guardian’s analysis has found, have campuses that stretch over hundreds of acres. So what, exactly, do the 10 largest schools (by area) offer their lucky students?, and how do they go about sharing their grounds with other children?

Guardian investigation finds pupils at England’s wealthiest schools have much greater access to land, with implications for mental health

• Analysis: Green space better for young brains than we realised
• How England’s top private schools came to own 38,000 acres of land
• Beagling, golf and jolly hockey sticks: outdoor life at England’s largest private schools

Children at the top 250 English private schools have more than 10 times as much outdoor space as those who go to state schools, an exclusive Guardian analysis can reveal.

A schoolboy at fee-charging Eton has access to 140 times more green space than the average English state school pupil, the analysis found. Experts condemned the “staggering” and “gross” inequalities.

The average student at one of England’s top private schools has access to approximately 322 sq metres of green space, whereas the average state school student has access to about 32 sq metres of green space: a ratio of 10:1.

Eton students enjoy the largest area of land of all the schools in the country, with its schoolboys having access to 4,445 sq metres per pupil an area, 140 times larger than that available to the average state school student. Some of that land is also accessible to the public.

The private school campuses include tennis courts, golf courses, rowing lakes, swimming pools, equestrian centres, wilderness areas, and remote camping lodges.

In contrast, some state schools have little or no green space at all for their students.