Activities 'improve exam results'

Taking part in sporting activities appears to improve results

Pupils who take part in several extra-curricular activities tend to perform better in exams, research by the Independent Schools Council suggests.

A study of 508 private schools found the number of pupils getting GCSE grade B or above was linked to the number of extra-curricular activities on offer.

Pupils in top-performing schools took part on average in 50% more activities than those in weaker schools.

ISC said extra-curricular activities were key to wider academic success.

Its research found schools offering 30 or more activities were more likely to have nearly 100% of pupils achieving grade B or above at GCSE level.

Schools offering 20 activities saw just 30% of pupils achieving these results.

ISC chief executive David Lyscom said: "This new research now shows how important extra-curricular activities can be in underpinning academic achievement."

Cricketers' performance

At the independent school Harrow, the exam results of the First XI cricket team are closely scrutinised because a high number of matches takes pupils out of lessons during the summer term.

Head master Barnaby Lenon said they repeatedly found that the team's A-level results were very good, often better than expected.

Mr Lenon said extra-curricular activities - be they sporting or otherwise - were central to the experience of any educated person.

"Extra-curricular activities can produce, in a less academic boy in particular, a level of enjoyment and motivation which spills over to his academic work.

"Boys come with a more positive approach to school life than if it were all work and no play.

"Art and music have a very great and disproportionate effect on the morale of the whole school and lead to life-long interest."

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said ministers agreed with the findings of the ISC research.

"We are investing £1 bn for extended schools over 2008-2011 to ensure that extra curricular activities, including sports, are available to all pupils in the state sector," he said.