Government pledges £7.5m for new 'sporting excellence' diploma scheme

The government has confirmed that a new Diploma in Sporting Excellence will be made available from September 2018 to replace the part-time Advanced Award in Sporting Excellence.

The Department for Education has pledged to make £7.75m available annually to fund the programme, which will see up to 1,550 young people enroll each year on a two-year programme.

The diploma will include a qualification regulated by Ofqual and work is currently underway with the awarding bodies to make sure the new qualification is available from September.

In order to nurture the ‘next generation of sports leaders’, the qualification will only be open to 16-18 year-olds who are on a talent pathway overseen by their sport’s national governing body.

Details of the new course were made as part of the government’s second annual report on the progress made on the Sporting Future strategy, published earlier this year.

The document outlined the progress made in delivering the strategy goals, and included a number of developments relating to the improvement of the sporting workforce – a key aspect of the strategy.

Among the workforce-related projects to have been introduced as part of the strategy is Sport England’s new Professional Workforce Strategy, which is due to be published in spring 2018.

Designed to engage and attract a diverse range of people into working in sport and physical activity, the strategy will set out proposals for developing people with the skills, competencies and behaviour.

The government has also renewed its backing for The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), which it picked to lead the way in professionalising the sport and physical activity sector in the landmark Sporting Future document.

In the latest update, the government commended the setting up of CIMSPA’s Professional Standards Matrix, which lists occupations and job roles within the sport sector and defines the knowledge and skills needed to do the job successfully.

To read the government’s Second Annual Report on the Sporting Future strategy,click here to download the document.