School Games Mark

The School Games Mark for the 2022/23 academic year will be available from Wednesday 03 May to Wednesday 26 July 2023. You can access the criteria for the School Games Mark on the right-hand side of this page or alternatively, you can register your school and speak to your SGO for further information. 

How can I apply?

School Games registered schools are eligible to apply once a year during an application window, which traditionally takes place during the summer term, and are graded against set criteria. The School Games Mark is a retrospective award and all answers submitted should only consider the current academic year (i.e. the current term and the two previous terms). 

Applications are made via a short form available to all registered schools through their online dashboards. If you are already registered, please click the 'Log in' button at the top of the page to get started.

The video below outlines the process to help schools to complete their School Games Mark.

How is my award confirmed?

When an application is submitted to us, it is graded automatically against that year's criteria. This initially determines whether the application is likely to be at a bronze, silver, or gold level. The application is then either verified by that school's local School Games Organiser (SGO) or is picked for a validation visit by an external auditor. The auditors randomly select a small cohort of schools each year to ensure that the information being provided is correct. 

The schools who consistently submit gold level applications will be given the opportunity to additionally apply for the platinum award, which is then valid for two years. A full set of guidance documents on the School Games Mark are available to all registered users via the resource library on their dashboard.

What are the key criteria?

The criteria of the School Games Mark aligns directly with the School Games outcomes. Schools will need to demonstrate how they are/have:

• maintaining and growing your school’s engagement in the School Games and your delivery of 60 active minutes for every child
• create positive experiences by ensuring physical activity and competition provision is designed to reflect the motivation, competence and confidence of your young people and has a clear intent
• a clear focus on transition points and how secondary schools engage in the School Games
• create positive experiences to support character development of targeted young people
• advocated to key stakeholders how the School Games makes a meaningful difference to the lives of children and young people, including engaging and educating parents.
  

The criteria for this year's School Games Mark can be found on the right-hand side of this page.

What do I get if I am successful?

All successful schools receive a wooden award badge to be pinned onto their School Games pennant, and a downloadable digital celebration pack which contains the following assets:

• School Games Mark logo (for use on letterheads, school website, etc)
• Certificate for you to display proudly at your school
• Celebratory GIF which you can share on social media to further celebrate your success
• Draft press release which you can customise and share with the local media.