For Active Partnerships

A free skipping league for every school in your county

Every half term, children in every class skip for 30 seconds and try to beat their own best. Schools take part from their own playground, the tables update live, and your SGOs get the numbers without collecting anything. It's completely free, it runs itself, and every school in England is already matched to its Active Partnership.

“The least active are the hardest to reach.”Every child in the class takes part and competes against their own best, not just the school team.
“Our SGOs and our team are stretched.”Schools sign up, enter their own scores and see their own tables. Nobody has to run it.
“A one-day festival doesn’t change habits.”A new round every half term keeps children skipping all year, between your events.
“We need evidence of reach.”Taking part, improvement, active minutes, girls and boys, SEND and pupil premium, by area and by term. Numbers only, never names.

Talk to us Get your free AP login See the county tables What your SGOs get

The children you're trying to reach

The latest Active Lives Children and Young People survey shows that activity is rising overall. But the gaps Active Partnerships work hardest on are not closing, and they start in primary school.

42%of children in Years 3 and 4 are active for 60 minutes a day. That's the lowest of any year group.

46%get 30 active minutes during the school day.

45% v 58%are active among children from the least and the most affluent families.

2.1mchildren and young people do less than 30 minutes of activity a day.

Source: Sport England, Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, academic year 2024–25 (December 2025).

The Virtual Skipping League is built for the 7 to 11 year olds in that dip. It works in a playground, with one rope each and nothing else.

How it helps your Active Partnership

Reaches the least activeEvery pupil is in, and progress is measured against their own personal best, so it suits the children who never make a team. Every go counts as activity. Each school sees which of its pupils have had one go or none.

Built for tackling inequalitiesIt costs nothing and needs no travel, no venue and no kit beyond a rope. Schools can record girls and boys, SEND and pupil premium, so taking part can be seen for each group.

Runs itselfSchools register, add their classes and enter scores by typing them, using a phone tap counter or uploading a spreadsheet. Approval usually takes less than a day. There's no event for anyone to staff.

All year, not one dayA new round every half term, with termly and whole-year tables. Children keep skipping between festivals, and the repeat scores show progress over time.

Your own county leagueEvery school is placed in its Active Partnership league automatically. It has public tables, a School Cup, most improved and most active, and champion certificates every round, term and year.

Insight you can usePupils taking part, goes recorded, active minutes, personal-best gains and the share of pupils at the expected standard for their age. Your SGOs can download it by round or term, with one row per school.

Completely free for every school and every SGO
Over 24,000 schools in England matched to their Active Partnership
Numbers only, never pupil names

Where it fits in your work

It doesn't add a new programme to your list. It supports the ones you already run.

Tackling inequalitiesThe same offer reaches every school in the county, whatever its budget or how far it is from a venue. You can see which areas and schools are taking part.

School GamesIt gives schools a ready-made personal-challenge, intra-school and virtual inter-school competition, with the official School Games intents. SGOs get a free login to run area challenges and one-day area finals from the tables, and they can see Mark evidence when they verify schools.

60 active minutes, 30 in schoolClasses log their skipping minutes in PE, at break and in the classroom, and the brain-break skipper needs no rope at all. Families can log skipping at home too.

Whole-school approachesSkipping fits the parts of the day that Creating Active Schools-style programmes target: break and lunch, active lessons and home. Young Leaders can run sessions and enter scores.

Health and wellbeing partnersA daily, low-cost activity habit for primary pupils, with numbers by area that you can share with public health and local authority colleagues.

Three ways to get your county skipping

1 · Your SGOs

Pass it on to your SGO network

Each SGO gets a free login to see their area, invite their schools from their own email (or have us email them) and set area challenges. There's a short guide and a 3½-minute video.

2 · Your schools

Share it in your schools bulletin

Schools register free in a few minutes at vsl.org.uk. We'll send you a short paragraph and an image for your newsletter or social media.

3 · Your county

Celebrate your county champions

Your county table names the top classes and schools every round, term and year. Use it to celebrate taking part, or as a way into your county festival.

Private by designPupil names never leave the school, full surnames are never stored, and the data is hosted in the UK.

Schools stay in controlA school can choose not to be shown in its SGO, county or national tables.

From people who teach skippingRun by skip-hop, drawing on 25 years of skipping workshops in schools.

Completely free. Every feature.

Not just free to sign up. Everything in the Virtual Skipping League is free for every school, including the five new events as they arrive. No subscriptions and no paid upgrades.

skip-hop ropes at school pricesProfessional-grade skip-hop skipping ropes are available inside the league at greatly discounted rates for league schools. Optional.

More to learn, when you're readyAs pupils get fitter and master the basics, they'll want to learn more. A full skipping scheme of work is available to buy now, with videos for advanced skills to follow, to help your teachers take them further. Optional.

Free now, and still free after July 2027

School sport funding is changing as the PE and sport premium gives way to the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. None of that affects this. There's no licence, no subscription and no grant to run out, so your schools have nothing to budget for.