Sport England has injected £5m of National Lottery funding into 49 colleges to help get students active.

The decision to expand the further education investment portfolio and drive college ‘inactivity programmes’ follows research from Sport England which found:

Nearly 1 in 5 (approximately 138,000) further education college students are inactive, meaning they do less than the 30 minutes of physical activity recommended by England's chief medical officer. Nearly two thirds of the inactive group do nothing at all.

Students who go to a further education college are typically more inactive than students who attend sixth form in a school or go to university.

Being active can make a big difference to everyone’s health: one in six adults in the UK die as a result of being inactive.

Mike Diaper, Sport England’s executive director of community sport, said: “College is a crucial time in a young person’s development. It is often the first time that activity is not a compulsory part of their curriculum and as a consequence all too many young people become inactive.

“This funding will enable colleges to use innovative ways to embed activity in student’s lifestyles so they can continue to be active for years to come.”

A statement from Sport England said: “Colleges also educate more students from lower-socio economic groups, as well as more black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, and students with a disability. These are less likely to be active, something which the funding will help to address.”

Alongside traditional activities such as gym and fitness classes, archery, yoga, Pilates and self-defence, colleges are being encouraged to use more innovative, non-traditional, activities such as bubble football, ‘raveminton’, tag American football and parkour.

Some colleges will offer a ‘Fit for Work Programme’ to prepare students for the physical demands of the workplace. Others will establish a ‘Mental Health Referrals’ system to support student wellbeing.

For a full list of the colleges and their plans click here.