New principles to transform training for sport and activity workforce
A powerful shift in how learning is designed and delivered across sport and physical activity is underway, as Activity Alliance and leading sector partners unveil a new set of Inclusive Learning Principles. They have been created to remove barriers to learning opportunities and unlock potential for everyone, particularly disabled people.
Activity Alliance created the Inclusive Learning Principles with support from Sporting People and in close collaboration with expert partners including Active Partnerships National Organisation, CIMSPA, Sport England, UK Coaching and UK Sport. The principles mark a collective commitment to rethinking learning from the ground up, placing inclusion not as an add-on, but as the starting point.
One in four people in the UK are disabled, therefore the need for change is urgent. Yet despite clear interest, disabled people remain significantly underrepresented in the sport and physical activity workforce. Activity Alliance research shows only 9% have opportunities to coach or deliver activity, compared to 24% of non-disabled people*. These new principles and supporting guidance aim to change that.
A blueprint for better learning for everyone
The Inclusive Learning Principles are not a checklist or compliance exercise. They are a practical, flexible framework designed to support anyone creating, delivering or commissioning learning opportunities.
At their core is a simple yet transformative idea that learning works best when it works for everyone.
From embedding inclusion at the earliest stages of design, to ensuring content is shaped by lived experience the 10 principles provide clear, actionable prompts to help organisations:
- Design learning that is accessible by default, not by adjustment
- Create flexible experiences that reflect how people actually learn
- Use clear, inclusive language and imagery
- Build confidence, progression and real-world application
- Continuously listen, reflect and improve
From intention to action
Crucially, the new principles and guidance move beyond theory. They offer practical, real-world suggestions that organisations can apply immediately. Whether that is delivering online modules, face-to-face workshops or hybrid programmes.
They encourage teams to ask better questions from the outset. Who might be excluded? What barriers exist? And how can we remove them before they arise?
It also reinforces a vital message that inclusion is a part of everyone’s role.
By embedding inclusive thinking into planning conversations, delivery methods and evaluation processes, organisations can create learning environments that nurture every learner and support more disabled people to join the sport and physical activity workforce.
A shared commitment across the sector
This is more than a resource launch. It represents a unified step forward from organisations across the sector, aligned in their ambition to create a workforce that better reflects the diversity of the communities they serve.
Together, partners are calling on organisations, training providers and leaders to adopt the principles in their own work and share them widely.
Chloe Studley, Head of Workforce at Activity Alliance said:
“The Inclusive Learning Principles are an important step towards creating a sport and physical activity workforce that truly reflects the communities it serves. By embedding inclusion from the very beginning, we can remove barriers to learning, unlock talent and create better opportunities for everyone to thrive across the sector.
"It has been fantastic to work alongside such influential partners from across the sport and physical activity sector to develop a shared approach to inclusive learning. This collaboration shows the collective commitment to making meaningful, lasting change.”
Access Inclusive Learning Principles now
The Inclusive Learning Principles and supporting guide are now available to download, alongside a self-assessment tool to help organisations assess, apply and embed the approach.
Activity Alliance Learning Principles - Full Guide
Activity Alliance Inclusive Learning Principles - One page guide
Whether you’re designing your first course or reviewing an established programme, the message is clear that better learning creates better opportunities. And better opportunities create a more inclusive future for sport and physical activity.
* Research into the workforce gap - Disabled people in the sport and physical activity workforce (Activity Alliance, January 2025)
