Today’s children don’t fake illness to avoid PE like their parents did

It reveals that three in four pupils say they like PE classes, with a quarter saying that they “love it”.

Just under one in four (23 per cent) of the 700 youngsters surveyed by the Youth Sport Trust and Bupa said that they did not like the subject.

But their parents were far less positive about their memories of school sport, with more than half (56 per cent) saying they had lied to get out of lessons. The most popular excuse was feigning illness, followed by faking a note from their mum or dad.

Parents also admitted to claiming they had forgotten their kit, faking injuries or simply “bunking off” and missing a class.

In comparison, just under three in 10 (29 per cent) of current pupils said they had avoided taking part in PE. The most popular excuse for the younger generation was also claiming to feel unwell, followed by lying about an injury and lying about forgetting their kit.

Just four per cent of the eight to 15-year-olds questioned admitting “bunking off” PE lessons.

The poll found that the top reasons for parents disliking the subject during their school days were because they were not very good at it, because they did not like going outside in bad weather and because they did not like getting showered or changed in front of their classmates.

Many parents are more positive about PE today, with more than a third (37 per cent) saying they thought the lessons are better now than when they were at school. The survey also found that half (49 per cent) of children said that their teacher makes PE fun, while 29 per cent said that their teacher motivates them to take part in lessons.

More than half (51 per cent) of pupils said that they would like the subject more if they had more choice of different types of sports, while 38 per cent wanted to do more interesting sports and activities. Baroness Sue Campbell, chair of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “It’s always encouraging to see that there is an appetite for PE and school sport. “