The gender gap in sports participation in Wales increases as students move on to further education, Sport Wales research has found.

The survey, which questioned just under 5,000 students between April and July 2015, found a 19 percentage point gap between males and females that participate in sport at least three times a week.

According to the report, 59 per cent of male students aged 16+ regularly participated in sporting activity, in college or externally, compared to 40 per cent of females.

Although the combined figure for males and females (49 per cent) is comparable to the 48 per cent of school children taking part in sport at least three times per week, the gender statistics are more even in primary and secondary schools.

Males in years 3-11 playing sport three times per week outside the curriculum hit the 52 per cent mark in 2015, compared to 44 per cent of females.

The study found that as adolescents get older, their sporting activity drops off. 54 per cent of 16-year-olds surveyed played sport three times per week or more, compared with 37 per cent of 20+ students.

Gender differences were also highlighted in the types of sports students would like to do more of.

More than 40 per cent of male respondents revealed that they would like to participate in more team sports and competitive sports respectively, while female subjects highlighted an appetite for doing more outdoor sports.

The survey follows the publication of Sport Wales’ 2015 School Sport Survey in October, which found the number of Welsh children playing sport at least three times a week has leapt 20 per cent since 2013.

It surveyed 115,000 pupils in years 3-11 over the same four-month period and revealed that the number of children who took part in organised sport, outside of curriculum time, grew from 40 per cent to 48 per cent over the two-year period.

The study found that participation rates had been partly boosted by the increasing number of minority ethnic children taking part in sport at least three times per week.

The number of Black/Black British children regularly playing sport in Wales surged by 41 per cent, from 37 per cent in 2013 to 52 per cent in 2015.

There were similar boosts in activity from the nation’s other minority ethnic groups.

Asian/Asian British pupils who played sport at least three times per week increase by 24 per cent, while Arab/Other children rose by 34 per cent.

Regular participation from Mixed Race children also grew, from 41 per cent to 52 per cent over the period.

Meanwhile, the number of white children taking part in sporting activity three-times-a-week or more also increased by 20 per cent.

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