For more than a century the state (government) has provided education in England. Though PE was not statutory until 1992, when it was introduced as compulsory in the National Curriculum of 1992 (1).

Dr. Hardman continues with an overview of the development of PE in schools since the nineteenth century when the British started teaching the subject.

He claims that PE evolved out of two traditions:

• Boarding school games

• Military drill

The boarding schools organised games and competitive sports for their pupils. For example: rowing, tennis, cricket and polo.

The military drill was based on the idea that many soldiers, or in this case pupils, could march, drill and so on. This way many pupils could exercise for a very low cost, as it required only one instructor and an open space. This military drill idea was followed by the Swedish Therapeutic Gymnastics in the Ling tradition, this change occurred in the 1870s. Ling gymnastics was also based on military drill, though with a more therapeutic approach, and during its first thirty odd years part-time, ex-army, non-commissioned personnel often taught it (1).
 

It was not until 1904 when the "Syllabus of Physical Exercises" was published, that the official shift away from military drill took place. This Syllabus was based on the Swedish Ling gymnastics. Britain continued to based its Board of Education syllabuses for PE on Ling gymnastics.

As early as 1911, the Board of Education, via Dr. Newman (responsible for PE in schools) began to express some disquiet about Swedish Gymnastics, he described it as boring. In the 1919 syllabus the content was broadened and arguably in the 1933 syllabus the Swedish Gymnastics no longer dominated the contents. However there was still an element of the Swedish approach within the syllabus. Eventually Games and Movement Education took over and this is clearly seen in the 1952 Ministry of Education syllabus. Thus, Swedish Gymnastics gradually phased out between c.1911 and about 1939.

The organised games and competitive sports, originating from the boarding schools, were not included in state elementary school syllabuses until 1933 when the "Syllabus of Physical Training" was published.

In 1952-53 the new syllabus offered flexibility of content and a less formal learning process for PE through exploration and discovery (1).

In the 1960s the government exercised a "hands-off" position towards PE. They thought, at the time, that it was not proper for the government to get involved in sports and PE since these were matters of individual choice. All three major political parties agreed about this (2).

In 1972 the pupils were given more responsibility for their own work, leaving the teachers to respond to individual needs and differences (1).

Since the 1960s the trend has been towards more government influence. Among other things, it has been suggested that, the personal interest of John Major, the former Prime Minister, in sports, shared by several members of the cabinet, had a significant influence on the policy (2).

The 1988 Education Reform Act provided the teachers with a framework within which they were given free hands to work very freely. This curriculum though, was severely critizised, to such extent that it was modified. By 1994, when the modification was completed, PE had lost 1/3 of its originally (1992) granted time (1).