More than £1 million could be spent on a programme to improve competitive school sports for girls, new documents reveal.

The Department for Education has put out a tender for a contract which could run to almost £1.2 million for providers to improve competitive sporting opportunities.

The successful contractor would be expected to increase opportunities for girls to take part in 60 minutes’ worth of activity per day.

Headteachers say that while they welcome the plans, the pressures on staff to juggle competing demands in a “crowded curriculum” as well as ongoing funding difficulties need to be addressed.

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In the contract, the DfE says it is looking for a contractor to “improve and increase competitive school sport and sport leadership opportunities for girls at school” as well as improving sport leadership opportunities.

It says that the bid from potential contractors must promote “opportunities to build character, such as resilience, leadership and self-belief” as well as demonstrating “knowledge of barriers girls face in access competitive sport and sport leadership opportunities”.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We warmly welcome any initiative to support schools in boosting sport opportunities for young people.

“Schools, of course, already work hard to encourage and facilitate opportunities for girls and boys to participate in sport, and are rightly proud of the health benefits, self-discipline, teamwork, leadership skills and sheer enjoyment this imparts.

“Many dedicated staff make this happen despite the fact that schools face the twin pressures of having to juggle many competing demands in an extremely crowded curriculum, as well as intense and ongoing funding pressures.

“These pressures mean that both time and money are in short supply for sport and other activities, and these issues need to be addressed by the government.”

The initial contract period would run for one year with a total available budget of £392,000 but if the contract were to run for a total of three years, a budget of £1.17 million would be made available, the document says. 

The DfE says the potential contractor must have national reach, “ensuring relevance to schools across the country, rather than a focus on local barriers which may not be replicated on a wider scale” and be open to both primary and secondary pupils. Be open to both primary and secondary pupils.

The successful bid should also come from an organisation that can demonstrate expertise in school sport and physical activity in schools “with a proven track record of delivering high quality programmes with schools”. 

The news comes as British tennis star Emma Raducanu won the US Open over the weekend at the age of 18.