The government had announced it would scrap £162m worth of funding currently allocated to the school sport partnerships programme and PE strategy. However, the decision sparked a backlash from sports stars, teachers and health experts.
The latest proposals will see the Department for Education (DfE) pay school sports partnerships to the end of the current academic year at a cost of £47m.
In addition, £65m from the DfE’s spending review settlement will be allocated to allow every school in England to release a PE teacher for one day a week for the following two academic years. It is hoped this will encourage a better take-up of competitive sport in primary schools and help to set in place a fixture network to increase sports competition between and within schools.
Gove said: "It’s time to ensure what was best in school sport partnerships around the country is fully embedded and move forward to a system where schools and parents are delivering on sports with competition at the heart.
"This will take some time and I’m pleased to be able to confirm some funding for school sports partnerships during this transition. But I’m looking to PE teachers to embed sport and put more emphasis on competitions for more pupils in their own schools, and to continue to help the teachers in local primary schools do the same."
London Youth Games Foundation chief executive Russell Findlay welcomed the announcement.
"In 2010, we had over 50,000 schoolchildren taking part in the London Youth Games, which is the most ever in our 34-year history. We are the perfect example of how a competitive inter-school and inter-borough environment can inspire participation.
"The removal of the school sports partnerships would have threatened our continued endeavours to deliver a critical legacy in the host city of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games," Findlay said.
However, shadow education secretary Andy Burnham said the measures raised "one cheer at best".
High-profile figures who came out to defend the school sports funding include world champion diver Tom Daley, boxer James DeGale and Olympians Denise Lewis and Darren Campbell.
The move had also been criticised by National Obesity Forum chair Dr David Haslam.
The DfE had previously said the government would not back down on the cuts to school sports funding.
