Image: The Bikeability Trust
More than 524,000 children received cycle training through Bikeability and related programmes during 2025–26, with 93% of those completing Level 2 saying they felt more confident cycling on roads.
The figures are highlighted in Generation Cycle, the latest impact report from the Bikeability Trust, which manages, develops and promotes the national Bikeability programme on behalf of the Department for Transport.
During the year, 460,465 Bikeability places were delivered across England outside London, while a further 64,080 places were provided through the Trust’s Get Cycling in Schools programme.
The Trust says the figures demonstrate the role cycle training can play in giving children the skills and confidence needed to travel actively and safely.
Other highlights from the report include an estimated 595 tonnes of CO2e saved on Bikeability days, while programmes and partnerships created access to 6,086 cycles, an increase of 27% compared with the previous year.
Active Travel England has also committed £78m over the next three years to support the Bikeability programme.
National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman CBE said cycle training was an important part of creating safer opportunities for children to travel actively.
“Building safer streets is only part of the answer – children need the skills and confidence to use them,” he said.
“Learning to cycle can shape how they travel, how active they are, and how connected they feel to their communities for years to come.”
Turning cycling ambitions into action
The report follows the publication of the Government’s third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, which includes targets for 55% of short journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2035, and for 60% of children aged five to 16 to usually walk or cycle to school.
The Bikeability Trust says its work during 2025–26 helped support those ambitions.
Its Bike Bus Leader Guide provided communities with resources and training to establish their own bike buses, while the annual Cycle to School Week campaign generated 427,596 pledges from children, schools and families.
Get Cycling in Schools expanded into London during the year and delivered 64,080 training places nationwide, while supplying schools with 5,106 balance bikes and helmets.
The Trust has also continued to examine the longer-term health benefits of cycling.
Its January 2026 Health Policy Report found that just 4% of children cycled to school one to three times a week before Bikeability training. Following Level 2, 23% said they intended to cycle to school at that frequency.
Bikeability Trust chief executive Emily Cherry MBE said: “Generation Cycle shows what happens when children are given the chance to learn, ride and thrive.
“In 2025–26, the Bikeability programme gave hundreds of thousands of children the skills and confidence to cycle, while the Trust’s wider work helped more schools, families and communities make active travel part of everyday life.
“We’re proud to be turning ambition into action.”
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