Ministers have relaxed rules that set out the minimum outdoor space schools have to provide pupils for team games.
Secondary schools in England previously had to provide pitches ranging from 5,000sq m to 54,000sq m, depending on the number of pupils.
But it has emerged schools must now only provide "suitable outdoor space".
Critics claimed it would make it easier for schools to sell off playing fields but the Department for Education said the same protections remain in place.
(August 15, 2012)