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The number of people participating in sport at least once a week has fallen by 200,000, according to Sport England.

Some 15.3 million people played sport between April 2012 and April 2013, down from 15.5 million in October's figures.

However, there are still 1.4 million more people playing sport than when London won the Olympic bid in 2005.

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said: "We remain committed to delivering a lasting sports participation legacy from London 2012."

The cold winter was identified as a factor contributing to the drop.

"These figures show we're holding on to the growth achieved over the past 18 months, despite some poor recent weather," said Sport England chair Nick Bitel.

"There's a long way to go but it's particularly encouraging to see the numbers for young people are now moving in the right direction."

Shadow Sports Minister Clive Efford suggested the weather could not be used as an excuse.

"These disappointing figures show the Government is failing to deliver the Olympic legacy," he said.

"There should have been a significant increase in participation following the Olympics, it is not acceptable to explain away these figures by saying we have had a bad winter.

"The Government has failed to plan ahead and is playing catch up to get more people participating in physical activity. They are showing a complete lack of planning and any coherent strategy to deliver a legacy."

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Thousands of bright children are being "systematically failed" by England's non-selective secondaries, education inspectors warn.

A culture of low expectations means England's able pupils are failing to gain top GCSE grades, Ofsted says.

Two-thirds of pupils, some 65,000, who achieved Level 5 in primary school maths and English tests failed to get A* or an A in both subjects at GCSE.

Head teachers questioned the statistical basis of Ofsted's claims.

Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Brian Lightman said: "I have real concerns about Ofsted's evidence base for drawing these conclusions.

"Level 5 is a wide band that that includes a range of ability levels, not just the brightest students. The government has said that for children who come into secondary school with a Level 5, expected progress means a B at GCSE.

"Of course we want those children to achieve even higher, but for Ofsted to say that they are underachieving if they don't get an A or A* is unfair to those students and their teachers."

The report - The Most Able Students: Are they doing as well as they should in our non-selective secondary schools? - found more than a quarter (27%) of previously high-attaining pupils had failed to achieve at least a B grade in both English and maths.

Ofsted defines high-achievers as those achieving a Level 5 in both English and maths in national curriculum tests, commonly known as Sats taken in the final year of primary school.

Based on observations of 2,000 lessons, visits to 41 schools and school performance data, the report found staff in some non-selective schools did not know who their most able pupils were.

In 40% of the schools visited, the brightest students were not making the progress they were capable of, and many had become "used" to performing at lower levels, with parents and teachers accepting this "too readily", Ofsted said.

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