AIM

To encourage students to: 

• Become increasingly effective in their performance in different types of physical activity 

• Develop their ability to analyse and evaluate performance and apply their knowledge to bring about improvement in physical activity 

• Develop knowledge, understanding, skills and values to develop and maintain their performance in physical activity and understand the benefits to health fitness and well-being 

• In order to select the GCSE PE course, students must regularly be playing and/or performing three sports/activities for the school team or out of school to a competent level, from the AQA GCSE specification. Past performance shows that students awarded a grade 4 in Year 9 make good progress at GCSE PE.

CONTENT: Theoretical Component: 

Paper 1: Applied anatomy and physiology, movement analysis, physical training, use of data 

Paper 2: Sports psychology, socio-cultural influences, health, fitness and well-being, use of data 

Practical Component: Candidates will follow courses in performance of a range of sports, depending on the strengths of the cohort. Typically the sports offered are:

• Netball 

• Football 

• Table Tennis 

• Badminton 

• Athletics

Students may provide video evidence of their performance in activities such as equestrian, swimming, or skiing outside school. Each student may substitute outside activities for school delivered activities for assessment if they wish. 

Activities that can be assessed in school but are not on the curriculum but only if they regularly perform the sport/activity for the school include:

• Dance 

• Gymnastics 

• Handball 

• Volleyball 

• Hockey 

• Cricket

• Rugby Union 

• Basketball

• Trampolining 

• Tennis 

We recommend that students are participating in at least two sports outside school lessons.

SETTING ARRANGEMENTS

Candidates will participate in practical work in groups which are predominantly set by gender. In theory lessons they will be set according to academic ability based mainly upon their Year 9 core subjects’ assessment scores.

ASSESSMENT

There are two written papers of 1 hour 15 minutes covering theoretical work. Each paper is worth 30% of the final grade. 

Each candidate is assessed for their performance in three activities – at least one must be a Team activity and one must be an Individual activity. The practical performances offered account for 30% of the total mark. The practical work is assessed on two occasions, the first time at the end of the period when the activity is followed as part of the course, and secondly at the end of the Spring Term in Year 11. This will take the form of an examination over three days when selected activities will be assessed. 

Analysis of performance accounts for the remaining 10% of the overall mark. This requires students to analyse and evaluate a performance to identify two strengths and two weaknesses. They then need to produce an action plan that suggests ways to improve upon the two weaknesses that they have identified.