Is GCSE PE Easy?

No! Most of the course is assessed through two written GCSE exam papers which are worth 60% of your final grade. Plus, you need to be good at more than one sport to achieve a good practical grade.

Will we do practical GCSE PE lessons?

Yes, some of your time will be spent focusing on the practical side of certain sports. The focus is very much on performance in these sports. The sports you practice in GCSE PE will be chosen by Mr Collins and will be a mixture of individual and team sports.

How am I graded in Practical PE?

Each sport has set criteria on terms of core skills and advanced skills. The more you show of the core and advanced skills when playing the greater the grade you will get for each sport. Each sport is marked out of 25.

How many sports do I need?

You need three sports. They must be either two team sports and one individual or two individual and one team. Each sport is worth 10% of your final grade.

What if I don’t play sport for the School or I don’t play outside school?

It would be an advantage to play sport outside of school and for the school. You are likely to perform better in the practical side of PE and therefore achieve a better grade.

If I play a sport outside of school and we don’t play it in GCSE PE lessons can I use it as one of my three sports?

Yes, you can as long as that sport is on the AQA specification for GCSE PE. You would need to get video evidence of you taking part in this sport and give it to you PE teacher who will then use the criteria for the sport to grade it. Videos must be a good quality with the candidate easily visible at all times. All sport must be video in a competitive situation and not training. You will need to speak to Mr Collins about this.

What do you study in theory lessons?

See the GCSE PE road map. As you can see there is a lot of content to be covered in the two years hence some if not all of your lessons at times will be theory based. Some theory aspects can be taught practically rather than in a classroom and we will endeavour to do this where possible.

Is there any written coursework in the course?

Yes, there is a piece of written coursework that will be completed in lessons under exam conditions. This will be completed by the end of Year 10. It is worth 10% of your final grade. It is based on analysing you performance in one sport.