Physical Education offers students the opportunity to develop their knowledge of the ever-changing world of sport. Students will also develop understanding of how our body can be anatomically trained and developed to meet the demands of exercise and enhance both physical performance and health.

The Physical Education GCSE course will support with developing a lifelong passion and commitment to sport and exercise. Critical national and worldwide issues such as ‘How can we combat obesity?’ and ‘How can we maximise sporting engagement?’ will be investigated throughout topics on ‘Health and Fitness’ and ‘Socio- Cultural Influences’, as well as identifying current engagement patterns in sport.

Students will focus on how to effectively develop and improve personal performance within their respective sports by learning effective training techniques that are tailored to meet individual needs. The course offers the opportunity to improve knowledge and understanding of the professional world of sport and support those that have a desire to compete or work at an elite sporting level.

Physical Education helps with making positive life choices and remaining both physically fit and healthy. This is carried out throughout theoretical and physical learning.

Topics covered:

Theoretical Topics

• Anatomy and Physiology (Musculoskeletal system, Cardio-respiratory system, Anaerobic and Aerobic Exercise, Short and Long term effects of exercise on the body).

• Movement Analysis (Lever systems, Planes and axis of movement).

• Physical Training (Health and fitness, Training, Optimising training, Injury Prevention).

• Use of Data (Data collection, Presenting data, Analysing and evaluating data)

• Sports Psychology (Classification of skills, Goal setting and targets, Performance guidance and feedback, Mental preparation for sport).

• Socio-cultural influences (Engagement patterns, Commercialisation, Ethical and socio-cultural issues).

• Health, fitness and well-being (Physical, Emotional and social health, Sedentary lifestyles, Energy, diet, nutrition and hydration).

Practical Topics

• Invasion sports (including football, rugby, netball, basketball, handball, hockey).

• Net/Wall sports (including tennis, badminton, table tennis)

• Striking and fielding sports (including cricket)

• Athletics (including both track and field events)

• Fitness (including fitness testing and a range of training types).

• GCSE PE- Compulsory GCSE PE kit (personalised with FHES logo, student surname and candidate number). This will be ordered via the PE Dept at the start of the course.

• AQA GCSE PE Revision Guide (highly recommended)

30% of final GCSE PE grade will be based on practical performance

• Students will be assessed via practical examination on three chosen sports

• Students must choose to be assessed on:

Two team sports and one individual Sport

OR

One individual sport and two team sports

• Each sport is worth 10% of student’s final GCSE PE grade

60% of final GCSE PE will be through two written examination papers

Paper 1: The human body and movement in physical activity and sport

Topics assessed

• Applied anatomy and physiology

• Movement analysis

• Physical training

• Use of data

How it's assessed

Written exam: 1 hour 15 minutes

78 marks

30% of GCSE PE grade

This exam includes a mixture of multiple choice/objective test questions, short answer questions and extended answer questions.

Paper 2: Socio-cultural influences and well-being in physical activity and sport

Topics assessed

• Sports psychology

• Socio-cultural influences

• Health, fitness and well-being

How it's assessed

Written exam: 1 hour 15 minutes

78 marks

30% of GCSE PE grade

This exam includes a mixture of multiple choice/objective test questions, short answer questions and extended answer questions.

Performance analysis assessment (analysis and evaluation) (10% final grade)

• Written piece of coursework

• Focusing on fitness and skill strengths and weaknesses in one chosen sport

• Suitable identification of training type to improve fitness and skill weaknesses

• Design of suitable training session to develop fitness and skill weaknesses

Physical Education is a subject with a good balance between practical and theoretical based content. PE is seen as an attractive GCSE qualification for colleges and universities and employers that offer courses including sport and exercise science, biology, psychology, physiotherapy and more. This allows the course to link well with plenty of other A-Level and BTEC option choices. There are an incredible number of career opportunities available in the world of sport ranging from sports coaching, nutrition, personal training performance analysis, sports journalism and many, many more. Arguably more importantly, this subject can support with fulfilling a lifelong commitment to a happy, active and healthy lifestyle.