Physical Education

How can I learn more about the PE GCSE offering at LAB?

Please click on the video opposite to hear from Mr. Tebbutt, our subject lead for PE, regarding the knowledge and skills content required of the AQA specification we will be following, alongside assessment information, and the future career pathways that align with these.

What careers are open to me if I pursue a passion for PE?

PE careers come in all shapes and sizes, but there are two main types:

A career that’s only available in the sports industry (for example: as an athlete or sports coach);

A career that’s available in a range of different industries, with a sport-centred focus (for example: as a PE teacher).

Below you will find some of the most popular roles in both of the above, but do be sure to check out our fantastic PE Career page here for more information!

The Sports Science page of Unifrog (found here) is also a great place to learn more about the subject of PE, including the discussions, debates and academic discourse which move the subject forward (videos from which we have included opposite to pique your interest)!

Athlete:

As well as competing and travelling to competitions, athletes spend a lot of time in training. Some have an employment contract with a sporting organisation and receive a regular wage; others earn through prize money or sponsorship deals. Many have another job as well, whether in sport or doing something completely different.

Sports coach/sports instructor:

As a sports coach or instructor you’ll train people up in a particular sport, and/or lead group fitness sessions. You might work with children or adults of any level, and might be employed by a sports club, charity, community group, gym, sports governing body or school. A lot of positions are part-time, so you might need to coach for more than one employer or have a different job too.

Sports development officer:

Sports development officers help run initiatives aimed at encouraging people to get involved in sport. Sometimes these are aimed at everyone in a local community; other times they are aimed at a particular group, such as older people. Tasks can involve finding and applying for sources of funding, keeping track of budgets, managing sports coaches and volunteers, and planning, organising and promoting the initiatives, for example through social media. Sometimes the jobs are combined with a sports coaching role, meaning that you’ll lead some of the activities yourself.

Sports lawyer:

Sports lawyers advise their clients on the legal aspects of sport, and may also represent them in court. Their work can cover commercial agreements (for example regarding sponsorship and advertising), broadcasting rights for sporting events, employment contracts, transfers, injuries, sports regulation and disciplinary matters.

Sports physiotherapist:

Sports physiotherapists work with athletes (professional and amateur) to help them overcome and prevent injuries. For example, they may assess an injury, develop a treatment plan and deliver it, such as by manual therapy (manipulating body parts), massage, hydrotherapy or setting exercises. Some sports physiotherapists are employed by sports clubs – if you work with professional athletes you’re likely to attend training sessions and competitions/matches around the country or internationally. You could also work for a private physiotherapy clinic, or set up your own.

Leisure centre or gym manager:

If you have strong organisational and people skills you could make a great manager for a leisure centre or gym. Typical duties include recruiting and managing staff, ensuring they are properly trained up and have up-to-date qualifications, making sure that the centre is well maintained (for example that it is clean and tidy and that gym equipment is in working order), overseeing the budget, promoting the centre and increasing its income, ensuring that health and safety policies are followed, organising staff rotas and assisting customers.

Sports journalist:

If you’re a strong writer or confident speaker you could consider a career as a sports journalist. You could work for newspapers, websites, TV stations, radio stations or a combination of these.

Sports photographer:

Similarly, media outlets need strong sports images to accompany their stories. You could work for a publication (print and/or web), as a freelancer, for a news agency or for an organisation that runs sporting events (such as UCI, organisers of the Tour de France, or the International Olympic Committee).

Sports marketing, PR, communications and social media:

These roles involve promoting sport and sports organisations through a variety of media. There’s quite a lot of overlap between them – some jobs will in practice cover several of these areas – and also with sports journalism. You might work for an individual organisation or for an agency that is paid by a number of different organisations to promote them. Tasks could include producing content such as articles or videos, running social media channels, writing press releases, contacting media organisations to organise or try to gain coverage, planning and organising campaigns, overseeing budgets and tracking results.