Faculty of Creative Arts

Physical Education

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Guide to GCSE Physical Education (AQA)

The course is divided between theory (40%) and practical work (60%). It aims to improve your ability to plan, perform and evaluate physical activities and your knowledge, skills and understanding of a range of physical activities.

The theory is divided into two areas:

Health related exercise - including the body, diet, hygiene and safety, sports injuries and training.
Sport and Society - including sponsorship, the media and leisure.

The practical activities for assessment are chosen from either three of the following groups, or from Games only (as for number 1 below):

Games activities (compulsory), including netball, hockey, rounders, tennis, badminton and volleyball.
Gymnastic activities, including gymnastics and trampolining.
Dance
Athletic activities
Swimming

Students are assessed on their performance in four of the above activities. In all of them knowledge of the rules and regulations and the ability to analyse and improve their own and others’ performance is an integral part. There is one piece of written coursework which students must produce; a training schedule on a sport of their choice which they have to plan, implement and evaluate. There are also written tests on the practical activities that each student is assessed in. The Department normally runs a curriculum trip to a live sporting event in the year, depending on the availability of tickets, which cost between £15.00 and £20.00.

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