By Dr Liz Durden-Myers and Lee Sullivan
Physical Education (PE) around the world is often confused with sport, and this confusion has influenced how PE is taught in schools. In the case of the GCSE qualification, the content has faced criticism for being too closely aligned with elite sports, often side-lining the broader purpose of PE and disadvantaging students who do not have access to out of school opportunities in sport.
The Department for Education has recently launched a review of the current PE curriculum in England, acknowledging that there is a need to review and refresh our curriculum and assessment frameworks. They are calling on teachers and practitioners to share their feedback on what should be taught in schools. This has reignited an important question around what is the purpose of physical education? And therefore, what should a qualification (GCSE) in PE include?
Taking the current set up for instance and renaming it as a GCSE in Sport and Performance would enable the GCSE in PE to be redesigned to embrace its more inclusive and lifelong participation focus. If we were to rethink the GCSE PE qualification to reflect a broader understanding of physical education, what would this curriculum look like and what could be the benefit to our students in studying a GCSE in PE? This blog explores how GCSE PE could be redesigned including what changes could reshape the future of this qualification for the better.
Is GCSE PE Really PE?
As it stands, many of the topics covered—ranging from the commercialisation of sport to issues like hooliganism—seem more suited to a course titled Sport Studies rather than Physical Education. The focus often shifts from promoting lifelong active habits and understanding physical literacy to examining the intricacies of professional sports culture and performance.
As explored in ‘The Problem with GCSE PE’ (Sullivan, 2022) there is a clear conflict between the aims of the current GCSE PE course and those of Core PE. GCSE PE is primarily focused on academic success, with little concern for whether students remain physically active throughout their lives, while Core PE—designed to engage all students in lifelong physical activity—offers no formal qualification. The result is a disjointed approach where GCSE PE prioritises performance, leaving teachers under pressure to adapt their Core PE provision to better serve a relatively small percentage of students aiming for a GCSE grade. This often happens at the expense of students who are not pursuing GCSE PE, leading to a performance-obsessed, elite sports-driven curriculum that alienates many young people, causing them to disengage from physical activity and even sport altogether. It leaves many teachers and students feeling confused between the title GCSE PE and the experience which is more weighted in Sport Studies, Sports Science and Sports Performance.
What should qualification PE aim to achieve?
So, if we were able to create two pathways perhaps one in sport and performance or even sport science and one in PE, what would a GCSE in PE entail? Perhaps the following could be a starting point for some indicative content for a GCSE in PE.
- the benefits of movement and physical activity for health, wellbeing and flourishing.
- habit formation and the relationship between childhood activity and lifelong participation.
- how to create and nurture a positive relationship with movement and physical activity (physical literacy).
And what about the practical element? Well instead of a performance evaluation or a personal exercise plan (PEP) perhaps students could write a reflective journal on their current and past relationship with movement and physical activity, and then create an action plan, commenting on their aspirations for how they will improve or deepen their relationship with movement and physical activity in the future.
A New Pathway
We do not propose that the current or previous versions of GCSE PE need to be scrapped entirely. Sport is a multi-billion-pound industry, offering young people exciting pathways to explore. A GCSE in Sport will certainly lead to many future sporting and exercise careers. We are suggesting that a new pathway is considered. One that can align with the true aims of PE and offer clarity to the students that opt to study it and the teachers that teach it.
However, in this new pathway and to align a GCSE PE qualification more closely with its intended aims, it is worth reassessing the content currently offered in the existing form of the course. Topics that are better suited to a Sport Science qualification, such as the commercialisation of sport, media coverage, sponsorship, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in elite athletes, could be shifted to other qualifications like Sport Science, Sport Studies, or Sport Performance.
Refocusing GCSE PE away from elite sport would allow the course to prioritise lifelong health and fitness promotion and physical activity participation. For instance, the current fitness and training content could be adapted to emphasise personal fitness programmes, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to maintain health and activity throughout their lives. Meanwhile, elite-level training design could remain within the domain of Sport Science or related qualifications, creating a more tailored approach to meet career aspirations and interests.
In a GCSE PE course, the movement analysis section could still cover key concepts such as the musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems, but with a greater focus on how these relate to daily physical activity, injury prevention, and maintaining long-term health, rather than just improving sports performance. Furthermore, sociocultural issues in sport, like gender, ethnicity, and participation barriers, could be retained in a GCSE PE qualification, but refocused to explore how physical activity can be made more inclusive and accessible to all. Rather than highlighting inequalities in elite sport, the content could examine how schools, communities, and governments can encourage lifelong participation across all social groups.
While some of the existing topics are important for those pursuing careers in sports management or elite coaching, they don’t always readily align with the primary aim of PE: promoting lifelong physical activity and well-being for all, therefore, might be better served on a sport science course than a qualification PE one.
A True GCSE PE Course
To align the GCSE PE course more closely with the true aims of physical education, a focus on movement development, participation, and lifelong physical activity should be central to the curriculum. Understanding how motor skills develop from infancy through adolescence is crucial, with an emphasis on how early physical activity supports cognitive, social, and physical growth. Recognising key developmental stages is also essential, as they impact a child and young person’s ability to engage in a variety of physical activities.
An emphasis on movement competency, fundamental movement skills, and motor skills could be added. Mastering basic movement patterns such as running, jumping, and throwing is crucial to building overall physical competence. These skills help students build confidence, reduce the risk of injury, and enable participation in a variety of physical activities across their lifespan, promoting physical literacy and lifelong health.
Students should also explore how movement allows us to interact with and adapt to our environment, from navigating space to using objects and tools in both sports and daily life. Activities that enhance spatial awareness, coordination, and adaptability would be key to helping students understand how these skills are essential to their everyday lives, not just in competitive contexts.
In addition, embedding an understanding of the holistic impact of physical activity engagement would encourage students to appreciate how physical activity contributes to learning, social interaction, and emotional development. This holistic approach would help students reflect on their own physical literacy journey and the importance of movement in their daily lives.
It is equally important to investigate the reasons for participation in physical activity, considering the attitudes and motivations that drive people to engage in sports, physical activity and exercise. Students would learn how personal preferences, peer influence, societal norms, and individual goals shape their attitudes towards physical activity, fostering a more personalised and inclusive approach to PE. This might also lean into the trends of participation and in particular the more recent shift towards informal participation (O’Connor and Penney, 2020).
Considering social justice within PE, sport and physical activity would be a welcome addition. Teaching students about the social factors that influence participation in physical activity, such as race, gender, disability, and socioeconomic status. Students would explore how to address and reduce inequalities in physical education and promote equitable access to sports and physical activity for all.
Finally, introducing physical literacy as a core element of the GCSE PE curriculum would be a transformative shift in how we approach physical education. This holistic, inclusive approach would make PE more relevant and accessible to all, moving beyond the competitive focus of elite sports and aligning more closely with the true aim of physical education: to equip students with the tools they need for a healthy, active life.
GCSE PE Non-Examined Assessment
In a realigned GCSE PE course, the current written non-examined assessment (NEA), or coursework, in GCSE PE should be reconsidered or even removed completely. Rather than analysing performance in an adult full-context competition, the assessment framework should encourage personal growth and engagement, making PE more inclusive and relevant to all learners. Whilst this might be more pertinent to a Sport Performance qualification, we might still argue if written coursework, in a time of AI, is a reliable form of assessment at all. Though this is a complex argument, not to be explored in this blog and I suspect will be considered with the Department for Education’s curriculum review.
The current practical assessment in GCSE PE is heavily geared towards elite performance, evaluating students based on their skills in specific sports. This would continue to sit well in a sport science or performance course, however must be reconsidered in a GCSE PE course. Given the unrealistic expectation for students to demonstrate high levels of competency across three different sports, some that excel in one sport may not have the time to focus on others, or the disadvantaged students may not have the same access as others and are therefore unable to achieve the same marks. This performance-driven approach can lead to frustration and disengagement from physical activity, making it crucial to rethink how practical skills are assessed.
In a true GCSE PE qualification, the current practical assessment that primarily revolves around playing sports, fails to account for the diverse ways in which young people can engage with physical activity and sport beyond school, such as coaching or officiating. By limiting the scope of assessment to just playing, we overlook valuable skills that contribute to a well-rounded understanding of sport, physical activity and PE. Therefore, in a new pathway focused on the genuine aims of PE, incorporating alternative pathways for assessment would not only acknowledge varied talents and interests but also encourage students to explore different roles within the sporting, fitness and physical activity community, promoting lifelong involvement in physical activity beyond just playing.
Lastly, the limited selection of sports available in the current curriculum often favours students from private schools with better facilities, more affluent students or those that have received prior sporting opportunities, resulting in many students missing out on activities they are genuinely interested in. A more inclusive and diverse sports offering would ensure that all students can pursue activities they will engage with, fostering a greater sense of belonging and engagement in the subject and sport beyond school. This would be beneficial for all courses.
Would grades be problematic?
Now to address the elephant in the room, all GCSEs currently are graded. Students complete the examinable elements of the course and are given a grade in relation to the associated mark scheme. Now this is required in any examinable course, but how would this align with promoting lifelong engagement in physical activity if people were marked on their attainment? We are not for one instance recommending that student’s engagement be marked on a scale of 1-9 but instead the content knowledge associated with living an active life could be. And the practical element of the course could be more aligned with being able to identify a sport or activity you would like to participate in and understand and apply the principles of developing and maintaining engagement in that activity.
Conclusion
Just to reiterate we are not anti-sport we just believe that we should reclaim the GCSE PE title and design a course that better aligns with the values of physical education. It could be a fantastic opportunity whereby students’ engagement in physical activity is nurtured and celebrated. It could help to provide students with the academic and applied knowledge of how to build and maintain and active lifestyle throughout their lives. It is also a fantastic opportunity to recognise the individuality of each physical literacy journey and celebrate these unique relationships with movement helping to advocate for physical activity as a place where all people can find a sense of self and belonging.
References
O’Connor, J., & Penney, D. (2020). Informal sport and curriculum futures: An investigation of the knowledge, skills and understandings for participation and the possibilities for physical education. European Physical Education Review, Article 1356336X20915937. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X20915937
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