What do I need to know or be able to do before taking this course? Several topics covered in the course are developments of work covered at GCSE but others are new. It is important that you should have a lively and enquiring mind, an interest in Physical Education, a willingness to explore new ideas and an ability to communicate your ideas effectively. Students taking Physical Education at Advanced level will be expected to participate in school representative teams in order to further their practical skills and provide opportunities for practical assessment. Students wishing to be practically assessed in activities in which the school does not have representative teams will be expected to train on a regular basis in clubs outside school hours. Students will also be expected to coach and officiate at school clubs and fixtures. There may also be opportunities to obtain coaching and officiating qualifications within the school. In essence, the course will let students who enjoy sport and sporting activities develop their all-round knowledge of the subject whilst pursuing an academic course they enjoy and can relate to. What will I learn on this course? You will • develop your knowledge and skills in selected activities • explore the contemporary sociological issues in modern sport • examine the effects of exercise and the relationships between training and performance • analyse the way we learn to be skilful • compare and contrast sport through many different cultures • enhance your understanding of the role of technology or psychology in sporting performance • learn to coach others to learn effectively and develop the confidence to lead groups of people • find ways to improve your own performance through your greater understanding What skills will I develop by doing this course? As well as covering Advanced Level study of Physical Education, this course will enable you to develop some key skills, which will be essential to you whatever you go on to do afterwards. The key skills you can develop during this course are • communication • application of number • information technology • problem solving • working with others • leadership skills • improving own learning and performance Your coursework will offer you the greatest opportunity to develop and collect evidence for all of these key skills, although it will not cover every aspect. Other opportunities will arise during lessons and individual study time. If you take part in a debate or role play, for example, you could be collecting evidence for part of your Communication key skill; essays that you write as part of your course could also provide evidence. Collecting and analysing primary and secondary data is part of the Application of Number key skill, and if you manipulate and present this using IT, you are starting to produce evidence for the Information Technology key skill. What kind of student is this course suitable for? The course will appeal to those students who • have a keen interest in sport and recreation • want to follow a course that develops the theoretical aspects of sport and physical education • have an enquiring mind and are interested in sport throughout the world • want to know more about how the body functions and the effects of exercise • have a strong desire to help others develop their skills • want to evaluate and improve their sporting performance • enjoy discovering about themselves in practical situations • want to study a course that they will enjoy • are willing to volunteer their time for extra-curricular activities • may want to move onto a related career or higher education course What could I go on to do at the end of my course? Students with Advanced Level Physical Education have access to a wide range of possible career and higher education opportunities. You learn and use a variety of transferable skills throughout the course. These include collecting, analysing and interpreting data, communicating your findings in different ways, and identifying and developing the links between different parts of the subject. These skills are in great demand and are recognised by employers, universities and colleges as being of great value. Physical Education combines with a range of Advanced Level subjects. Taken with sciences like Biology it supports applications for a wide range of university courses like Sports Sciences, Physiotherapy, Recreation and Leisure Studies. Gaining coaching and officiating qualifications can also lead to future opportunities in those fields. Many students choose to use their qualification to go straight into employment, rather than go on to higher education. Since Advanced Level Physical Education develops the transferable skills and the key skills that employers are looking for, they can lead to a very wide range of employment opportunities. This can include further training in such areas as Recreational Management, Leisure Activities, Armed Forces and the Civil Services.