After three really successful posts in the last few weeks on extended writing examples for AQA GCSE PE, Edexcel GCSE PE and OCR GCSE PE, I’m following up this week with an equivalent set of resources for OCR A-level PE.
OCR A-level PE uses a very different structure for the extended writing compared to AQA and Edexcel (posts to follow in the coming weeks). In fact, OCR A-level has, by far, the least extended writing on their papers compared to those other two courses:
| Exam board for A-level PE | Extended writing marks available per Exam Paper as of Summer 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Paper 2 | Paper 3 | Total | % of overall exam marks | |
| AQA | 69 | 69 | N/A | 138 | 66% |
| Edexcel | 70 | 60 | N/A | 130 | 54% |
| OCR | 20 | 10 | 10 | 40 | 19% |
So, this is interesting. It would appear that extended writing on OCR A-level PE is far less important than on the other two offers. So, why am I doing this post before the other two? Simple: OCR A-level PE is the most popular course nationally for A-level PE and I want to get the biggest impact on the most people. Therefore, I am writing about OCR today and then AQA and Edexcel A-level PE in subsequent weeks.
OCR A-level PE extended writing pieces are, technically, synoptic:
| Paper 1 | 20 marks |
A&P and Exercise Physiology Or… A&P and Biomechanics Or… Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics |
| Paper 2 | 10 marks | Skill Acquisition and Sport Psychology |
| Paper 3 | 10 marks | Sport in Society and Contemporary Issues |
In other words, every OCR A-level PE extended writing piece contains an element from two sections of the course.
Here are the examples my team and I wrote for the 2025 National Mock Exams:
Paper 1:
Paper 2:
Paper 3:
In each case, there are two elements to a question, each coming from a different section of the theory specification.
The download that follows is a document designed to help you (the teacher) and your students improve understanding of how to go about writing extended answers for OCR A-level PE. Please download it and use it as you wish with your groups.